A New Plan for the Crescent Garage

The building at the northwest corner of Warren and Eighth streets started out as the Crescent Garage. Constructed in the early 1910s, it was where Packards and other luxury motorcars were sold and serviced. The Crescent Garage figures in many an account of a police pursuit. Before there were police cars in Hudson, Hudson police officers often went to the Crescent Garage and "secured a touring car to give chase." The car would be driven in the chase by an employee of the Crescent Garage, with the police officers as passengers.

Photo: Evelyn & Robert Monthie Collection, Columbia County Historical Society

Back in 2014, there was a plan to turn the building into a food emporium, similar to the Chelsea Market or Guido's, to be called the Hudson Anchor.

By 2017, that plan had been abandoned. Now, there is a new plan to adapt the building into what one of the people involved described as "a cultural space on Warren Street that is not commercially driven."

On Friday, the new proposal was presented for the first time to the Historic Preservation Commission. The plans for the building itself primarily involve restoring it to its original appearance, as seen in the historic photograph that appears at the beginning of this post, which dates from around 1917. The most significant change is the addition of an event space on the roof of the building.

The part of the building facing Warren Street will have a gallery on the ground floor, and the back half of the building facing Eighth Street will house a business on the ground floor. On the second floor, there will be three apartments.

Work on the building will be done using historic preservation tax credits, so the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) is involved in the review of the building, as well as the HPC. The sculptor Kris Perry, who was identified as one of the owners of the building, said they are "working with the City of Hudson on an Empire State Development grant." He assured the HPC, "We love the character of the building, and we want to keep it."

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