If You Haven't Been There Yet

City government offices and city meetings have returned to City Hall on Warren Street after a year's exile at the Central Fire Station. If you haven't yet attended a meeting in the Council Chamber, now redesigned for universal access, Gossips shares these pictures.

The doors to the chamber have been replaced. For those who remember the doors that were there previously and the horrible scraping sound they made when opened or closed during a meeting, the new doors are good news.

The raised platform on which the desks and chairs of the councilmembers were positioned has been eliminated, but the railing separating the Council from the audience remains. The walls, previously painted blue, are now painted a kind of taupe.

The portrait of George Washington, shown in the picture above, painted sometime between 1841 and 1843 by Henry Ary, inspired by Gilbert Stuart's 1796 Lansdowne portrait of Washington, has not yet been returned to its spot behind the chair occupied by the Common Council president during Council meetings. 

For the time being, the portrait stands propped against the fireplace on the east wall of the chamber. The history of this painting and its acquisition by the City of Hudson in 1845 can be found here.

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