Tomorrow's meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission was supposed to include a public hearing on the proposed demolition of 14 and 16 North Fourth Street to make way for an annex to the Galvan Foundation's Hudson Public Hotel, at the corner of Fourth and Warren streets. Gossips learned this morning that, at the request of the applicant, the public hearing has been postponed. A new date for the hearing is still to be determined.
Chatham also argued that the surroundings of the two houses were "a harsh urban environment to have a home in," noting, "The houses will be in a very busy place," with Helsinki behind them and Warren Street half a block away. The two houses have been vacant since Galvan took possession of them in 2023. When the houses were part of the Helsinki campus, they were used to house staff and visiting performers.
When the question was asked why the demolition of these houses and the construction of the annex buildings were not part of the original proposal presented to the HPC, it was noted that the original plan was to create additional hotel rooms in the houses, but that plan was abandoned because the challenge of converting a house into hotel rooms proved too great. HPC member Miranda Barry suggested the houses could be used as apartments for hotel staff.
HPC member Hugh Biber observed, "These are two viable historic homes in a historic district. I don't see how we just take them down. Taking them down would go against what we do here." He went on to say, "People come to this town because it represents every architectural movement. This goes against what we are trying to do here."
Chatham maintained they were "the wrong houses in the wrong place" and asserted, "It is an impediment to how our city could develop." He opined that "urban planning should be part of what the HPC does." He tried to discount the historic value of one of the houses by saying its design "has been repeated all over the city." He went on to suggest that, if the HPC denies a certificate of appropriateness for the demolition, the owner (Galvan) "can ignore the buildings until they are deteriorated, so they can argue they are beyond repair."
As stated at the beginning of this post, the public hearing on the demolition of these houses, which was supposed to happen at tomorrow's HPC meeting, has been postponed. When it will be rescheduled is not known. The HPC meeting takes place tomorrow, Friday, January 9, at 10:00 a.m., in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.
COPYRIGHT 2026 CAROLE OSTERINK
Finish composing Hudson's epitaph if these two houses are allowed to be demolished, even if ultimately they aren't demolished. Walter Chatham seems to be the enemy of Hudson, just as his employer Galvan has always been.
ReplyDeleteThose houses should remain standing. We should not be tearing down historic structures to please a developer who has left Hudson. ~ PJ
ReplyDeleteReally, Bill- I am the Enemy of Hudson?! How much housing have you built or refurbished in your years here? Get a grip!
ReplyDeleteMr. Architect - You work for a developer who removed three perfectly good houses on 7th Street so we can have a dirt lot instead. Wasn't one of the houses historic and shouldn't have been touched? Did you have anything to do with that effort of Galvan's, Walter? Or did you just stand by and accept it as business as usual by your employer? What's next to tear down, Walter? Two more houses that don't rise to your standards? Got your sights set on any more perfectly good houses that are in your way and that no one should be living in?
DeleteYou work for a developer who knocks down perfectly good houses for no good reason and let's others rot. And you have no problem helping these people and taking their money? Are you proud of Galvan? Unlike anyone who understands what Galvan has done to Hudson, will you hate to see them go?