Remembering George Duguay

Yesterday, while walking William by the house at the corner of Second and Partition where George Duguay used to live, my attention was drawn by noises coming, I thought, from the part of the house that had been George's apartment. Stopping to study the house, I thought of George, who died there on a bleak winter day very like yesterday. Back home, curious to remember exactly when George had died, I discovered that today is the anniversary of his death. So, in memory of George and in tribute to this exceptional Hudson character, I decided to publish here the obituary I wrote for him four years ago. The photograph of George, in his backyard with one of his beloved cats and some of his favorite "pineys," is by Valerie Shaff.

George Duguay: The Genius of Hudson

George Duguay died in his home on South Second Street on Friday, February 3, 2006. He was 94.

Known throughout Hudson for his thin frame, pleasant smile, distinctive dress (which always included a well-worn overcoat and trilby hat), and love of gardens and cats, George Duguay was born in Hudson on June 15, 1911. His parents were British subjects—his father French-Canadian, his mother Irish—but George was born an American. He was baptized in the “old Italian Church” on Front Street and graduated from St. Mary’s Academy in 1929, one of the outstanding scholars of his class. “He was one of the smartest students there,” recalls Kathryn McDonald. George would later refer to himself jovially as “the genius of Hudson,” and he was that—in all senses of the word. Gail Grandinetti recalls that her late father always spoke of George as a “brilliant, brilliant man.” For those who came to know him in more recent times, George was indeed the genius of Hudson—the prevailing spirit, the distinctive character of our community.

After graduating high school from St. Mary’s, George went to Quebec, his father’s homeland, but returned to Hudson two years later, when his father died unexpectedly. Once back in Hudson, George decided to stay. In 1931, his parents were living on the second floor of 209 Allen Street. It was the Depression, and money was scarce, so George moved back in with his mother and younger brother, and for the rest of his life, he lived in the First Ward—in different buildings and apartments but always in the vicinity of South Second, Allen, and Partition streets.

George’s father had been a chauffeur for Mrs. Isaac Newton Collier, one of the wealthiest women in Hudson. She lived in the grand Greek Revival mansion at Second and Partition, which is now St. Michael’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church, cater-corner across from the house where George lived for the last forty or so years of his life. In Mrs. Collier’s time, the land on Second Street between Partition and Allen, where the Irv Schroder & Sons factory building now stands, was a park that belonged to her, and as a teenager, George worked for Mrs. Collier, mowing the grass in the park in summer and shoveling snow in winter.

Back in Hudson, in the early years of the Depression, George worked at a series of odd jobs. As the Depression deepened, he let the dire economic state of the country dictate the career he would pursue. As he told Dan Region in an interview for The Independent in 1999, “I thought, ‘Go somewhere there’s food. I can’t eat money.’” He started out working at the Park Grill, which was located on Warren Street across from Seventh Street Park. He apprenticed as a cook, learning his art by watching and doing. In the late 1930s, George took a job at the St. Charles Hotel, where he rose from apprentice to full-fledged cook. He left the St. Charles in 1946 to take a job at the elegant General Worth Hotel. He worked as a cook at the General Worth until it closed in 1962. Then he returned to the St. Charles, where he stayed until he retired in 1978.

The sharp mind and intellectual curiosity that distinguished George Duguay in high school continued throughout his life. He was bilingual and, in recent years, would converse in French with his neighbor Steve Careau, who had also lived in Quebec. George was very well read and, during his retirement years, spent part of every day in the Hudson Area Library, reading books and newspapers. According to Norma Hart, who worked at the library, “George was never interested in ‘light reading.’ He went for the hard books, the challenging ones.” He never took the books home. He always read them in the library.

George’s curiosity and appreciation of things of beauty were evident to all who knew him or only just observed him. Kathryn McDonald recalls going on bus trips with George to Boston. “He and Andy Burton, his friend, would take off and ride the subway and see the museums and visit libraries.” Dan Region tells of watching George as he went from window to window on Warren Street, gazing at the displays in the antiques shops, “his eyes filled with wonder as if he were visiting the Met.” Robert Hills remembers that George often came out to Olana to look at the garden. George had the rare capacity to enjoy things without needing to possess them.

George’s life spanned ten decades, and his clear memory of dates, facts, events, and people made him, in the words of Gail Grandinetti, “a walking history of Hudson.” A conversation with George often transported the listener to an earlier time—the heyday of Diamond Street; the construction of Mt. Carmel Church; the glory days of the General Worth Hotel; the cows on Third Street; the forgotten times of the lost neighborhood of Simpsonville. He could tell you who used to live in the houses of his neighborhood, what businesses used to occupy the commercial buildings, what buildings used to stand in now vacant lots. Sam Pratt recounts his memory of George: “From a distance, he always seemed keenly interested in everything going on in Hudson, looking piercingly at the people and buildings, as if seeing both the present and the past, overlapping.”

George Duguay lived gently on the earth. In the summer, he tended a rustic garden on the steep slope at the end of Montgomery Street. In his garden, he transformed unusable land, cuttings and surplus plant material from other people’s gardens, and cast-off objects into a place of unusual beauty. He knew the names of all the flowers and was considered by many to be one of the best gardeners in Hudson. His hellebores were famous, and he had lots and lots of peonies (which he pronounced "pineys"). He always went to Rogerson’s to buy bulbs when they went on sale. In the hot, dry summer of 2002, George, a nonagenarian, could be seen lugging pails of water to his garden from his house on South Second. He was known to rescue pots of mums that had been discarded by neighbors when autumn turned to winter, shelter them in his apartment through the cold months, and plant them in his garden when spring came.

George Duguay is survived by his three cats—-Smoky, Mommy, and Big Boy—-now in the care of Animalkind, and a community that is surely diminished by his death.

Not to Be Missed

Jamie Larson's article in this morning's Register-Star: "Old causeway still top issue."

Do not be misled. The public comment period ends on March 15 not on March 1 as the article states.

And read also Sam Pratt's response to Larson's article.

It's Groundhog Day . . .

and Punxsutawney Phil has predicted six more weeks of winter.

"Was There Ever Such Imprudence?"

I promised that from time to time I would publish excerpts from Alice B. Neal's novel The Gossips of Rivertown, and here's the first one. It's a fine introduction to "the gossips" and the object of their overzealous interest: the cheerful and hardworking Mary Butler.

Mrs. Harden stepped out a minute to tell Hannah, for the fortieth time, to be careful of the china, and as the door closed behind her, a bright face passed the window—and lo, another theme.

"If there isn't Mary Butler again!"—said one of the ladies, as the three looked after her retreating form.

"That girl's always in the street!"

"So John says!"

But horror for the moment suspended speech, and raised six hands simultaneously.

"Did you ever see the like?"

"She called him back, didn't she?"

"Yes, he had got to Stone's store."

"Well, I don't wonder he looks strange—just to see her shaking her finger at him, just as if she'd known him all her life, and to my certain knowledge, she never saw him before Mrs. Jackson's party; but when girls are in the street all the time, what can be expected?" Mrs. Folger drew a long sigh, and shook her head ominously.

Here Mrs. Harden returned, and was made acquainted with the important fact—all the witnesses speaking at once—that Mary Butler was going up street (for the third time this week, and it's only Wednesday)—and met Mr. Jorden just by the bank. He bowed very coldly (didn't he?) and was going on, when Mary Butler called him back, and they stood laughing and talking for as much as five minutes before she let him go. Miss Harriet, who had known him so long—a bowing acquaintance, of a year's standing—wouldn't have dreamed of doing such a thing. Her mother hoped not—no, certainly, such an imprudent thing!

The gentlemen came in before the wonder had fairly subsided, and the interesting intelligence was duly reported. How provoking Mr. Folger was! He could not see anything at all remarkable in the affair; perhaps they were old friends; and Mr. Harden would insist that Mary Butler had an undoubted right to go up street as often as she chose. But men are always so queer—they never suspect! There was more going on than some people thought for the ladies all agreed they should hear from that quarter again.

And so they did, for just as Hannah called them to tea, Harriet directed their attention to the window, with many a silent sign toward that corner of the room in which the gentlemen were discussing the projected river road; and there in the uncertain twilight of early spring, they saw—just as sure as you are reading this page—they saw Mary Butler going down street, and Mr. Jorden walking with her! Miss Harriet declared it was very hard to see why some people were “so much in the street,” in a manner that said as plainly as possible, that she thought it extremely lurid; and added that "she'd like to have brother John see her walking that way with Mr. Jorden," intimating that if he did, it would be the last time she'd get out that winter!

Perhaps it is worthwhile to remark that Mr. Jorden was one of the eligibles of Rivertown, and Mary Butler was a poor girl, with no income save that earned by a needle, which was probably the reason why it was so very improper, in the eyes of Miss Harriet, for her to be more than a speaking acquaintance to the "best match in town." Miss Harriet, by the way, had often been made happy for a week by a bow from him, and would have given her new gipsy-hat, plume and all, for a call from one so distingué.

Sketch the First. The Neighbours. Chapter I

How It Began

This picture, which appears in Byrne Fone's book Historic Hudson: An Architectural Portrait, shows the elevated railroad track going east and west through the South Bay. This is the railroad that ultimately became what is known today as the "causeway." The groundbreaking for this railroad on piles took place in 1874, but it wasn't completed until 1889. Unfortunately, the elevated track was not a success. The South Bay apparently has a "bad bottom" that could not support the trestle, so it was very soon filled in.

Imagine . . .

Six months ago, at the dedication of Henry Hudson Riverfront Park, Mayor Richard Scalera shared a vision for the future of the park and Hudson's waterfront. The dedication was the kickoff to the Namesake Celebration, Hudson's Quadricentennial festival, and the replica Half Moon was docked on our shore. For everyone who wasn't there on that occasion, here's an excerpt from the text of that speech:

As I said earlier, the river is not just our heritage but also our future. Quite literally so in terms of the improvements this riverfront has witnessed in just the past five years, and, most excitingly, in terms of the community-planned development that will follow in the next five years, and beyond. While reminding us of the past, this great Quadricentennial can give us glimpses into the future and point to creative new windows of opportunity. For instance, just imagine that instead of being here for only a few days, the Half Moon had good reason to spend more time here--coming and going, as if from a home port. Imagine one of the slips on the Henry Hudson Park grounds being reengineered to comfortably accommodate historic vessels like the Half Moon. Imagine the old brick warehouse building there, just across Water Street, as the Henry Hudson Maritime Museum, a perfect land-based complement to the floating museum that is the Half Moon. And, finally, imagine what something like this could mean for Hudson and its waterfront: a powerful new magnet for tourism, education, recreation, investment, commerce and quality-of-life. Just an idea, born of the river . . . that always has been and always will be a key to our future.

Photo by John Cody

Washington Hose Update

At the Common Council Legal Committee meeting on Wednesday, City Attorney Jack Connor reported that ownership of the Washington Hose firehouse is definitely a requirement if HDC (Hudson Development Corporation) is to carry out its plan to rehabilitate and reuse the building as a visitor information center, office space, and a conference room/training center. (See New Plan for Washington Hose below.) Connor also reported he was having difficulty finding the deed that transferred the land on which the firehouse stands from the Proprietors to the City of Hudson. He speculated that, since the incorporation of Hudson in 1785 preceded the establishment of Columbia County by one year, the deed might be in the archives of Albany County, of which Hudson was part until Columbia County was established in 1786.

While Connor seems to be busy trying to enable the transfer of ownership, it remains that any sale--or, in this case, gift--of city-owned real property must be approved by a three-quarters majority of the Common Council. Back in 2008, a coalition of First and Third Ward aldermen--called by some the "Gang of Four"--blocked the sale of Washington Hose to Charles Davi on the conviction that the building, because of its strategic location at the entrance to historic Promenade Hill, was far too important to the City's vital connection to its waterfront to allow it to pass into private hands. Transferring ownership to HDC would not be significantly different.

HDC, as Third Ward Alderman Ellen Thurston observed at a recent meeting of the new Economic Development Committee, is what the British call a quango--a quasi-autonomous nongovernmental organization. Although four city officials--the mayor, the Common Council president, the majority leader, and the minority leader--sit on the HDC board, HDC does not answer to the City. Were HDC to own Washington Hose, the City would not have significantly greater control over its future than if it had been sold to Davi.

The question is: Will there be enough votes on the Common Council to block the transfer to HDC? With two new aldermen--Sarah Sterling and Geeta Cheddie--representing the First Ward, it cannot be assumed that the "Gang of Four" will again stand fast to prevent the deaccession. However, there is some sense that the City is not happy with Markou's expectation. Treasurer Eileen Halloran, who supported the sale to Davi because the City had made a commitment to sell the firehouses to pay down the debt on the Central Firehouse (curiously, no one talks about that anymore), has expressed opposition to the transfer of ownership to HDC. At the Legal Committee meeting, Cheddie questioned the reasonableness of the City contributing $50,000 from its fund balance to rehabilitate the firehouse and then giving it away.

A better solution would be for the City to give HDC a long-term lease on the firehouse, similar to the leases that the State of New York has with various historic preservation groups on state-owned historic properties, among them the Plumb-Bronson House. Under the terms of such a lease, any rent paid by HDC to the City could be nominal, but the lease would give HDC an ownership interest in the building and could, if so agreed, allow them to recoup some of their investment by, for example, charging rent to the Chamber of Commerce, who, according to the plan, would occupy part of the building. The important thing is that the City would continue to own the firehouse and to control what happens to the building and the site.

The Wetland Road

I went to the Greenport Planning Board meeting on Tuesday night, as did others—Patrick Doyle, Ellen Thurston, and Christopher Reed—with an interest in the O&G/Holcim plan to use the old railroad bed from the quarry to the waterfront as a truck route. There's a report about the meeting by Mike McCagg on ccSCOOP, but there are a few things not included there that should be mentioned here.

I think it's fair to say that the Greenport Planning Board doesn't seem entirely pleased with the proposal before them, and Planning Board member Michael Bucholsky is most vocal in his concerns. He's worried about heavy truck traffic crossing the major thoroughfares into Hudson from the south. He's worried about protecting the Town of Greenport's aquifer. He's worried about the proximity of the proposed industrial road to the new high-tech fish farm, Local Ocean. It had been speculated that at Tuesday's meeting the Planning Board would determine that the O&G/Holcim application was complete and schedule a public hearing. But they didn't. Instead they asked them to come back next month with current traffic counts for Route 9 and Route 9G, a better explanation of the proposed road itself, and some indication of the impact heavy truck traffic might have on the aquifer.

Some interesting information surfaced during the course of the meeting. For one thing, O&G/Holcim seems to have upped the number of the trucks that will use the route. I seem to remember the number being 70 loads a day. On Tuesday night, O&G's Patrick Prendergast spoke of 80 loads a day--14 trips per hour made by seven drivers in seven trucks. He said it takes two days of this level of activity to load a barge, implying that the route would only be used when there was a barge at the deep-water dock. He also indicated that hauling aggregate did not occur in winter, which struck me as somewhat disingenuous since only a few days earlier, while walking my dog in the early morning, I had witnessed from the PARC Park on Warren Street two huge dump trucks, such as those used for hauling gravel, heading west on Columbia Street, one right behind the other. And not just the number of trucks but the size seems also to have increased. After making reference to tractor-trailers and being called on it, Prendergast admitted that a "mix" of vehicles would be used--both dump trucks and tractor-trailers.

We also learned a little more about the road itself. From 9G east, it will be two lanes, each lane 12 feet wide, with shoulders. (The picture accompanying this post shows the "road" heading east from 9G as it is today.) Going west from 9G, through the South Bay along the "causeway," it will be one lane "with turnouts." One wonders what etiquette will govern which truck--loaded or empty --has the right of way.

There was also some interesting mention of Hudson at the meeting. Don Alger, chair of the Planning Board, said that he had met with the mayor and "his staff." (Who, beyond Cappy Pierro, constitutes the mayor's staff?) Algers acknowledged that there were "citizens who don't want this," but Prendergast countered by saying that BFJ "considers it one of the better routes." The board concluded that they are interested in "opening up communications with the City of Hudson."

On the subject of moving aggregate from the quarry to the river, a friend pointed out recently that all the arguments and counterarguments of today are the same as they were back in 1874 when the people of Hudson had to put up with wagons hauling stone through the city from Becraft Mountain to the river. The problem, he concluded, was that the limestone deposit is in the wrong place. So it would seem. On the other side of the river, cement companies have given up on major limestone deposits because the New York State Thruway was built on top of them. I guess the existence and well-being of our little city falls short of representing the same level of hindrance.

Sanford Gifford's Grave

In August 2008, Peter Jung announced the discovery of the grave of Hudson River School painter Sanford Robinson Gifford in the Hudson City Cemetery. The announcement was just a wee bit misleading. The "discovery" had taken place five years earlier, and many of us already knew that Sanford Gifford was buried in Hudson and had even visited his grave, thanks to Don Christensen, who in 2003 put together a magnificently well-researched tour of places in Hudson related to the life of Sanford Gifford and other artists who were his contemporaries, to coincide with a major retrospective of Gifford's work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Jung's discovery of the grave inspired him to undertake a project, with art historian Alexandra Polemis and art enthusiast Paul Stein, to restore the family plot where Sanford Gifford and his wife, Mary, are buried. To this end, a restoration plan has been created and a professional stonemason has been identified to repair and reset the tombtones. All that remains is to raise the needed funds.

The cost of the project has been estimated to be between $10,000 and $15,000. So far, $6,500 has been committed. The restoration could begin this spring if the remainder of the money can be raised. To this end, a handsome blog was been created, where you can learn more about Sanford Gifford and his work and make a contribution to the cause.

In the 1980s, the New York State Historic Preservation Office determined that the Hudson City Cemetery was eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places for its notable collection of late 18th- and 19th-century funerary art. This status was confirmed by William Krattinger of SHPO in 2005. As a community, we should pursue National Register designation for our cemetery, and restoring the grave of one of the cemetery's most illustrious personages should be the beginning of that effort.

10 Percent in 2010

On a cold Monday night a couple weeks ago, a group of stalwarts gathered at the Hudson Opera House for a meeting organized by Sustainable Hudson Valley (SHV). The purpose of the meeting, as SHV Executive Director Melissa Everett defined it, was to "sound an alarm about climate change" and "seed an idea."

It was a meeting in two parts. In the first part, Barbara Ettinger and Sven Huseby, creators of the film A Sea Change (and, of course, Two Square Miles), talked about their experiences in Copenhagen at COP15. What I found most compelling (and, as a "gossip" instead of a reporter, I get to use the first-person singular) was not what they had to say about the conference but what they said about the experience of being in Copenhagen.

More than thirty years ago, as a consequence of the 1973 oil embargo, Denmark, after a three-year debate, made the commitment to sustainability. Today, Copenhagen is the model of sustainability. Ettinger talked about the preserved architecture of Copenhagen and about the bicycles of Copenhagen. Fifty-five percent of the people in Copenhagen cycle to and from work--and that includes tradespeople, such as electricians and plumbers, who carry their equipment on specially designed tricycles that have the two wheels in the front and the single wheel (and the steering mechanism) in the back. The design creates "cargo space" in front. For plumbers and electricians, this space is used for tools and supplies. For others, it's used for groceries, children, and/or dogs. Ettinger told how when it snows--as it did while they were there--the snow plows clear the bike lanes before they clear the roadways for cars. Sounds good to me.

In the second part of the meeting, Michael O'Hara, Director of Operations for SHV, held out the possibility of Hudson becoming a little Copenhagen. He proposed that Hudson accept the challenge of "10 Percent in 2010"--that is, that there be a concentrated campaign in Hudson to reduce carbon emissions--both individual and municipal--by 10 percent in the next year. O'Hara clued the audience in to Earth Aid, an online service that lets you track your energy usage. He also told about Bedford, NY, where the municipality took a bond to create a fund for energy-reduction improvements. Individual property owners could borrow from the fund to finance the installation of solar panels, individual wind turbines, or whatever, and their repayment would become part of their property taxes. The enabling legislation for such programs has already been passed by the New York State legislature.

On the municipal level, the idea was that the City of Hudson make a commitment to reducing its energy consumption by 10 percent in 2010. In pursuit of this, O'Hara was going to make a presentation to the Hudson Democratic Committee the next night. Hudson is, after all, controlled by Democrats. The mayor, the treasurer, the Common Council president, and nine of the ten members of the Common Council are Democrats--albeit Democrats of very different stripes.

The word is that meeting was very successful. Common Council President Don Moore reported that "the buzz is growing and looks genuine." Victor Mendolia, chair of the Hudson Democratic Commmittee, reported that Hudson elected officials had an informational meeting today--January 25--at Solaqua to learn about the requirements for Energy Efficiency Block Grants (part of the federal stimulus package) and to talk about which city buildings might be good candidates for the grant. The deadline for applying for Energy Efficiency Block Grants is February 17.

A Railroad Museum?

The progressive degradation of the South Bay began with the railroad transecting the mouth of the bay in the mid-nineteenth century. For more than half Hudson's history, the railroad has been a part of the waterfront, and in his comments at the LWRP public hearing, Patrick Doyle suggested a way that this part of Hudson's heritage might be commemorated.

There is a railroad trestle across one of the embayments at the waterfront--the only surviving bit of a spur that once went down closer to the river, possibly to the old gasification works. Doyle's suggestion is to restore the trestle, which is in remarkably good condition, move an antique railroad car onto the trestle, relocate the antique railroad crane that now sits across the street from the train station to the site, and create an outdoor railroad museum. Rather a nice idea.

At one time, there was talk about turning the current site of the crane into a sculpture park. A few years ago, Tom Swope nominated the crane for local historic designation, but that effort was sidetracked by city attorney Cheryl Roberts, who maintained that an object could not be designated separate from the land on which it stands, and the idea of designating the site or any part of it seemed to present insurmountable problems. Doyle's idea would be a good way to consolidate and protect these two vestiges of the past on our waterfront.

Alternative 3B Nuanced

In my report on the LWRP public hearing, which follows, I make reference to Alternative 3B Nuanced--Hudson's own "public option": a public road from Route 9G to the waterfront. This map shows the route of this public road.

LWRP Public Hearing

On Wednesday night, the public hearing on the draft LWRP (Local Waterfront Revitalization Program/Plan) and GEIS (Generic Environmental Impact Study) was held at John L. Edwards School. The turnout was estimated by one attendee to be about 150, but only ten people signed up to speak.

Since the Common Council is the lead agency for the LWRP and will ultimately make the decision to adopt it, comments at the hearing were addressed to the Council, whose members were seated at the front of the room--except for Fifth Ward Alderman Bob Donahue, who chose to sit not with his colleagues on the Council but with the mayor in the audience.

Among the ten speakers was a representative of the Hudson Power Boat Association who expressed concern about the expense of realizing the plans for the waterfront outlined in the LWRP. He talked about the declining population and declining tax base in Hudson and urged that a feasibility study be done before a position for a harbor master was created.

There appeared to be a large contingent of representatives from the Fugary Boat Club, the settlement of sporting shacks at the north end of Front Street, but they had designated one person to speak on their behalf. He appealed to the Council to let the Fugary Boat Club stay. Claiming that the squatters' settlement is "documented to have been there for a hundred years," he predicted that its destruction would be as great a loss to Hudson's heritage as the demolition, in the late 1960s, of the General Worth Hotel.

There was also a spokesperson for Hendrick von Ritter, who has an ongoing lawsuit against the City of Hudson, blaming the City for the flooding that occurs on his Tanners Lane property during major rain events. The spokesperson said that von Ritter is opposed to rezoning his property and warned that if the new zoning of the Waterfront Revitalization Area is adopted before the litigation is resolved, von Ritter will seek an injunction against the City.

The other seven speakers--Elsa Leviseur; Patrick Doyle, owner of Basilica Industria and unofficial "sheriff of the South Bay"; Peter Jung; Christopher Reed, board president of Friends of Hudson; Hilary Hillman; Mark Wildonger, planner for Scenic Hudson; and this writer--made statements that shared, with variations, a common theme: a private road through the South Bay for heavy gravel trucks is not a good idea. Some called for a hydrology study to be completed before any kind of road through the wetland is considered. Others stressed the scenic and recreational possibilities of the South Bay and its potential to help with storm water management. All advocated for a new route to the deep-water dock for gravel trucks that avoids both the residential neighborhoods and the South Bay, and some--this writer among them--supported specifically a public road to the waterfront that is being called "Alternative 3B Nuanced," making reference to the designation of alternatives to the "causeway" route identified in the GEIS.

Several of the speakers made reference to last summer's Namesake Celebration, Hudson's very successful Quadricentennial event, and called for a committed effort by the City to make Hudson the home port of the replica Half Moon and turn the old warehouse building across from Henry Hudson Riverfront Park into a maritime museum celebrating the history of Hudson and the Hudson River, an idea put forward by Mayor Scalera in his speech at the dedication of the park in July 2009.

In commenting on the proposed new zoning, Leviseur suggested that there should be an "arts overlay," which, similar to the inclusionary zoning being proposed for the current site of Hudson Terrace requiring that 10 percent of any new development be low-income housing, would designate areas within the Waterfront Revitalization Area where 10 percent of any new development would have to be set aside for artists' studios.

In his statement, Reed made the point that finding the best solution should always be the first step; dealing with obstacles comes second. In contrast to this, Scalera focused on the obstacles when he was quoted in the Register-Star as saying that Alternative 3B Nuanced was not a viable alternative because "L&B’s current owner . . . said to obtain the area proposed in the alternate public road the city would have to buy the whole property at $5.9 million." Acquiring the right of way for a public road that will benefit the entire community in multiple ways seems a worthy, legitimate, and compelling use of a municipality's right to exercise eminent domain.

The period for submitting written comments on the LWRP and GEIS has been extended to March 15, 2010. Comments should be directed to the Common Council and mailed or submitted to City Hall, 520 Warren Street, Hudson, NY 12534. The draft LWRP and GEIS can both be downloaded at the City of Hudson's website.

New Plan for Washington Hose

Last night at the first regular monthly meeting of the Common Council for 2010, a new plan for Washington Hose Firehouse, located at the base of Warren Street and the entrance to Promenade Hill, was presented by Peter Markou, Executive Director of HDC (Hudson Development Corporation) and HCDPA (Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency). HDC will rehabilitate the building, which is designated a historic landmark whose architectual integrity is protected by the Historic Preservation Commission, and occupy it in partnership with the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce. Kate Johns is the architect for the project, which is anticipated to cost $300,000. Markou expects the funding for the project to come from three sources: $150,000 from HDC; $100,000 from the Empire Zone; and $50,000 from the City of Hudson.

HDC, HCDPA, and the Chamber of Commerce will share the space in the rehabilitated building. HDC and HCDPA will have their offices on the second floor; the Chamber will have its office and a visitor information center on the ground floor. The truck bay will be converted into a conference room/training center which can function as a incubator for entrepreneurial businesses. Markou also anticipates a "festival marketplace" in the open space just south of the building, with fair weather businesses run from pushcarts.

Some familiar phrases were used by Markou when describing the project. He called Washington Hose "the anchor to the lower end of Warren Street" and "the gateway to the waterfront"--the same language used by the four aldermen who blocked the sale of the building to Charles Davi last year and were vilified for it. Last night, however, there were no disparaging words. Everyone seemed to embrace the idea enthusiastically.

Mayor Scalera pointed out, however, that the Empire Zone committee was "lukewarm" about funding the project and suggested that people call their county supervisors and Board of Supervisors chair, Roy Brown, to urge them to support the idea.

Some questions from the aldermen drew out useful and interesting information. Sarah Sterling (D-First) asked if the farmers' market could be moved to the area beside the firehouse. In answering this question, Markou mentioned the fact that city will soon own what he called the "River Loft Holdings"--the site of the two recently demolished factory buildings and the one remaining building on North Front Street that belonged to Bentley Meeker. This, Markou suggested, would be the perfect place for the farmers' market, and the surviving building could house a year-round farmers' market.

Geeta Cheddie (D-First) asked if any part of the project would produce revenue for the City of Hudson. In answer, Markou spoke generally of the benefits of new small businesses fostered by the incubator and increased tourism stimulated by the visitor information center strategically located close to the train station, but Cheddie's question seemed to want a more specific answer. When the idea of leasing the building surfaced, Markou said disdainfully, "I'm not paying $300,000 to fix up the building and then have to pay rent to the City." Later on in the discussion, it was revealed that HDC wants the City of Hudson to convey the property to them.

In view of HDC's expectations, it's interesting to recall that the not-for-profit Historic Hudson, whose proposal to lease Washington Hose was rejected out of hand by the majority of the Council last year, offered to pay rent to the City while using their fundraising and grant potential and their expertise to stabilize and restore the building, which would continue to belong to the City.

Still, the HDC proposal achieves important things. It ensures the survival of the historic firehouse and promises to strengthen the connection between Warren Street and the waterfront. In the end, Common Council President Don Moore declared that he thought the plan had the complete support of the Council. It remains to be seen if the idea of giving the building to HDC--an agency of the City but not a part of city government--has the Council's support.