Razing the roof
Tearing down to rebuild in Kingston
By JIM GORDON
Kingston’s uptown parking garage is being torn down,
leading some nearby businesses to say traffic past
their stores has declined precipitously and renewing
larger questions about the prospects of the picturesque
historic Stockade district in the city that served
as the first capital of New York.
“Its not good,” said Ivan Velilla, co-owner of Velsani
Arts and Antiques Inc. just across North Front Street
from the former entrance to the three story concrete
parking garage that is being demolished by heavy-duty
machinery. “There are a lot less people passing in
front the store, so less people are coming into the
store. We’ve lost more than half the (pedestrian) traffic.”
Arold Construction is doing the demolition for $589,000
and replacing the 317 space garage with 150 parking
places in a grade-level parking lot. The entire project
is slated to take 70 days or less. Meanwhile, there
is street parking available, although somewhat in short
supply, especially for workers in the area who can’t
necessarily leave work to go feed the parking meters
every two hours.
Some motorists are parking about a quarter mile away
downhill, in the unused portion of a shopping mall
parking lot, but then the Stockade can be accessed
only by an uphill climb along an industrial block bordered
by the parking garage demolition site on one side of
the street and a loading dock on the other.
Emerging at the top of the hill into the Stockade area
is an abrupt change into an area of shops restaurants
and offices in a historic setting. The sudden change
provides clues to why many business owners in the area
say the Stockade area is undiscovered by visitors.
But the area is kept alive during business hours because
the Ulster County office building and courts are within
the district leading to clogged streets during the
day and emptiness after dark.
City leaders have tried to change that with a massive
development paradigm. The Front Street parking garage
was the proposed site of a 12-story retail and residential
tower, with underground parking. It would have been
among the tallest structures between New York City
and Albany, before developers pulled the plug late
last year. The $65 million project by the New Jersey-based
developer Teicher Organization was controversial, with
preservationists saying it was out of scale with its
surroundings and city officials saying it would have
injected new residents into the area, which is often
moribund outside business hours.
The Teicher tower would have been a glass-sheathed
building with 214 condos, 10,000 square feet of retail
space, and 600 parking spaces located within and underneath
the structure, with 300 spaces of the new parking available
for the public.
Although those plans evaporated, the demolition of
the parking garage was mandated after a large chunk
of concrete fell this spring and lead inspectors to
declare the structure unsafe. City officials are still
seeking proposals for a mixed-use development there
but even if a proposal arises, some business owners
question whether the city has done enough to capitalize
on its history and charm.
“All those visitors passing on the Thruway to and from
Canada, and everywhere else, we should have even just
some billboards out there to let people know this is
here,” said Velilla, the antique dealer, who notes
Thruway exit 19 is less than a mile distant. “They
could easily stop in here. But nobody knows.”
The RBA Group consulting firm of New York City told
a meeting of city officials in January they found that
parking in the area was adequate, but that available
parking lots tucked into the narrow one ways streets
were not often used, because they lacked proper signage
to direct users there. A broader problem they saw was
a lack of signs to direct visitors to the Stockade
and guide them to the many historical and artistic
attractions in the area. No action has been taken yet
by city officials.
Kingston Mayor James Sottile did not return a call
seeking comment on the Stockade area of Kingston.
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