124-628: The Center Square/Hudson–Park Historic District is located between Empire State Plaza and Washington Park in Albany , New York, United States. It is a 27- block , 99-acre (40 ha) area taking in both the Center Square and Hudson/Park neighborhoods, and Lark Street on the west. In 1980 it was recognized as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places . Most of its buildings were constructed in
248-542: A 360-degree view because it has no windows on the west side. The Main Platform of the plaza itself is one of the largest buildings in the world. The complex incorporates 240,000,000 cubic feet (6,800,000 m ) of concrete, clad with 600,000 cubic feet (17,000 m ) of stone imported from many locations on three continents. A detailed walking tour guide can be downloaded, describing the many varieties of stone and concrete used in construction. The Swan Street Building
372-819: A block where it had never run." In the 1990s the CSNA and the Lark Street Merchants Association began working together in response to early signs of urban decay brought on by that era's recession . They formed the Lark Street Revitalization Committee and were able to secure approximately half a million dollars in grants to restore and redevelop the area. Eventually they formed a business improvement district that has worked to develop an arts community centered on Lark Street. It hosts several annual festivals, including Art on Lark, Winter WonderLark, its Champagne on
496-506: A canopy, the King Fountain relit at night, and the lilac shrub border around the periphery of the park being restored. Originally, Washington Park included many buildings: several shelters of untrimmed logs, a pavilion , wellhouse, croquet shelter, and lakehouse once dotted the landscape. The wooden lake house was replaced in 1929 with a "modern" brick structure while the others over time succumbed to age and changing use-patterns for
620-679: A few blocks west, at the corner of Madison and Eagle stands the Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The predominantly black Wilborn Temple was growing along with the African American population of the area. In 1957 it relocated from 79 Hamilton Street, within the area seized by the State in 1962, to the former Beth Emeth synagogue on S. Swan between Lancaster and Jay. Paying for the construction of
744-510: A footbridge was built over the lake in 1875. Nine acres of mostly row houses along Knox Street north of Madison were purchased, destroyed, and landscaped in 1880; this included the area that would be the site of the King Memorial Fountain. The large house and landscaped grounds of John Taylor was the last part of the park to be purchased, in 1882, since 1889 it has been the site of tennis courts. The northwestern corner that
868-622: A grand lake. The New York Legislature passed a law in 1869 authorizing the creation of a large public park on the spot and the creation of the Board of Trustees of the Washington Park of the City of Albany (later Commissioners). John Bogart and John Cuyler drew the plans for Washington Park in 1870. Bogart had worked for Olmsted and Vaux on Central Park in New York and later Bogart
992-416: A lack of interest from the private business sector. Washington Park has many activities open to visitors and residents, some maintained by the city, others are spontaneously set up by individuals. Washington Park's open spaces are often used by visitors to play boccie , volleyball , and badminton games. Tennis , basketball , and handball courts are maintained by the city in the park, and ice skating
1116-613: A park-like appearance. Englewood Place was a part of Robin Street until receiving its current name in the 1870s; it was laid out in lots in 1879, with large mansions and carriage houses built between 1879 and 1887. 5 and 7 Englewood Place were designed by Robert Gibson, who also designed the All Saints Cathedral . 5 Englewood Place became the residence of the University at Albany 's president after 1997. Thurlow Terrace
1240-406: A post office, a CDTA bus station , a visitor's center, and several retailers. The Concourse connects all buildings of the state plaza, and many state workers spend their lunch hour there. The Concourse also features various works of art and sculptures, part of the State collection of modern abstract art. The Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Art Collection is located throughout
1364-494: A route that includes Lark between State and Madison. While no building in the district is currently listed individually on the National Register, many of its contributing properties are noteworthy within its context. These were all built as single-family residences, although their use may changed over the years. Empire State Plaza The Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza (known commonly as
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#17327905322181488-507: A total cost exceeding $ 1.7 billion. As of 2014 , more than 11,000 state employees work at the complex. In May 2017, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo 's administration announced the state would later in the year begin construction on a new microgrid that would provide power to the Empire State Plaza. The new microgrid project is expected to produce 90% of the complex's yearly electric energy needs. The Cuomo administration said
1612-555: Is a New York state public-benefit corporation that was created in 1979 to manage the performing arts facility in the plaza. The plaza was the idea of Governor Nelson Rockefeller , who was inspired to create the new government complex after Queen Juliana of the Netherlands visited Albany for a celebration of the area's Dutch history . Riding with the queen through a section of the city known colloquially as "the Gut", Rockefeller
1736-854: Is connected to the MVP Arena (a covered sports arena , known formerly as the Pepsi Arena, and originally named the Knickerbocker Arena) by a pedestrian bridge and to the New York State Capitol by a tunnel. Additionally a tunnel that runs under the West Capitol Park connects the Capitol building with the Alfred E. Smith Building at 80 South Swan Street. The entire complex is wheelchair-accessible, except
1860-483: Is cut out of the park's otherwise rectangular shape was never part of the park; those plots were mostly owned by the Barnes family and developed into urban mansions facing Thurlow Terrace and Englewood Place. The process of buying and improving the land piecemeal was criticized because each improvement raised the value of the existing land that still needed to be purchased. The increase in property value can be shown through
1984-504: Is entirely residential except for the First Presbyterian Church, built in 1883 on the corner with State Street. Willett Street has many different styles including Queen Anne , Spanish Revival , Classical revival , Georgian , Romanesque , Italianate , and brownstones. Two larger apartment buildings, built in 1909 and 1927, break up the otherwise continuous row of older townhouses. One of those apartment buildings
2108-721: Is highlighted by the blossoming of 200,000 tulips throughout the park. The African-American tradition of Pinksterfest , whose origins are traced back even further to Dutch festivities, was later incorporated into the Tulip Fest and since 1998 the Tulip Fest has also included the Mother of the Year award. The Latin Festival and the Columbus Day Parade and Italian Festival are some of the ethnic festivals held every year in
2232-543: Is in the Art Deco style, while 57 to 87 South Lake, built in 1896–97 is a row of yellow brick facades designed by Albert Fuller . Englewood Place and Thurlow Terrace were constructed by the Commissioners of Washington Park and maintained by them for some time, with half the maintenance cost assessed on the private property facing the street. Restrictions were placed to prevent fences and unwelcome uses to preserve
2356-444: Is more than a quarter of a mile long (400 meters), and modeled partly on Pharaoh Hatshepsut 's Temple at Deir el-Bahri , Egypt. Originally, hundreds of Norway maples were planted; today, they have been classified as invasive plant species by the State of New York. The plaza also features an outdoor ice skating rink during the winter on one of the plaza's reflecting pools. Wallace Harrison served as supervising architect for
2480-714: Is not a museum". The Collection represents a significant attempt to "integrate the fine arts into the lives of those who ordinarily might not be exposed to them". The pieces in the Collection were selected by a commission appointed by Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller in 1965. The commission included Wallace K. Harrison ; Robert M. Doty ; René d'Harnoncourt ; Seymour H. Knox, II ; and (after 1968) Dorothy Miller . Governor Rockefeller reviewed and approved each artwork. The Collection features modern artists who worked in New York State. In Rockefeller's words: "New York
2604-458: Is often mistaken as being designed by Frederick Law Olmsted , as it incorporates many of the philosophical ideals used by Olmsted when he designed Central Park in Manhattan . The park is about 81 acres (33 ha) in size with the 5.2-acre (2.1 ha) Washington Park Lake , a roughly 1,600-foot-long (490 m) and 140-foot-wide (43 m) lake, in the southwestern corner. Not only
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#17327905322182728-513: Is permitted on Washington Park Lake, though swimming is prohibited. Bicycling is popular on the many roadways, many of which are closed to vehicular traffic. Though skateboarding is legal throughout the park itself, the monuments and ball courts in the park fall under a citywide ban on skateboarding on public monuments, statues, and tennis/basketball courts. Washington Park is the site of many festivals, concerts, and special occasions. The Tulip Festival held every year since 1949 in Washington Park
2852-566: Is the Benjamin Walworth Arnold House and Carriage House , the only buildings in Albany designed by Stanford White. Willet Street is a northbound one-way street comprising three blocks, stretching from the southeastern corner of the park at the intersection with Madison Avenue to the northeastern corner with State Street. All of Willett Street is in the historic district, including approximately 33 buildings. The street
2976-728: Is the Willett, formerly the Wareham, a five-story building built in 1909 that spans 84–92 Willett Street. This building sits on a former site of the New York State Normal College , predecessor to the University at Albany, which burned in 1906. The oldest building on Willett to maintain its original facade, 22 Willett, was built in 1872. Nearby 28 Willett Street was the home of Martin Glynn , an owner and publisher of
3100-515: Is the center of the contemporary movement in the (international) art world. ... [T]hese great artists should be represented in the state complex." Significantly, Rockefeller preferred modern art with no explicit social or political content: "I like strong, simple painting without a message". There are 92 works created between 1952 and 1973 by 63 artists. Of these, 16 pieces are site-specific commissions. Artistic styles range from Abstract Expressionism to Minimalism , Pop Art , and Op Art . Thus,
3224-418: Is the park historic, but so is the mostly residential surrounding neighborhood. Many architectural works line the streets facing the park, designed by some of the most famous architects of the late 19th century, including Henry Hobson Richardson . At least two governors of New York lived in buildings facing Washington Park outside of their term in office. Due to the historical and architectural significance of
3348-542: The Albany Times Union , a state comptroller, and the governor of New York from 1913 to 1914. Glynn was the first Catholic New York governor and the only longtime Albany resident to reach that position. Madison Avenue is part of the cross-country US Route 20 , and at four lanes wide it is the busiest street in the district. Recently a road diet decreased the lanes to 2 lanes with a center turning lane and bike lanes . Roughly 90 buildings on Madison Avenue face
3472-403: The Alfred E. Smith State Office Building . Among those are the city's oldest black church and the firehouse that housed its last volunteer fire department . One of Albany's legendary figures, longtime mayor Erastus Corning 2nd , was born in a house on Chestnut Street; another, gangster Legs Diamond , was murdered in one on Dove Street. Development of the neighborhood began in the 1840s, when
3596-536: The Empire State Plaza , and also as the South Mall ) is a complex of several state government buildings in downtown Albany , New York. The complex was built between 1965 and 1976 at an estimated total cost of $ 2 billion. It houses several departments of the New York State administration and is integrated with the New York State Capitol , completed in 1899, which houses the state legislature . Among
3720-556: The International Style . The Egg is built in the Brutalist style. The scale of the buildings in the plaza is imposing, and the complex is the most easily recognizable aspect of the Albany skyline. The 44-story Corning Tower is the tallest building in New York State outside of New York City, and features an observation deck on its 42nd floor. It is free and open to the public on weekdays. However, it does not feature
3844-545: The Revolutionary War a decade later, and its aftermath, had limited the city's growth. The land where the district would later stand was known as Pinkster Hill, since the annual spring festival held by the area's African Americans , both slave and free, was held there until 1822. Even when the city began to grow again significantly after becoming the eastern terminus of the Erie Canal in 1825, its expansion
Center Square/Hudson–Park Historic District - Misplaced Pages Continue
3968-749: The Richardsonian Romanesque Temple Beth Emeth (today known as the Wilborn Temple, and used as a church), formed from the merger of two synagogues that had once been bitter rivals, was completed at the corner of South Swan and Lancaster. The nearby blocks soon attracted the city's wealthiest Jewish families. While the rest of the neighborhood grew, the blocks south of Elm Street remained largely undeveloped during this early period. The Hinckel brewery had been located at Park and South Swan since 1855. But for residents, those blocks were too far from downtown Albany and
4092-590: The State Capitol and the Hudson River . The plaza has also been criticized for the cost of its lavish architecture ( marble and other imported stone are used throughout), its sheer size, and its period architecture. In a sharply critical 1976 The New York Times article, architectural reviewer Paul Goldberger described the complex as "a compendium of clichés of modern architecture ". He further commented that "Ultimately, of course, one realizes that
4216-495: The United States along with locals as well. It is one of the largest all-women races in the world, and has served as the 5K national championship in 1989, 1990, and 1993–2004. The streets surrounding Washington Park, State Street to the north, Willett Avenue to the east, Madison Avenue to the south, and South Lake Avenue to the west, along with Englewood Terrace, Thurlow Terrace, and the residence at 76 Western Avenue to
4340-410: The current state capitol and Washington Park were built. It continues to remain so, although it did not get its current names until two neighborhood associations were formed to resist urban renewal in the 1960s and '70s. The district is a roughly rectangular area with a regular boundary on the east and an irregular one on the west, roughly bounded by Spring Street on the north, South Swan Street on
4464-507: The 1831 houses at 334–336 State Street, with Italianate cornices added in the 1850s. Nearby, and with no later additions or changes, is the 1837 house at 321 State Street. In 1842 the Israel African Methodist Episcopal Church , the oldest black church in the city, bought land at its present site at 381 Hamilton Street. It built a church there which burned down two years later. Just to the west of
4588-560: The 1860s. An 1890s-vintage electric pole for the system, one of two left in the city, is in front of 401 Hamilton. Builders almost exclusively put up groups of attached brick rowhouses , often demolishing any earlier structures on the property, changing the character of the district. Their models ranged from simple buildings for working-class families to high-end houses for affluent buyers. Judge William Learned commissioned Russell Sturgis to design homes for his family at 298–300 State Street in 1873, one of only two buildings Sturgis designed in
4712-462: The 1950s Dutch elm disease ( Ceratocystis ulmi ) killed all the elms that once populated the park and crab apples were planted to replace the elms along the pedestrian mall. After deteriorating over the decades Washington Park saw a revival in the 1990s and 2000s with the flower beds being restored to their original specifications, the pedestrian mall removed of pavement and widened to its original dimensions with disease-resistant elms planted to form
4836-698: The 42nd floor. On the south end is the Cultural Education Center , set on a higher platform; and on the north end is the New York State Capitol . While the Capitol predates the plaza, it is connected to the Concourse by an escalator which allows underground access to the rest of the plaza, most notably (to the New York State Legislature , at least), the Legislative Office Building. The plaza
4960-462: The 98.5-acre site on March 27, 1962, through eminent domain . Demolition of the 1,200 structures began in the fall of 1962 and continued through the end of 1964. The official groundbreaking was on June 21, 1965, with an initial cost estimate of $ 250 million. The project was plagued by delays. Unrealistic schedules set by the state forced contractors for various parts to interfere with each other during work. The difficult working conditions caused some of
5084-516: The Center Square Neighborhood Association (CSNA), Albany's oldest such organization, which ultimately lent its name to their neighborhood. By the late 1960s it had played a key role in the city's zoning overhaul. In the early 1970s it successfully opposed both a plan to demolish four buildings for a parking garage, and an attempt by McDonald's to open a restaurant in the neighborhood. The later condemnation of
Center Square/Hudson–Park Historic District - Misplaced Pages Continue
5208-515: The Collection is "an encyclopedia of abstraction as practiced in the sixties". Free guided tours for groups or individuals are available by appointment, and self-guided Acoustiguide tours are also available. The Empire State Plaza has at least 15 memorials of various types, built by the New York State Office of General Services. An illustrated and annotated self-guided tour brochure is available for download. The memorials on
5332-537: The Commissioners of Washington Park also gained control of other existing parks, and built new ones throughout the city, including Academy Park, Bleeker Park, Hudson Avenue Park, Clinton Square, Rensselaer Park, St. Joseph's Park, Townsend Park , Beaver Park (later Lincoln Park ), and the former grounds of the Dudley Observatory . In 1900 the board of commissioners was transformed into the Bureau of Parks in
5456-618: The Department of Public Works and later the bureau became a separate department. In 1958 Lancaster Street, which had previously ended at Willett Street opposite the park, was extended through to Northern Boulevard (today Henry Johnson Boulevard). Associated with this extension Northern Boulevard was also widened and both Lancaster and State streets were turned into one-ways. Entrances to Washington Park from Thurlow Terrace and Englewood Place were closed in 1972 turning those into dead end streets from Western Avenue. In 1988 Washington Park Road
5580-509: The Lancaster Street location in 1862. The Lancaster church boasted several Tiffany stained glass windows, attesting to the former wealth of the area. It relocated to Hackett Blvd. in 1965. Just outside the area seized by the State stood 3 churches. St. Anthony, on the corner of Madison and Grand (the building now houses Grand Street Community Arts), was the largest and most vibrant of the three nearby Catholic national churches. Just
5704-472: The Middle Public Square. In 1800, the land west of Knox Street to Robin Street and south from State Street to Hudson Avenue was taken for a cemetery, which was apportioned into sections for each of Albany's churches. There were separate sections for African-Americans and for strangers. West of the cemetery was the alms-house farm and the penitentiary grounds. In 1809 the Middle Public Square
5828-544: The Park annual fundraiser and LarkFEST, said to be the largest single-day open-air street festival in upstate New York . Since at least the 1970s the city's gay community had been centered on Lark Street. As gay visibility increased in the 1990s, Lark became identified as Albany's gay village . The Pride Center of the Capital Region has its office on Hudson near Lark. The city's annual gay pride parade has followed
5952-569: The Plaza itself, there is an eerie feeling of detachment. The Mall buildings loom menacingly, like aliens from another galaxy set down on this marble landing strip." Washington Park Historic District (Albany, New York) Washington Park in Albany , New York is the city's premier park and the site of many festivals and gatherings. As public property it dates back to the city charter in 1686, and has seen many uses including that of gunpowder storage , square/parade grounds, and cemetery. The park
6076-470: The Ruttenkill Creek ravine was filled in. In those early years, houses built there reflected the socioeconomic diversity of the residents. Some were large, high style buildings, the homes of wealthy city residents; others were smaller, more vernacular interpretations built in groups for lower-income buyers. Later, in the last decades of the 19th century, it became a more desirable neighborhood after
6200-896: The State Street Capitol entrance and the Concourse tunnel to the Swan Street Building. An access map is available onsite or is downloadable. Crossing under the plaza is the South Mall Arterial , a short highway artery connecting to the Dunn Memorial Bridge . Construction of this highway destroyed many buildings of Albany's downtown. In the initial proposal, the highway was to go from Interstate 90 in North Greenbush (current exit 8 to NY Route 43 ), through Rensselaer, under
6324-562: The Westminster Presbyterian Church, was next in 1862, followed by the Emanuel Baptist Church at 275 State seven years later Other socially prominent residents who moved into the area at that time include Anthony Bleecker Banks, who served as state legislator and mayor , and James Eaton, supervising architect of the new state capitol , who developed many of the homes in the area as well. In 1889
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#17327905322186448-407: The area before the city was developed was filled in. A similar depression occurs, for the same reason, in the district's southeast corner next to Lincoln Park. The 99 acres (40 ha) of the district are urban and densely developed. The majority of its approximately 1,200 buildings are two-to-four-story attached brick rowhouses , or similar detached townhouses , usually three bays wide, built in
6572-521: The area finally gave their name to both neighborhoods,. as well as guiding their development into, once again, an affluent and desirable area of Albany to live in. For most of the colonial era , Albany had been confined by a defensive wooden stockade to its present downtown. It had come down after British victory in the French and Indian War ended any threat from the French , but the tensions that led to
6696-644: The buildings as being in "The International Power Style of the Fifties", comparing the buildings to those built by Fascist governments ( Fascist architecture ). Architecture critic Martin Filler , quoted in The Making Of Empire State Plaza , says "There is no relationship at all between buildings and site, neither at grade nor atop the podium, since all vestiges of the existing site have been so totally obliterated. Thus, as one stands on
6820-480: The buildings have fine details such as decorative tiles, terracotta, or stone. On the corner of State and Willett is located the First Presbyterian Church, designed by J. Cleaveland Cady in 1882, and the church is noted for its four Tiffany windows. New York Governor John Alden Dix lived at 491 State Street before and after his term in office. 423 State Street is owned by the University at Albany and used by its Center for Legislative Development. At 465 State Street
6944-518: The buildings torn down for the Empire State Plaza were rooming houses. In them lived over 1,000 single men, often elderly and poor. They made up about one third of all households and at least 15% of the take area's population. The eastern part of the take area, where the South Mall Arterial is now, was Albany's "Gut", an area of cheap hotels, flophouses, and dive bars. The take area also boasted elegant homes, particularly on State Street at
7068-481: The city at that time rose sharp bluffs penetrated by the ravines carved by the small local tributaries of the Hudson. To better connect the growing city's neighborhoods, they were filled in over time. One such filling, the Ruttenkill Creek, made possible the development of the future historic district in 1845. The new area, between Hawk, State, Lark and Madison, attracted builders very quickly. Fire Station No. 6, home to
7192-401: The city from outlying locations had become easier, and many of those wealthy residents faced with that choice took the latter route, taking up full-time residence in what had up to then been their summer homes, and beginning the suburbanization of the Albany area, a process that accelerated after World War II . In 1958 residents of the six blocks between State, South Swan, Jay and Lark formed
7316-448: The city's colonial period and even after the opening of the Erie Canal , it was little-used and remote from downtown . Development accelerated after Ruttenkill Creek ravine was filled in 1845. By the end of the century the area was one of the city's most prestigious addresses, but change began slowly in the early 20th century, with more non-residential use creeping in. Later in the century, the neighborhood associations formed to preserve
7440-456: The city's last company of volunteers , was built at South Swan and Jefferson streets in the 1860s. In 1867 Lydius Street was renamed Madison Avenue after former U.S. President James Madison , a move that was attacked as an effort to further cleanse Albany of its Dutch colonial past. Horsecar service, later replaced by electrified streetcar service, was introduced along a route following Hamilton Street to Lark and then south to Madison Avenue in
7564-490: The city's western fringe. Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a French national Catholic church, was at 109 Hamilton, between Grand and Fulton streets. Like Holy Cross, the church had seen a drop in parishioners to the point that in 1961 it celebrated only four baptisms and one marriage. Assumption relocated to the northern suburb of Loudonville. First Methodist Church, dating back to the 18th century, stood on
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#17327905322187688-598: The city. Originally architects and builders worked in the Italianate style, but later projects used contemporary styles like the Second Empire and Queen Anne modes. In the early 1850s the Israel AME Church finally rebuilt, allegedly from a design by its pastor, The Rev. Thomas Jackson. It is the oldest church building in the district. The State Street Presbyterian Church at 260 State Street, today
7812-603: The complex, within the underground Concourse, buildings, and outdoor areas. The Collection includes 92 large-scale paintings, sculptures, and tapestries at various locations. Glenn D. Lowry , director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, has termed the plaza's display of American art "the most important State collection of modern art in the country". The Collection has also been called "the greatest collection of modern American art in any single public site that
7936-465: The contractors to successfully sue the state later. Most of the construction was overseen by successive Office of general Services commissioners Cortlandt V. R. Schuyler and Almerin C. O'Hara . The first building to be completed was the Legislative Office Building in 1972, and the last was the Egg in 1978. Though the plaza was dedicated on November 21, 1973, it finally began full operation in 1976 at
8060-462: The conversion of a brewery into apartments, Repeal was heralded by one of the most notorious events in the district's history. In the early hours of December 12, 1931, gangster Legs Diamond , who had grown rich partly through sales of illegal liquor, was shot dead in his hideout on the upper floor of 67 Dove Street as he slept off a party the night before. The killing officially remains unsolved. The Great Depression , which followed, had an effect on
8184-564: The corner of Hudson and Philip streets. After the State demolished the church, its congregants decided to merge with Trinity Methodist on Lark and Lancaster Streets, rather than try to start up again in a new location. St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church at 8 Lancaster Street was the heart of the Greek-American community, and was in the midst of a major expansion campaign when the state seized the area. It relocated to Whitehall Road on Albany's fringe. A bit further west stood St. Paul's Episcopal Church at 78 Lancaster Street. Founded in 1827, it moved to
8308-456: The district after the Smith Building. Although most commercial use in the district is of mixed-use character, occurring in the basements and at street level of otherwise residential rowhouses, there are some historic commercial buildings, as well as larger modern, non-contributing development like supermarkets and gas stations. Formal open space in the district is limited to the small Hudson–Jay Park between those two streets near South Swan and
8432-426: The district's largest building. As subsequent office buildings in the district were not architecturally sympathetic with the rowhouses around them, it is considered the district's youngest contributing property . Elsewhere in the district during the first three decades of the new century, in 1903 a granite memorial fountain to geologist James Dwight Dana was erected by members of the Dana Natural History Society,
8556-475: The district's longtime residents as they aged. Nine years after its 1915 construction, in one of the city's greatest engineering feats, the Fort Frederick was moved, intact and with furnishings, to its present location at 248 State from Washington and Swan, in order to make way for what was eventually built as the Alfred E. Smith State Office Building . Existing houses were subdivided into apartments as well. In 1913, with Prohibition appearing more and more likely,
8680-420: The district. Since the 1890s the wealthy families that lived there had often merely rented their rowhouses while owning summer residences outside the city, in then-rural communities like Loudonville , Slingerlands , Altamont or Selkirk . In the 1930s, cash-strapped landlords began pressuring their city tenants to either buy the properties outright or move. With the advent of the automobile, commuting to work in
8804-484: The east, Park Avenue on the south and Lark Street and Delaware Avenue ( U.S. Route 9W , and also New York State Route 443 south of Madison Avenue) on the west. Dove Street transects the district longitudinally. Center Square, the northern section, is considered to be those six blocks between Lark, State, South Swan and Jay streets. South of that is Hudson–Park. The boundary begins at the intersection of Washington Avenue ( New York State Route 5 ) and South Swan Street. On
8928-450: The entire mall complex is not so much a vision of the future as of the past. The ideas here were dead before they left the drawing board, and every design decision, from the space allocations to the overall concept, emerges from an outdated notion of what modern architecture, not to mention modern government, should stand for." In his 1980 book, The Shock of the New , Robert Hughes refers to
9052-402: The entire project, with other associated firms as listed below. The buildings constituting the plaza include: The buildings are set around a row of three reflecting pools . On the west side are the four 23- story , 310-foot (94 m) Agency towers. On the east side is the Egg (Meeting Center) and the 44-floor (589-foot (180 m)) Erastus Corning Tower , which has an observation deck on
9176-508: The form of rent for a plaza that was officially county property. Ownership was then to be transferred to the state in exchange for regular payments in lieu of taxes. Control of the bond issues gave Corning and party boss Daniel P. O'Connell influence when dealing with the Republican governor. The bonds were paid in 2001 and the state assumed ownership, though it required years of paperwork to change title. The state obtained possession of
9300-498: The former Amsdell Brewery at 175 Jay Street was also converted into apartments. The vacant Albany Card and Paper Company plant at 270–76 Hudson Street was converted into a movie theater in 1916. This trend toward larger buildings and greater density culminated with the completion of the Smith Building in 1928. The 34-story Art Deco skyscraper, the second tallest building in Albany at 387 feet (118 m) instantly became
9424-479: The historic character of the neighborhood. They pointed out that residents often competed for parking with state workers in the buildings at Empire State Plaza, and that older residents and those with small children had considered moving to the suburbs due to the parking problem. Others have complained that the CSNA's opposition to sidewalk cafes near residences, and some art galleries on the Lark Street end of
9548-428: The interests of only its members in preserving the neighborhood's high property values at the expense of the city as a whole. Specifically, when organized opposition by the CSNA and other groups in the city prevented the construction of another proposed parking garage in the late 1980s, some residents of adjacent blocks complained that they had been open to the plan as long as it could be amended to show more sensitivity to
9672-661: The intersection's southwest corner is the Alfred E. Smith Building , the district's largest, near the New York State Capitol , a National Historic Landmark , and the State Education Department Building , also on the Register. From there the district's eastern boundary runs straight south along South Swan for one-half mile (1 km), past the modern buildings of Empire State Plaza and the New York State Museum , to Park Avenue at
9796-495: The lake house has been the site for the performance of plays by the Park Playhouse for over 20 years. A 900-seat amphitheater faces the lake house allowing for comfortable seating for the over 60,000 people who visit every year. A proposal by the city to turn the lake house into a 125-seat restaurant and 200-seat banquet hall with an expanded dock with boat, cross-country ski, and ice skate rentals failed to materialize due to
9920-492: The late 19th and early 20th centuries, with some dating as far back as the 1830s, in a diverse array of architectural styles from those eras. Many prominent architects, including Marcus T. Reynolds and Russell Sturgis , have extant work in the district. Only 22 buildings are more modern, non-contributing properties . While 80 percent of its buildings are attached rowhouses , giving it a predominantly residential character even today, it also includes churches, two small parks and
10044-412: The late 19th or early 20th centuries, in a range of architectural styles from late Federal to Colonial Revival , high and low. They are often grouped in similar clusters due to simultaneous development, although no one style predominates over a single street or block. There are a few older timber frame houses, mainly in the south end on Myrtle and Park avenues. Many properties have detached garages in
10168-615: The loop at the aborted stub end of the South Mall Arterial , and the very small Dana Park on Delaware Square where Delaware Avenue and Lark merge at Madison. However, many of the houses in the district have large backyards. Vacant lots, not all of which have been converted into parking lots, also provide breaks in development. Many streets have been lined with mature trees to further provide shade and calm traffic. Some retain their original cobblestone or brick pavement, and crosswalks have been paved with them in other areas. Center Square and Hudson–Park have four distinct historical periods. During
10292-414: The lot lines to the west side of the Smith Building lot, where it turns to Washington to take in that building. Topographically the district reflects the proximity of the Hudson River a half-mile (1 km) to the east. It generally slopes slightly in that direction. There is a more pronounced dip centered on Hudson Avenue in the eastern (Center Square) portion, where one of the ravines that characterized
10416-543: The neighborhood, restricts the area's growth by keeping out businesses essential to a desirable urban setting. Historic preservation of the neighborhoods led the producers of the film adaptation of William Kennedy 's novel Ironweed to use Lark Street as a location. The story takes place in Albany during the Depression, which did not need to be recreated as many buildings from that era still stood. "The trolley came back to Lark Street in Albany," recalled Kennedy, "on
10540-523: The neighborhoods east of South Swan for Empire State Plaza , and the plans to extend the South Mall Arterial freeway west along Jay Street, spurred the creation of the Hudson/Park Neighborhood Association in the 1970s. It succeeded both in stopping the highway project , and giving a name to its neighborhood. As it had been when the area was first developed, Center Square and Hudson/Park were socioeconomically diverse at
10664-410: The north edge of Lincoln Park . The boundary continues two blocks west to Delaware Avenue, where it turns north along that street for one block. Then it turns west at Myrtle Avenue, avoiding a large modern building on the intersection's southwest corner, to follow it west for one block. It then turns north along Lark Street for two blocks, turning west again at Dana Avenue. After taking in two lots on
10788-502: The north side of the street, it follows the lot lines off the street to the middle of the block, turning west to take in all the buildings on the south side of Madison Avenue ( U.S. Route 20 ) to just opposite the intersection with Willet Street, at the southeast corner of Washington Park. The buildings on Willet are part of the Washington Park Historic District , so the boundary turns east again, excluding
10912-415: The northern end and Elm Street below Madison. The area in and around the seized area had long been home to immigrants and their churches. Five churches operated in the area in the years just before its seizure by the state. Holy Cross, a German national Catholic church founded in 1850, was at the corner of Hamilton and Philip streets. Due to declining numbers, it relocated in 1959 to Western and Brevator on
11036-729: The northwest, are all included in the Washington Park Historic District. Most of the existing properties date to after the 1880s, with very few predating the creation of the park. State Street is a one-way eastbound street along Washington Park's northern border. Over 60 townhouses sit on State Street facing the park; most are of brick or brownstone and three stories tall. Many of these homes were built for industrialists, bankers, railroad executives, and politicians by notable national architects such as Henry Hobson Richardson and Stanford White , and local ones such as Marcus T. Reynolds and Albert Fuller. Many of
11160-601: The offices at the plaza are the Department of Health and the Biggs Laboratory of the Wadsworth Center . The Empire State Art Collection, a major public collection of 1960s and 1970s monumental abstract artworks, is on permanent display throughout the site. The New York State Office of General Services maintains the plaza. The Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Performing Arts Center Corporation
11284-434: The oldest women's science organization in the country, eight years after his death, in the small park now named after him where Lark Street and Delaware Avenue merge at Madison Avenue, had this granite memorial erected to recognize the scientific accomplishments of James Dwight Dana , who had died eight years prior. The society raised the money itself and ensured that the trilobites , crinoids , and eurypterids depicted on
11408-544: The park and neighborhood both were included in 1972 as the Washington Park Historic District ; and in 1998 the park was named one of the nation's 100 most important parks by the American Association of Architects. In 2008 Boston -based composer Peter Child wrote an orchestral piece inspired by the park, entitled Washington Park . Washington Park has been public property since the Dongan Charter
11532-560: The park and no longer stand. The footbridge over Washington Park Lake, erected in 1875, is the only remaining original structure in Washington Park. The lamps on the bridge were originally gas lamps, but they were electrified in 1881. The current Washington Park Lake House was built in 1929 replacing the original stick style structure constructed in 1876. It is constructed in the Spanish Revival style with terracotta , terrazzo , brick, and guastavino tile . The area in front of
11656-478: The park and other parks as well, this allowed the commissioners to build a series of boulevards around the city. Western Avenue from the northwestern corner of Washington Park to the location of the toll gate of the Western Turnpike was under the purview of the commissioners. Work on the road began in late 1876 and was finished the next year. The total construction cost of the park, including purchasing
11780-863: The park. The city, the Albany Police Athletic League, and Hannaford supermarkets sponsor the Capital Holiday Lights every winter, with 125 displays through the park. Proceeds benefit juvenile crime prevention programs. Many fund raisers are held every year in the park as well, such as the American Cancer Society walkathon and the Freihofer's Run for Women . The Freihofer's Run is an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Silver Label race that draws professional marathon runners from Kenya , Ethiopia , Australia , and all across
11904-469: The park. East of the intersection with Robin Street, Madison is more urban with 19th-century rowhouses ; west of Robin Street is dominated by large detached residences , many of which have been converted to medical offices. A few buildings, such as 694 and 710 Madison predate park improvements that occurred across the street at the Taylor property, which later became basketball and tennis courts. 682 Madison
12028-400: The plaza are as follows: The complex was the subject of significant controversy around the time of its construction. About 7,000 people were evicted under eminent domain , mostly from working-class and poorer sections of older Albany. The construction of the plaza occurred during the decline of Albany's downtown shopping district, and the massive displacement of population allegedly hastened
12152-493: The plaza complex, including some with direct access to a bus station in the underground Concourse. Those routes that stop inside the plaza loop are: 214, 224, 233, 519, 523, 524, 525, 540, and 560. There are also 2 routes that stop at Madison avenue outside the plaza, right in front of the NYS Library, routes 21 and 114. The Concourse is Albany's " Underground City " with food courts, a former McDonald's restaurant, banks,
12276-436: The plaza was a major problem, since a bond issue for an Albany project would almost certainly have been disapproved by the statewide electorate. Despite the displacement of thousands of loyal political voters, Albany Mayor Erastus Corning worked with Rockefeller to engineer a funding scheme that used Albany County bonds instead of state bonds. During repayment, the state guaranteed the principal and interest payments in
12400-553: The plaza, and connecting to the also-cancelled Mid-Crosstown Arterial, which would have extended from I-90 Exit 6, through the city, traveling underneath Washington Park, meeting with the South Mall Expressway in the process, and continuing on to the New York State Thruway at Exit 23. The current South Mall Arterial ends abruptly in a loop at Swan Street, with both eastbound and westbound lanes using
12524-425: The process. Numerous restaurants, specialty shops, two major department stores, and downtown's last movie theater had shuttered by the end of construction. The majority of the displaced residents had not owned cars, and they had shopped locally. The construction of the elevated plaza separated the largely residential neighborhoods surrounding Washington Park and points west, from the largely commercial streets between
12648-547: The project should save the state $ 2.7 million in annual energy costs and cut down on greenhouse emissions . The project will use natural gas-fired turbine generators . The Empire State Plaza consists of various steel and reinforced concrete buildings, all clad in imported stone (except The Egg, which fully exposes its concrete structure). The buildings are placed on a 6-story stone-clad Main Platform, supported by more than 25,000 steel pilings driven an average of 70 feet (21 m) into soft glacial clay deposits underlying
12772-543: The real estate and improving Western Avenue, was $ 1,073,020.91. In 1878 Northern Boulevard (today Manning Boulevard ) was constructed by the commissioners, it extended from the western end of their jurisdiction on Western Avenue north and east to the intersection of Clinton and Central avenues. In 1896 the state legislature also gave the commissioners authority over Lake Avenue from the park corner at Madison Avenue south to New Scotland Avenue (then- Albany, Schoharie, and Rensselaerville Plank Road ). In addition to boulevards
12896-424: The rear, either converted carriage houses or built as garages in the 20th century. Scattered around the district are other building types, primarily institutional. They range from the 34-story Smith Building at the northeast corner and the brick structures of the former Hinckel Brewery on Park Avenue to the six churches, most notably the Wilborn Temple on Lancaster Street, whose tower is a secondary focal point of
13020-526: The riverfront to walk to work there, and no streetcar lines reached them. In 1886 the ravine to the south was filled and Lincoln Park created. Development there remained slow, however. Another park helped transform the district into a more upscale enclave. Over the course of the 1870s and 80s, Washington Park was gradually acquired and developed. The streets around it became the city's newest desirable addresses, with their wealthy residents building newer, larger houses. The spillover effect on property values on
13144-416: The same time, the African American population had doubled in the downtown census tracts between 1950 and 1960. At the time of the State's 1962 seizure, the largest ethnic group in the entire area was African American, at about 14% of the total population. First and second generation Italian Americans made up about 10% of the area's population. The 98-acre area was made up of several distinct neighborhoods. To
13268-525: The site. The exterior columns and narrow windows of the buildings resemble the style of the World Trade Center towers in New York City, which were completed around the same time. The placement of starkly abstract geometric building forms on a monolithic plaza is said to represent Rockefeller's concept of architecture as similar to sculpture. The plaza as a whole is an example of Modern architecture , with all buildings but The Egg being built in
13392-485: The south, clustered around Madison and Grand streets was the heart of Albany's Italian American community. Although only about half of Little Italy was seized by the State, the demolition and subsequent noise and dirt associated with the construction of the Empire State Plaza led many residents to move, even if their homes were not appropriated. To the north lay Albany's rooming house district, centered on Jay, Lancaster, and Hudson streets between Eagle and S. Swan. About 10% of
13516-532: The streets to the east was enhanced when the new state capitol was built just to the east. By 1896, two years before the capitol was complete, every street in the district had at least one address on Albany's Social List . In the first decades of the 20th century the neighborhood began to change slightly. Large apartment houses were built, such as the buildings at 352 and 355 State Street. The latter, designed by Marcus T. Reynolds , architect of many of those prominent buildings from this era, would become popular with
13640-860: The time the neighborhood associations were established. Over the course of the 1980s, that changed in Center Square as the CSNA's success began to make that neighborhood a desirable place for the young professionals of the era to live. By 1990 it had the highest rents in the city. The CSNA helped residents fight the city over a property tax reassessment in the late 1980s that many of them believed had singled out their neighborhood. It also successfully opposed another parking garage proposal at that time. The neighborhood association's success in getting its way with city politicians has been attributed to its membership including many lawyers, civil servants and other well-connected present and former residents. It has sometimes drawn criticism as an elite group that represents
13764-597: The two lots just east of the intersection. It then follows rear lot lines through the middle of the next three blocks to Spring Street, where it turns east. From there it follows Spring east for a thousand feet (300 m), abutting two more Register-listed properties, the Walter Merchant House and Harmanus Bleecker Library , part of the Washington Avenue Corridor Historic District , to Dove Street. It continues along
13888-578: The two outer portals of the four-portal tunnel leading under the plaza. (The inner two were to be express lanes to the Mid-Crosstown Arterial/SME interchange underneath the park.) The only evidence of the original Mid-Crosstown Arterial is the four level stack interchange for I-90 at present day US 9 . There are multiple parking lots within the lower levels of the Main Platform. There are several CDTA bus routes serving
14012-440: The value of the lands surrounding Washington Park almost doubling in the six years in which the majority of the park improvements were made; from $ 2,696,688 in 1869 to $ 4,843,440 in 1875. The properties next to Washington Park on Robin Street, which was renamed Englewood Terrace, increased in value from $ 9,500 in 1875 to $ 175,800 by 1891. The Commissioners were given by the state additional powers to build and maintain approaches to
14136-449: The water basin, which also served as Albany's last public horse trough, were accurately depicted. Nearby, at 25 Delaware Avenue 14 years later, in 1917, Morris Ryder built a Dutch Colonial Revival brick house for the fire department, ending its 23-year quest for a new central signaling location in a fireproof building at an isolated location to replace the one at headquarters damaged in an 1894 fire. As Prohibition had been anticipated by
14260-550: Was begun in July 1870 and finished by the end of the year. During 1871 the former cemetery was landscaped and that area reopened as part of the park. The section of Washington Park between Lexington (formerly Snipe) and Robin streets was the focus of work in 1873, including the damming of the Beaverkill to form Washington Park Lake . In 1874 focus shifted to roughly 15 acres (61,000 m ) along Madison Avenue from Lake to Robin and
14384-562: Was designed to be appreciated from across the Hudson River , as the dominant feature of the Albany skyline. When the State of New York seized the area in March 1962, it was home to about 7,000 residents according to the 1960 US Census. Like urban cores in most other American cities in the Northeast and Midwest, downtown Albany had seen sharp declines in white population, downtown retail activity, and hotel occupancy rates since World War II. At
14508-523: Was embarrassed. He later said, "there's no question that the city did not look as I think the Princess thought it was going to". Rockefeller conceived the basic design of the complex with architect Wallace Harrison in flight aboard the governor's private plane. Rockefeller doodled his ideas in pen on the back of a postcard, and Harrison revised them. They used the vast scope and style of Brasilia , Versailles and Chandigarh as models. The massive scale
14632-615: Was formerly the home of the Academy of Holy Names . It is currently administrative offices for the Albany Medical Center Foundation. South Lake Avenue facing Washington Park consists of 23 rowhouses, a modern apartment building, and a converted carriage house . The Elouise Apartments were built in 1927 in the Classical Revival architecture style and are eight stories tall. 55 South Lake Avenue
14756-510: Was granted to Albany incorporating it as a city. The charter specified that all land not privately owned at the time became property of the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the city of Albany , including the land that would become the site of Washington Park. A portion of the land was set aside for a structure built to house gunpowder in 1802, and in 1806 the areas between Willett and Knox streets, and between State Street and Madison Avenue, became
14880-539: Was hired in 1869 to plan such a park. In their plan they envisioned Washington Park as the centerpiece of a string of parks and boulevards similar to those they had designed in Buffalo , Boston , and Brooklyn . Though Olmsted and his company was not involved in the actual design of the park, their broad vision was followed for the detailed designs, including the idea of damming the Beaver Kill (Beaver Creek) to form
15004-440: Was primarily north and south along the Hudson River , where the land was level. A few residents ventured to the west. Some of those early houses, such as the 1827 Alfred Conkling House at 353 Madison Avenue, the district's oldest. Several houses were built on State and Lydius (today's Madison Avenue) streets during the 1830s. These were generally small timber frame buildings, a few of which remain, mostly small cottages, such as
15128-643: Was renamed Albany Plan of Union Avenue in honor of the colonial congress held in Albany by Benjamin Franklin that proposed closer ties and support among the Thirteen Colonies . In 1991 Northern Boulevard from its intersection with Madison Avenue and Willett Street north through the park and continuing to Livingston Avenue in Arbor Hill was renamed Henry Johnson Boulevard in honor of African-American World War I hero Henry Johnson . In
15252-496: Was renamed Washington Square, and later the Washington Parade Ground. In 1868 the remains and headstones in the cemetery were removed and reinterred, most to Albany Rural Cemetery , and some to the cemeteries of other churches. For years leading up to the creation of the park, the leading citizens and newspapers in Albany had pushed for a grand public park. Frederick Law Olmsted 's Olmsted, Vaux and Company
15376-569: Was the chief engineer for the New York City Department of Parks from 1872 to 1877. From 1869 to 1872 R.H. Bingham was the chief engineer in charge of the drafting of the plans and the supervision of construction, after 1872 his assistant William S. Egerton took charge. It was under Egerton that the formal garden settings were planted. Work on the Washington Parade Grounds between Willett and Knox streets
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