Meagher School has history. We have no problem fixing uptown and downtown to restore the history that it brings to the good old city of Kingston. Why not restore the history of something that matters to the entire community and not just the tourists. I don’t mind waiting a year to be able to use the school again as long as we don’t lose a lifetime.
Jennifer Boughton, Kingston
Galley plan a plus
The King’s Inn will soon be demolished. Finally. The property will be “shovel ready” for development in the near future. There are those who want a private developer to buy the property and put it back on the tax rolls.
The property has been assessed for $1.2 million. The city took it for unpaid taxes from the last private investor, whose source of income was almost exclusively from DSS. The taxpayers are on the hook for the cost of asbestos removal, which cost more than expected. The closing of the King’s Inn has been an expensive project. (It cost the taxpayers plenty before it was closed.) Selling it for market value makes financial sense.
What would a private developer do with this property on Broadway next to a gas station, around the corner from Henry Street in Midtown? Build a luxury hotel like the Noah Hotel plan down in the Rondout district? Or maybe a condo development with retail space like the one proposed for the Uptown parking garage property? Neither project materialized after years of being heralded as the next great thing. How many years will the fenced empty lot wait for that private developer? (Maybe as long as it took to renovate the Kirkland, which cost the taxpayers a bundle to complete and still hasn’t rented out the dining spaces.) Who really thinks that the price will be anywhere near $1.2 million? The most likely private project will be a mixed-use building, apartments and retail space. Will the developer invest in green construction, solar power, community gardens, job training? Who will rent these residential units around the corner from Henry Street? Will more privately owned and privately maintained low-cost housing benefit Kingston? Another absentee landlord or property management group, is that what we want?
What could the Queen’s Galley project bring to Midtown? Imagine for a moment the possibility of a beautifully designed facility that could the model for green technologies and building practices. Facilities that would be energy efficient. Rooftop gardens that grow food for the restaurant that would provide job training for student chefs, and other food and hospitality management positions. Food that could also be part of the meals for the many who now utilize the services of the Queen’s Galley due to the current economy. Perhaps some residential space for students in the job training program to ensure their safety and encourage their participation on the way to changing their lives. Perhaps catering as well in the continuing effort to be self-sustaining. This project could generate positive national attention as a model for community building, for design and energy efficiency, for job training, for urban farming. It could be the catalyst for the renewal of Midtown. A showcase of design and purpose on the business corridor of Kingston. This could be the only truly innovative project ever undertaken in Midtown.
I am not advocating a free ride for the Queen’s Galley and Diane Reeder. I am asking that each of our elected officials and hopefuls keep an open mind, that the community keep an open mind. This concept is in the first stages of planning. Those that have stepped forward and offered their services are investing their talents to better our community free of charge. It will cost us nothing to wait until the proposal is completed, to give actual plans real consideration.
How much will it cost to have an empty lot sitting for years, perhaps decades? Or to turn it into the most expensive parking lot in Kingston? The private developers are not knocking down the doors at City Hall. Given the economy and the tax burden on business property in Kingston, it will be a while for other proposals to surface. How much will it cost us in incentives and/or tax breaks to lure a potential private project.?
Those that aspire to govern will best serve the City of Kingston and her citizens, in my opinion, by actively listening to all sides, by serious study with an eye to the future past their final election. I am asking that we as a community give one of our own the common decency to withhold judgment until we are presented with the completed proposal. That we ask our elected officials and those who may be elected to wait for the finished plan before making decisions carved in stone.
Amy Murphy, Kingston
Join the family! 
