Preservation in the News

I apologize for posting less frequently than usual, and for mainly posting about things of local interest. Between entertaining and having fun with my mother (who is visiting for a month), the end of the semester, and other work obligations, finding time to write posts for this blog has been difficult. This will probably continue to be the case through late May, but I do hope you will keep reading and passing along items of interest.

Because of the aforementioned time constraints, I haven't been able to post most of the items that have been forwarded to me recently, but I will continue to do so as soon as time allows!

Aside from apologizing, I also wanted to post links to a number of recent preservation-related news stories from the New York Times, Times Union (Albany), and The Record (Troy).

• Thursday's Arts section of New York Times included Room With a View of an Architect's Retired Ideas (by Robin Pogrebin), a feature announcing architect Richard Meier's recent decision to allow the public to view "an array of models from projects spanning his 40-year career" -- by appointment only -- on Fridays, at a 3,600-square-foot studio in Long Island City, Queens. Included are approximately 300 models, ranging "from Mr. Meier's residential houses of the 1960s to early versions of his J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles in 1997." Appointments can be arranged by calling (212) 967-6060.
  

• Friday's Escapes section of the New York Times included the Day Trip feature Where No-Frills Fast Food (the Real Thing) Was Born (by Joel Keller) about the birthplace of roadside diners, Rhode Island. If you are a diner aficionado, you will enjoy this article. It describes an exhibition about diner history at the Culinary Archives and Museum at the Harborside campus of Johnson & Wales University in Providence. The exhibit includes a "full soda fountain, along with a vintage Worcester Lunch Car Company model, on display but in the process of restoration, that last served as the Ever Ready Diner in Providence." The article also notes that for "those obsessed with the history and design of diners, Providence -- with a handful of them in and around the city -- and its neighbors are a dream destination." A related text box provides information on the Seaplane (Providence), Modern (Pawtucket), and Jigger's (Greenwich) diners. Closer to home, of course, we have Albany's beloved Miss Albany Diner, which has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is well worth a visit.
  

Yesterday's Times Union was full of stories related to the upcoming 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's voyage to the New World, including Legacy in Dutch (compiled by Bob Gardinier), which provides photographs and "thumbnail" summaries of the location, siginificance, threat, and preservation of artifacts related to New York's Dutch history, including the Verplanck/Van Valkenburgh Dutch Bible at the Albany Institute of History and Art; 48 Hudson Avenue, which is considered the oldest house still standing in Albany; a Dutch-style farmhouse (Van Hoesen House) in Claverack, Columbia County; a portrait of Tobias Ten Eyck; and the Knickerbocker family mansion in Schagticoke, Rensselaer County. Unfortunately, this overview does not appear to be online, but more information about some of these projects is in the related articles below:

• Hudson's anniversary a transatlantic event (Bob Gardinier) - The 400th anniversary of Hudson's voyage will be celebrated in 2009 with numerous events. The article includes links to various web sites related to these events, including the Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Commission's web site; the Hudson River Maritime Museum's Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial web page; the Hudson 400 Celebration of Discovery web site; and the 1609-2009 Henry Hudson 400 web site.
  

• Dutch Albany in artworks (Bob Gardinier) - about local artist Len Tantillo's efforts to bring recently discovered archeological sites to life through digital technology. Recent projects have included a three-dimensional computer-generated rendering of the Dutch settlement in Schenectady in 1695. Tantillo is currently applying the same technology to show Dutch Albany in 1685 and Dutch Manhattan in the 1660s.
  

• Developer transforming farmland into Dutch village (Christine Brouwer) - about a Holland native's plans for a 200-acre development patterned after his Dutch home town in Stanfordville, Dutchess County, New York.
  

• This old wooden house surviving in modern times (no byline given) - about the historic Sharp House(ca. 1720, Laura Lane, North Greenbush, New York), which still stands despite nearby residential development. The house was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
  

The Times Union also featured the following preservation-related articles:

• Together, citizens and city succeed (by Lynn M. Kopka, president of the Washington Park Association and Friends of Washington Park), about how public-private-nonprofit partnerships are accomplishing historic preservation goals here in Troy.

• The revivalists (by Joseph Dalton), which describes Tony Rivera's and Jim Charles' re-energizing of the Cohoes Music Hall, and with it, the City of Cohoes and the local theater scene.

And, speaking of Cohoes, New York, today's Record describes a tour of four historic churches in Cohoes that I am sorry to have missed (perhaps the Spindle City Historical Society will offer it again):

• Tour illustrates Cohoes rich ethnic history (by Robert Christo) - As described in the article, the tour included St. Joseph's Church on Congress Street; St. Peter & Paul Ukrainian Church on Ontario Street; St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church on Saratoga Street; and the United Church of Cohoes on Mohawk Street.