Prospect Park Family Concert Series

The Friends of Prospect Park is proud to announce its second Family Concert Series. The concert, which are free and open to the public, are held in Troy's Prospect Park. Performances include:

• Tuesday, July 31, at 7:00 p.m. - The Zucchini Brothers - A favorite among local children, this band attracted over 200 people to Prospect Park last summer. Originally from Saratoga Springs, but now living in a clubhouse in ZucchiniLand, the Zucchini Brothers are well renowned for their work in schools, theaters and festivals throughout the country.

• Tuesday, August 7, at 7:00 p.m. - The Empire State Youth Percussion Orchestra - The most advanced area high school and middle school percussion players will delight the audience with vibes, electric bass, drum set, and an electric piano. The Hamilton Hill Arts Center Steel Drum Band - The group hails from Schenectady's Hamilton Hill Arts Center. A part of the center's innovative music program, they are the only youth-based steel pan group in this area.

• Tuesday, August 14, 7:00 p.m. - Andy "The Music Man" Morse - His program is high energy and interactive and he delights young audiences with his lively blend of sing-a-longs, dancing, play-acting and storytelling. A percussive rhythmic guitarist, mandolin player and songwriter, Andy creates an environment in which children feel comfortable and encouraged to participate. His concert in Prospect Park last summer drew 125 people and dozens of dancing children.

• Tuesday, August 21, at 6:30 (Note early start time) - Either/Orchestra - A ten-piece band from Boston, the jazz ensemble (two trumpets, trombone, three saxophones, piano, acoustic bass, drums, and congas) combines the agility and freedom of a jazz combo, the raw power and subtle coloring of a jazz orchestra and the deep grooves of Afro-Latin music. The concert is co-sponsored by The Sanctuary for Independent Media, a local community arts organization committed to promoting independent artists.

Prospect Park is located on Congress Street (Route 2) in Troy. For more information about the concert series or the Friends of Prospect Park, call 266-1433. All of the concerts are held rain or shine.

If you do head to the concerts, bring a picnic and blanket, or stop for dinner beforehand at one of Troy's great nearby restaurants, including Anselmo's (95 Ferry Street), Minissale's Wine Bar (14th Street), Muza Diner (15th Street), or Fisher's Pizza (Congress Street). Of course, there are many more -- check the sidebar at right for a few more ideas, or stop by the RiverSpark Visitor Center for a business directory with map, and other suggestions from the helpful staff. And if you want to learn a bit more about the historic Mt. Ida neighborhood that surrounds Prospect Park, visit the Historic Mt. Ida web site our BCon students developed this spring (FYI - The site's content is currently being moved from RPI servers to a new internet home, but should be available soon).

Historic Preservation, History, and Heritage in the News

It took forever to read the Sunday editions of New York Times and Albany Times Union yesterday. There were numerous lengthy articles relating to history, heritage, authenticity and visitor or shopping experience, and historic preservation. Some of the articles may be a bit of a stretch for this blog, but all are interesting, worth reading, and related in some way to the preservation of history, arts, and culture.

A sampling of the more relevant articles in the New York Times includes (login may be required):

• A Room for the Night (Not 40 to Life) (Alison Gregor, 3/18/07) - describes the conversion of the former Charles Street Prison (near Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston's Beacon Hill) into the somewhat humorously named Liberty Hotel. The $110 million reconstruction project includes a new 16-story tower adjacent to the former jail, which began operating in 1851, and the demolition of a daunting wall that separated the institution from the community since around 1940. The hotel will have 298 rooms, of which 20 will be in the old jail building, which had been vacant for 12 years. The project's developer, Carpenter & Company, became interested in the site because of its architectural significance and prime location with views of downtown Boston and the Charles River. The old jail is a "cruciform with four wings, [and] the structure has thick granite walls that enclose a soaring 90-foot atrium at its center — once used as an exercise yard — which is topped by a cupola. Soon, four huge chandeliers, 10 feet in diameter, will hang from winches over entrances leading to two upscale restaurants — one to be called Bread and Water — along with a 3,000-square-foot ballroom off the atrium." The architects are Cambridge Seven Associates and Ann Beha Architects. The project will likely receive $17 million in federal and state historic preservation tax credits and will include interpretive exhibits about the former prison's history. In addition to describing the Boston project, the article also indicates that adaptive reuse of former prison and jails is increasingly popular, referencing jail to bed-and-breakfast and youth hostel conversions; conversion of the Bexar County Jail (constructed in 1878) into San Antonio, Texas' Comfort Inn Alamo Riverwalk, conversion of Sultanahmet Prison in Turkey (contructed in 1918) into the 65-room Four Seasons Istanbul, depicted in the 1978 film "Midnight Express;" and conversion of Her Majesty's Prison Oxford into the Malmaison Oxford Hotel [England].
  

• A Chinese Village Struggles to Save the Dying Language of a Once Powerful Dynasty (David Lague, 3/18/07) - Noting that the decline of the Manchu language has become a serious obstacle for historians studying the Qing dynasty, this article describes the efforts of a small group of village residents, including 18 that are over 80 years old, to preserve the Manchu language. As the article notes, the residents are "descendants of seminomadic tribesmen who conquered China in the 17th century, they are the last living link to a language that for more than two and a half centuries was the official voice of the Qing dynasty, the final imperial house to rule from Beijing and one of the richest and most powerful empires the world has known. With the passing of these villagers, Manchu will also die, experts say. All that will be left will be millions of documents and files -- about 60 tons of Manchu-language documents are in the provincial archive in Harbin alone -- along with inscriptions on monuments and important buildings in China, unitelligible to all but a handful of specialists." An earlier article, Manchu Language Lives Mostly in Archives (David Lague, 3/17/07) and a video in which an elderly resident speaks and sings in Manchu are also available.

• Another article, In Aisle Three, Couch Potatoes Trying the MP3s (Michael Barbaro, 3/18/07), discusses retailers' growing use of a newish concept called "experience marketing," to sell more products to customers. Experience marketing can and should be a key aspect of downtown/Main Street revitalization programs rooted, of course, in older and historic downtown buildings and neighborhoods. The article notes that the experience marketing concept harkens back to the frequently changing themed displays at department stores in past years, and focuses on recent stores opened by Samsung, AT&T, Verizon, and Maytag (where customers can bake cookies in Maytag convection ovens, put pants through the gentle cycle of a washing machine, or put their best china through a dishwasher). Although Apple [computer] gets only a passing mention, it was perhaps the first company to use the concept in its retail stores and Starbucks and Barnes & Noble have also used the concept for years. For additional information about how Starbucks uses experience marketing, read The Starbucks Aesthetic (Susan Dominus, New York Times, October 22, 2006).
  

• Chasing the Ultimate Waterfall (Michael Joseph Gross) - the author relates how he began each day in the summer of 2005 by reading the books of explorer David Livingstone and then traced Livingstone's route to Victoria Falls in November of that year to celebrate the 150th anniversary of his discovery of the falls.
  

And, for fun, a great article about Ina Garten, a k a "The Barefoot Contessa," who like "The Naked Chef," Jamie Oliver -- and other chefs, farmers, and foodies -- long ago recognized the importance of fresh, locally produced food and the importance of place:

• The Barefoot Impresario (Micheline Maynard, 3/18/07)
  

The Times Union included "French aristocrat tale hides in Albany archives," Paul Grondahl's very interesting review of Sheila Kohler's forthcoming historical novel "Bluebird, or the Invention of Happiness." The book describes aristocrat Henriette Lucy Dillon's February 1794 flight from the angry mobs and guillotines of Paris and subsequent resettlement in Albany. The author will be talking about her research and will read from the book on Thursday, March 22nd at 8 p.m. as part of the Visiting Writers Series of the New York State Writers Institute at the University of Albany. The free public event will take place at Assembly Hall, Campus Center, University at Albany uptown campus, 1400 Washington Avenue. An informal seminar for writers will also be held at 4:15 p.m. in Assembly Hall. For more information, call 442-5620 or visit http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/.