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The following editorial piece on the City of Watervliet appeared in the Times Union on Sunday, July 25th:
WATERVLIET'S GEM
A perfect summer day late last week sent us off to Watervliet, to a place that gets our vote as one of the coolest in the Capital Region.
It's on the Hudson River, naturally enough, the regional treasure that brings a subtle majesty to the older, industrial cities along its shores.
Hudson Shores Park sits snugly, quietly, and even ironically next to Interstate 787, the ugly and imposing highway that restricted access to the river for a generation of Capital Region residents. It's a tidy spot, lacking the glitz of sorts of Albany's riverfront or the grander landscaping of other urban parks. It's graced by stately oak and maple trees, and sloping grass that ends at the water's edge. The Congress Street Bridge is at the southern border. Straight across the water, to the east, is the inviting urban waterfront of Troy.
Indispensable was the word that came to mind as we ambled through the park, along with easily a dozen or so other people, admiring the boats anchored adjacent to nearby Center Island. Mayor Mike Manning's efforts to make the river more enticing are succeeding. The people forever being told to celebrate the river and to consider its possibilities were doing just that. The roadways, offices and stores beyond the river, the various neighborhoods and all they offer, could wait.
The picnic pavilion was a pleasant and popular place for lunch when we visited, as was the Rusty Anchor restaurant located on a barge. The early evening had both places just as busy, while several clusters of fishermen gathered along the riverbank and a kayak or two came in and out of the water.
The Watervliet Arsenal might be where the jobs are. St. Patrick's Church, magnificent in its own right, might be where the splendor of the city's architecture is. Hudson Shores Park is its grand outdoor sanctuary.
The park is likely to become even nicer and more popular, thanks to a $200,000 investment. A new boat shed, with solar power capability, to hold crew shells could bring competitive rowing there. The bike path that extends south along the river could connect, if all goes according to plan, to the one that ends in Watervliet's other, smaller riverfront park opposite Fourth Street.
The city also intends to relocate the Arsenal's historic, glass-paneled greenhouse to Hudson Shores Park, where it will be an impressive testament to riverfront revival.
"It will be visible from Troy, the river and 787," says Rosemary Nichols, the city's director of Planning and Community Revitalization Department.
The word will be out then, all right, as it very well should be --Watervliet in all its glory.
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