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Call him the “grant man”. Since he took office in 2016, Kingston mayor Steve Noble has grown the city's grant portfolio from a few million dollars to more than $140 million, the latest being a whopping $21.7 million federal RAISE grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. It pays for a project Kingston calls Weaving the Waterfront. The ultimate goal is to fix flooding issues, build public infrastructure and turn a long-neglected stretch of underdeveloped waterfront into a hotbed of commercial and community activity.
The RAISE grant came after three rounds of applications, with help from Senator Chuck Schumer and Congressman Pat Ryan. Securing such massive grants "takes a lot of work by our team here, and a vision," Noble said. "Grantors want to be able to see that we have a vision and a commitment to moving our community forward, and we then are able to capitalize on that. We've been able to show the state that if you give us money, we'll spend it, and I think that's important."
The Weaving the Waterfront Transportation Project consists of several connected improvement projects. Noble started with the least glamorous piece.
"It's going to help raise the road along East Strand and North Street, so that when we have these flooding events, the road doesn't flood as often as it does today, which sometimes could be every day, at least once a day," he said. "No one wants to have to see a huge puddle in the road every time there's a high tide."
A key aspect of the project is to extend the Kingston Point Rail Trail, which currently runs from Midtown down to the Maritime Museum.
"This grant helps to pay for a new transportation connection and recreational corridor from basically the Trolley Museum all the way out to Rotary Park and Kingston Point Beach," Noble said. "We know that will really get more people to use the trail, get more people to that section of the waterfront, and create a seamless off-road connection for people from Midtown Kingston to get all the way out to Sojourner Truth State Park. To be able to have it all be connected, we think is good for tourism, it's good for business."
Sojourner Truth State Park is no small part of the plan to create a thriving waterfront area. The state is currently working on a $75.5 million buildout that will turn the park into a full-service public recreation destination. Plans include a large swimming facility in a spring-fed quarry, a bathhouse pavilion, upgraded roads and parking lots, new trails, public restrooms, outdoor event space and interpretive installations.
Another major waterfront player is Hutton Brickyards, which continues to expand its operations – most notably with large-scale entertainment events like the Rolling Stone Stateside festival on July 4, which is expected to draw about 4,000 people.
"It's one of our largest economic development engines,” Noble said. “It brings in lots of events and many big concerts... This will help make sure that there are sidewalks so that concertgoers can come in and out of the festival area, and the restaurant, and the hotel."
With so much already going swimmingly for the developed areas of the waterfront, Noble frames the project as the key to unlocking the remaining tracts of land which have high potential for becoming prime real estate.
"We are one of the more unique waterfronts along the Hudson that is not completely built out right on the water's edge," he said. He credited the late Rob Ianuzzi for assembling and cleaning up waterfront parcels, removing "all of the junkyards and old abandoned oil tanks," which left "these cleared, ready-to-develop areas that we think are really prime for redevelopment."
The strategy is to lead with infrastructure. "By putting in all of this public infrastructure, we're really creating the foundation for private investment to occur and be successful," he said. "By securing all of this state and federal funding, we're also showing to the private development world that Kingston is investing in itself, and we hope that they will invest in us too."
Opportunities for growth
Noble has made new housing a central part of his economic development agenda, and that priority carries through to the waterfront project.
"We want all different levels of housing types. We want all different levels of affordability ranges. It'd be nice to even have a little grocery store," he said. "The more people that live in a business district, the better it is for businesses year-round."
He wants residents, not just weekend visitors. "We want feet on the street. We want people living and working and dining and recreating, all right here."
Kingston's waterfront is also a cultural draw, anchored by the Hudson River Maritime Museum and the sloop Clearwater. Noble sees that history as integral to the economy.
"We have some of the best museums in the Hudson Valley located right here in downtown Kingston along our waterfront," he said. "Not only do they employ people, but they attract so many other opportunities." He pointed to American Cruise Lines, which docks at the Maritime Museum nearly every day from spring through October. That traffic helped launch a new historic trolley tour business in the city.
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