Irish Cultural Center approved
Planning Board votes unanimously in favor of Downtown project
The proposal to construct an Irish Cultural Center in the city’s Rondout Historic District has been granted final approval by the city Planning Board.
The board voted unanimously Monday night to approve the site plan for construction at 32 Abeel St., as well as a related parking waiver.
The approval came slightly more than six years after the group Irish Cultural Center Hudson Valley first appeared before the Planning Board to discuss its project. Plans for the center have undergone several changes since then.
The approved 16,213-square-foot facility is to include a 171-seat theater on its ground floor, which would be built into the hillside facing West Strand and the city-owned Company Hill Path.
The first and second floors of the center are to include a restaurant with a pub space, a small stage for performances, offices, a recording studio, archives, and room for educational programs, among other features. The roof is to have garden space for growing food to be used in the restaurant, as well as a viewing platform looking south toward the Rondout Creek, which the site overlooks.
The site is a vacant 0.43-acre parcel bordered on two sides by private properties and to the rear by the Company Hill Path, which connects Abeel Street to West Strand.
The developer plans to start construction as soon as possible but first must obtain a build-
ing permit from the city. A target completion date for the project has not been announced.
Prior to its vote on Monday, the Planning Board took comments from 13 people, most expressing support for the center.
Opponents raised concerns about the size of the proposed structure and how it will fit into the neighborhood, as well as what they said was a lack of parking. One questioned whether Irish Cultural Center Hudson Valley has the money needed to complete the project.
“Parking is a straw man,” Kevin Ginty said in support of the project. “Parking is a municipal issue.” He
pointed to other Kingston institutions, such as the Ulster Performing Arts Center on Broadway, that were approved without providing on-site parking.
Ginty also said communities that are experiencing revitalization of their Hudson River waterfronts are those where development is taking place.
The Irish Cultural Center will provide eight parking spaces on its site. For a project of its size, though, city law requires 55 parking spaces to be provided by the developer. The Planning Board’s resolution waives the remaining 47 spaces required.
Representatives of the developer have said municipal parking nearby will serve the center and that a shuttle bus will be provided during peak use times.