City seeks state aid to protect ruins
Money for Uptown work would come from Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant
An Uptown site where historic ruins stand could undergo improvements with the help of nearly $473,000 in state funding, according to a city proposal.
The city has included its “Upgrade Frog Alley Park” proposal in plans submitted to New York state for using $10 million in Downtown Revitalization Initiative, or DRI, money granted to Kingston by the state.
The Frog Alley project is among several the city has proposed funding with the DRI money. The state has final say over how the money is used.
The proposed improvements would include a new stabilization effort at the ruins of the Louw-Bogardus House, which was built in the 17th century. The site is across Frog Alley from Deising’s Bakery, between North
Front Street and Schwenk Drive.
“This project entails stabilizing the remnants of the historic Louw-Bogardus House and creating a public open space along Frog Alley, next to the ruins, by adding interpretive signage, lighting and park amenities,” the city says in its proposal to the state. “This ruin could be the earliest existing dwelling in the Hudson Valley, and potentially the entire country, and it is home to two very rare Dutch jamless fireplaces.”
The Frog Alley site currently is owned by the group Friends of Historic Kingston, which bought it from the Kingston Urban Renewal Agency in 1975 to prevent it from being demolished.
The Louw-Bogardus House was built by Pieter Cornelissen Louw, a laborer who had a milling operation, according to Friends of Historic Kingston.
The property sits at the northwestern corner of the Stockade Business District, and the upgrade would “create a gateway to the district as well as a quaint, historical green space,” the city’s proposal states.
“Communities like Kingston realize the positive economic effects of preservation, particularly preservation’s ability to serve the ‘triple bottom line’ — social, environmental (or ecological) and financial prosperity.
“In the last 20 years, dozens of studies have been conducted throughout the United States showing that historic preservation is good for the local economy,” the proposal states.
The city says the work at the Frog Alley site would take 15 months to complete. The project is predicted to cost $658,375, but the city is asking to put on $472,500 in DRI money toward the work. The rest of the cost would be covered by Friends of Historic Kingston and in-kind services from affordable housing agency RUPCO.
The most expensive part of the project would be the stabilization of the LouwBogardus House, pegged at $345,000. That work would include bracing walls, doors and window openings, and restoring walls.
“The goal is to develop a plan to finally stabilize the remnants of the historic Louw-Bogardus House to permit public access to the site,” the DRI proposal states.
“The instability of the structure necessitated installation of a chain-link ‘cyclone’ fence to protect the public,” the proposal adds. “This project would allow for its removal through the stabilization of the ruin.”
In addition to the stabilization work, the Frog Alley Park project would include placing an existing electrical pole and wires below grade or off-site; refurbishing an existing sidewalk; site grading and paving; maintaining and enhancing the existing lawn; and landscaping.
Possible future improvements, the city says, include construction of a brick or cobble plaza raised to the ruins; creation of a path from the sidewalk to the plaza; and the installation of small, low-maintenance gardens reflective of Dutch, Native American and African-American heritage within Kingston.