QUEST FOR FUNDING
Kingston was turned down in one bid to get money for improvements to the park, but it is pursuing other opportunities for grants
Academy Green Park in Uptown missed out on funding for a facelift. But Kingston Mayor Steve Noble says his administration will continue to pursue funding for the improvements, which were outlined in the city’s Strategic Investment Plan.
The Strategic Investment Plan outlines potential projects that are earmarked for $10 million in a state fund known as the Downtown Revitalization Initiative. The city pitched for Academy Green improvements but, in the end, the project was not funded.
Still, it does remain a focus of Noble’s administration. The mayor has said that the city will continue to look for grants to get projects like the Academy Green one completed.
“The project entails access improvements to Academy Green Park to enhance furnishings and landscape, incorporate sidewalk mprovements, and provide water and electrical improvements as well as help the park become better connected
to the neighborhood, more accessible and more frequently used as an event space,” the Strategic Investment Plan says.
The city had requested $560,000 in DRI funding, according to the plan.
Academy Green is a 1.5-acre triangular green space, wedged between Albany and Clinton Avenues and Maiden Lane, between
the Uptown and Midtown neighborhoods.
According to the city’s plan, the project was to be implemented in two phases. The first one focuses on access.
“Phase 1 activities will involve access improvements to Academy Green Park to better connect the Kingston community to the park and increase usage of the space,” the plan says. “By implementing these components, it will also allow for the City to increase programming for community events.”
According to the Strategic Investment Plan, the improvements include:
• Redesigning sidewalks and intersections surrounding Academy Green to “improve pedestrian circulation to and through the park.”
• Providing an appropriate location for a mobile stage with a hydraulically operated roof system and 30-foot by 24-foot deck.
• Provide electrical and water improvements for “plug and play events as well as additional landscape lighting, plantings
and planting replacement, and protocols for vegetation management/replacement; development of a low-maintenance horticulture plan.”
• Add seating and visitor gathering space, particularly more site benches.
“Phase 2 potential additional improvements, would include Monument and statue restoration, the consideration of adding culturally inclusive installations, and other walkway upgrades and hard landscaping treatment within the park itself,” the plan says.