City issues permit for Irish center construction
KINGSTON, N.Y. >> The developer of the Irish Cultural Center has obtained a building permit from the city that’s good for one year.
Summer Smith, Kingston’s director of communications and community engagement, said the permit was issued on June 18, the deadline for obtaining it.
Smith in an email that the permit was issued for “the construction of a foundation and site work” and is good for a year from the date it was issued.
The developer applied for the permit in May, a year after its failure to do so set the project back.
The Kingston Planning Board approved the project’s site plan in April 2018, but that approval became invalid when 120 days passed without the developer applying for a building permit.
That meant the developer had to go back before the Planning Board for a new approval of the site plan, which was granted by
unanimous vote this past February. That restarted the 120-day clock for the developer to get a building permit, with June 18 being the deadline.
The Irish Cultural Center is to be built at 32 Abeel St. in Downtown Kingston, on land overlooking the Rondout Creek. The plans calls for a 16,213-square-foot building comprising a 171-seat theater on the ground floor, which would be built into a hillside; film
and music program space; an art studio and exhibition gallery; a dance studio; and a restaurant with a pub space, among other amenities.
The project has a troubled history, including opposition from neighbors, a lawsuit that ultimately was dropped and violation
notices issued by the city.
The most recent problem was in April, when a 7-year-old boy who lives next door to the construction site narrowly escaped injury when ground gave way beneath his feet at the property line. He was able to catch himself before falling.
Previously, neighbors have complained about water runoff from the site and damage to their properties since excavation was done last year to make way for the center’s construction. The developer was cited by the city engineer for violations at the site in August 2018,
though those violations were corrected.
In response to the excavation problems, the Kingston Common Council adopted changes to the City Code intended to provide more oversight and regulation of such work when it takes place on private property.