Center for Photography moving to Kingston cigar factory
Empire State Development on Tuesday announced a $1.5 million grant to renovate the building
KINGSTON — A large brick building once home to a cigar company in Kingston’s formerly industrial midtown district will soon take on the new purpose of boosting the city’s thriving arts and cultural scene.
The former Van Slyke & Horton factory at 25 Dederick St. will be transformed into the new headquarters for the Center for Photography at Woodstock. But first, the 40,000square-foot commercial building must undergo a $2 million facelift.
To support the project, Empire State Development announced Tuesday that it has awarded the city of Kingston with a $1.5 million Restore NY grant to rehabilitate the building, as well as a $350,000 capital grant recommended by the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council.
“Transforming a one-time cigar factory into the Center for Photography’s new home showcases how our strategic regional investments work to re-envision communities around New York state,” Empire State Development CEO Hope Knight said in a statement. “This historic building is now taking the long view, with a focus on art and education that will draw Kingston visitors and residents both now and for years to come.”
The Center for Photography will breathe new life into the vacant four-story building, which dates to 1907, by converting it into a photography museum, gallery and community educational center. Located close to Kingston City Hall and the recently redesigned Broadway-Grand Street intersection, the building is intended to support an economically distressed area targeted for revitalization in Kingston’s 2022 Arts & Culture Master Plan. The expansion will retain 60 jobs and create an additional seven, a press release states.
The first phase of renovations will include remodeling the basement and bottom two floors of the building into the
museum and educational center. The top floors will be renovated thereafter and will be utilized for “commercial activity related to the local creative economy,” according to CPW Executive Director Brian Wallis. The center hopes to move staff in by fall 2023.
Wallis expressed gratitude to the state for supporting the
project and recognizing the power the arts have in driving downtown revitalization and economic development.
“We look forward to transforming this architecturally striking, historic building into a cultural hub that helps to build a sense of community in the Midtown Arts District and assures that Kingston is a great destination to live, work and visit in the Hudson Valley,” he said.
Founded in 1977, the Center for Photography at Woodstock calls itself one of the nation’s leading venues for the presentation, instruction and critical discussion of photography in contemporary culture. The art institution was in Woodstock for 45 years before moving to a gallery space on Broadway in Kingston in 2021.
Last year, CPW sold its Woodstock building for nearly $1 million. It purchased the former cigar factory in February, a move that signified its goal of creating a model for “a community-based, artist-oriented photography and visual arts organization” that also aligns with Kingston’s values.
“CPW’s purchase and adaptive reuse of this long underutilized building fits perfectly within our economic development goals of continuing to support a vibrant arts and cultural hub here in the heart of Kingston,” Mayor Steve Noble said in a statement. “We look forward to the work planned for this building and seeing a new community development opportunity flourish.”