KINGSTON – It’s been nearly two months since the canopies of historic Uptown Kingston – known as the Pike Plan – were dismantled, and North Front and Wall Streets are bustling with activity—but not the kind that everyone was promised—at least not yet.
Privately hired construction workers are painstakingly restoring the facades of historic buildings at the points where wooden, reproduction, arched canopies were attached for over 50 years.
“It’s going to look beautiful I’m sure, but right now, there’s equipment outside my shop, taking up three parking spaces,” said Signore Barese, who has owned Vincenzo’s Pizzeria since 2009.
“The construction is keeping customers away, and it’s really too soon to tell if this is going to bring us more business.”
Kingston Mayor Steve Noble says property owners are working with the city’s planning department on creating plans, reviewing designs and have begun to invest in their buildings to make them more historically accurate.
“We have already seen folks who are reveling in the historic details that have been uncovered on these buildings,” said Noble. “People can now see what it looked like back before the canopies were in place.”
Earlier this month, the mayor announced a Minor Exterior Improvements Grant Program to help some shop owners to potentially get their hands on an additional $9,000 to help replace signage and awnings. Property owners who receive grants will need to shell out the money for improvements before being reimbursed by the city.
Noble says low-interest or bridge loans are available locally for those who don’t have the cash. The deadline for the grant application is April 17.
Thirty-six out of the 44 property owners have already been provided with legal settlements that compensated them with $1,000 per linear foot of their buildings. Mayor Noble said those agreements have been signed and settlement checks are being processed this month. “One-thousand dollars per foot is really not enough,” says a retail business owner on Wall Street, who wants to remain anonymous due to what she calls a ‘heated uptown subject.’ “When you consider the cost of painting, restoration, fixing downspouts, installing awnings, the settlement isn’t sufficient. I hope to apply for the grant.”
Many shop owners are disappointed, saying that no one bothered to survey customers through this process and that without its distinctive canopies, their shopping district will look no different from any other in the Hudson Valley.
Lisa Rosakranse of Kerhonkson recalled when the Pike Plan was put in place as she was leaving the Brickmen Kitchen and Bar on North Front Street. It began to rain heavily. “It would be nice to have those canopies right now,” she chuckled.
“I remember shopping here years ago at Christmastime, and they had holiday music pumping through the canopies with the snow falling. It was lovely,” said Rosakranse. “It does bug me, but I get it, and at least now you can see the beautiful faces of the buildings, so I see both sides.”
The city will be meeting with property owners to look at historic photographs of the district between 1950 and 1960. The city will replace the black plastic that is currently hiding the residual damage with historically accurate sign boards at no cost to the owners.
“The canopies made us different,” one anonymous shop owner said, “But I’m optimistic that despite what it looks like right now, we’re going to rally and get our storefronts looking great again.”
Noble contends that businesses outside the Pike Plan have historically done better than those sheltered by the canopies, although there are only anecdotal accounts and no data to support the belief. “We are energized,” said Noble. “We believe the visibility of their stores will far exceed any inconvenience they’re experiencing now. In a year, most people will come on board and realize that, although it was a tough decision, it was the right decision.”
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