Urban Renewal · Kingston--The IBM Years · Hudson River Valley Heritage Exhibits

Broadway, Rondout, looking east from East Union Street, 1969 or earlier. Collection of Friends of Historic Kingston

Kingston’s Urban Renewal Plan aimed to “eliminate substandard and deficient areas and transform them into standard ones.” Note the sign on the building on the left, “Urban Renewal Relocation Office.” The entire left-hand side of the street was demolished in 1969.

Cornell Building, formerly at Broadway at Ferry Streets, Rondout, 1969(?). Collection of Friends of Historic Kingston

This building, once the center of the Cornell business interests, lay vacant prior to demolition as part of the Urban Renewal plan.

“Rubble is spot where Cornell Building stood,” 1969. Collection of Friends of Historic Kingston

After the Cornell building on Broadway in Rondout was demolished, and before the site was cleaned up, this is what Broadway looked like.

Lower Broadway, Rondout, 1982. Photograph by Richie W. St. Remy

The east side of Broadway looked like this for approximately 15 years until construction began on row housing on the east side of Broadway in the late 1980s.

East side of Broadway, Rondout, 1989. Photograph by Richie W. St. Remy

Twenty years after the east side of Broadway was demolished during Urban Renewal, construction had begun on new housing.

Former City Hall, 1968-71, Broadway and Garraghan Drive, Rondout. Photograph by Stephen Benson

Albert E. Milliken designed this one-story building with a Colonial portico. It replaced the old City Hall in Midtown and, after Urban Renewal, was meant to be a sign of the City’s interest in and concern for the Rondout neighborhood. It now houses the City Court and Police Department.

Rondout Neighborhood Center, Broadway, Rondout, Kingston, 1968-73. Photograph by Stephen Benson

Construction of the Center during Urban Renewal was supported by Federal funds. The initial design was by the Augustus Schrowang firm and plans for the completion of the building were done by architect Albert E. Milliken. Compare the fortress-like quality of the Neighborhood Center to the Ulster County Office Building.