“Rensselaer Rising” Revitalization Plan Draft Ready For Review
RENSSELAER, NY (January 13, 2025) – Over the past 18 months the City of Rensselaer has been engaged in a planning effort that sets a vision for a major portion of the city. The study area encompasses the Hudson River waterfront, the downtown business district, the Amtrak Station and its surrounding land, the Fort Crailo Neighborhood, and the Columbia Turnpike corridor.
The planning effort included numerous opportunities for the public to share ideas about what they want to see in Rensselaer. This included a Visioning Survey that received 239 responses, a survey of employees at the NYS Office of Children and Family Services that received 78 responses, a Public Visioning Workshop early on in the process (March 2024) as well as various outreach events between April and October 2024 including a joint meeting with the Albany Riverfront Collaborative and NYS Department of Transportation regarding Reimagine I-787 and the replacement of the Dunn Memorial Bridge, Rensselaer Night Out, the Riverfront Park Farmer’s Market and a collaborative meeting at the Rensselaer Public Library regarding Rensselaer Rising and our Downtown Revitalization Initiative application. Meetings with Property Owners, Developers and other Stakeholders were also held over the past year.
Over the past few months City Staff, the Steering Committee and our Consultants from LaBella Associates and LAndArt Studio have been reviewing all the information gathered and to create a Revitalization Plan that includes a Vision Statement and Goals, a thorough Analysis of the Study Area, a Revitalization Strategy and an implementation Plan with Conceptual Renderings.
The first Public Presentation of the draft Rensselaer Rising Revitalization Plan will occur on January 23, 2025 from 6:00PM to 7:30PM at Rensselaer City Hall (62 Washington Street, Rensselaer, New York 12144). The Public and the Media are invited to learn about what is planned for the City of Rensselaer and to share comments on what is being proposed.
“Rensselaer Rising has been a monumental effort to develop a Revitalization Plan for the City of Rensselaer,” said Rensselaer Mayor Mike Stammel. “The Community, the Planning Department and our Consultants are to be commended for all the work that has been put into this process. We are all looking forward to reviewing the plan with the public and hearing comments about our efforts and ideas,” concluded Mayor Stammel.
Rensselaer Rising is funded through an $85,000 Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA) grant from the New York State Department of State. While historically focused on brownfields, the program has evolved and now looks at opportunities for investment and revitalization of underutilized, abandoned, or vacant sites.
For more information about “Rensselaer Rising,” and to get a preview of the Draft Revitalization Plan, visit the Rensselaer Planning Department’s website: https://www.rensselaerplanning.com. Interested parties can also contact Thomas Hulihan, City of Rensselaer Planning Director, at 518-462-4839 x 1527 or [email protected] or Norabelle Greenberger, AICP, Senior Planner at LaBella Associates at (518) 824-1922 or [email protected].
Contact: Thomas Hulihan, City of Rensselaer Planning Director
518-462-4839 x 1527 or [email protected]
Norabelle Greenberger, AICP, Senior Planner at LaBella Associates
(518) 824-1933 or [email protected]
Public Presentation of the draft Rensselaer Rising Revitalization Plan will occur on January 23, 2025 from 6:00PM to 7:30PM at Rensselaer City Hall 62 Washington Street Rensselaer, New York 12144