Townsend Park Turnaround: Workshop creates plans to improve neighborhood park

Townsend Park is at a crossroads, literally and figuratively. Not only is the little triangular park located at a fork in two busy roads, it is now at an important turning point. The city of Albany and the Central Business Improvement District are working with concerned citizens and nearby business owners to try to reclaim the park, and make it a more attractive place for the community.

The park has long been a destination for vagrants, and frequent drunk and disorderly conduct citations are given out there, said Anthony Capece, Executive Director for the Central Business Improvement District. This group wants to turn that around, and make the park less attractive for undesirable activities, and more attractive for shoppers, after-dinner crowds from the adjacent restaurants & Lark Street, Capece said.

The community group met in late winter, and then again in early spring to discuss their plans. At the recent meeting, held at the Townsend Park Bakery, Barton & Loguidice Consulting, an engineering firm, introduced some modifications that could help change the park’s personality, Capece said. The engineering firm made suggestions about maintenance, lighting, trees, and plantings, all with an eye towards making the park more useful for the public. Then, the panel discussed ideas and made some suggestions of their own.

Other concerns that the groups have brought up:

    1) The age & safety of the overgrowth of the trees and the lack of quality grass

    2) The appearance of the parking lane on Central Avenue near the meters

    3) The lack of any kind of "feature" like a fountain or light display

    4) the landscaping and long term control of the ammenities (benches, trash cans, statues etc)

Now, the next step is for the consulting firm to digest that information, and create some design plans for the park. Then, another meeting will be held to review those plans, and make some decisions about how to proceed, Capece said.

“We want to take the whole park and make it better,” Capece said. “We want to say, ‘What functions here, and what doesn’t,’ and then make changes.”

Boost for non-profit: NABA expands manufacturing

With the economy in a prolonged downturn, it’s nice to hear some good news every once in a while, and the Northeastern Association of the Blind at Albany has some. “You pick up the Business Review and everything’s doom and gloom, and meanwhile, we’re growing,” says Christopher Burke, Executive Director of the Association.

This quarter, the Northeastern Association of the Blind at Albany (NABA) hired eight new employees for its manufacturing unit.

Sales have gone up, too, Burke said. This year’s sales are already up $828,000 over last year’s, and with orders continuing to come in, Burke expects to them to go up even further.

The association attributes increased demand to government stimulus money and the manufacturing unit’s faster turn-around. “We’ve improved operations so much that turnaround is up,” Burke said. “Now we’re getting repeat orders.”

Located on the third floor of the NABA building at 301 Washington Avenue, the manufacturing unit consists of a vast network of industrial sewing machines, other machines for fabrication, and storage and shipping facilities. Here, sighted and visually impaired employees work together to construct safety vests, tyvek suits, and other uniform components for organizations including the New York City Transit Authority, the Long Island Railroad and the U.S. military. On a recent weekday afternoon, employees, NABA’s workforce totals 90, bustled over the machines, and carted materials back and forth across the busy floor.

The association also houses a clinic for the visually impaired, and provides services and programming for children, adults and the elderly, including training programs and summer recreation programs.

Recently, New York State Senator Neil Breslin awarded the association a $15,000 grant to help expand the children’s programming—another good piece of news. The association will use the grant money to help set up technology facilities for the youth on the 4th floor of the building. There, kids will have access to tools like magnifying screenreaders, voice-activated GPS, and software that makes text on the computer screens larger. Once installed, these desks will also be used by adults, teens, and other populations.

NABA houses all these programs and the manufacturing unit under one roof, and there’s not a lot of space left over, Burke said. They’ve already reconfigured the building to expand operations, and if they grow much more, he said, they’ll run out of room.

Still, Burke admits, these are good problems to have. “We’re very busy now, we’ve got orders in hand. The future looks busy,” Burke said. “In this economy, that makes for good morale.”