Items tagged with 'Washington Park'
Pop-Up Adventure Playground in Albany's Washington Park
From September's pop-up adventure playground
This looks like it could be fun time for kids: There's a free Pop-Up Adventure Playground event planned for Albany's Washington Park October 14 from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. It's in the section of the park near Madison and Willett.
What is an adventure playground? Well, it's basically of collection of all sorts of items -- cardboard boxes, tires, finger paint -- that kids are allowed to play with however they want.
We were curious about this idea -- because, let's face it, a good cardboard box is one of the best toys -- so we reached out to the organizers to find out a little bit more.
Washington Park tulip dig and sale 2018
The annual Washington Park tulip dig and sale is usually the weekend after Mother's Day -- but that depends on the tulips.
And this year, because of the cool spring, the tulips are still doing their thing. So this year's dig and sale is May 26 and 27. Blurbage:
The event kicks off on Saturday at the Park's iconic Moses Fountain at 9am. Volunteers will join City of Albany Gardener Jess Morgan, City of Albany Department of General Services staff and members of the Washington Park Conservancy for the annual ritual of digging up the city's iconic tulip bulbs. Participation in the event provides volunteers with the opportunity to purchase 30 bulbs for $5 in exchange for assistance in preparing the park's beds for the summer season. The remaining bulbs will be sold first-come-first serve to the general public on Sunday at the Park's Lakehouse beginning at 9am for the same price and quantity.
Those bulbs go fast on Sunday, so if you'd like to buy some it's a good idea to be there right at the start.
Proceeds from the sale go to support the Washington Park Conservancy.
An orchard for Washington Park
Soon to join the many trees of Albany's Washington Park: eight varieties of apple tree.
Nine Pin Cider and Samascott Orchards in Kinderhook will be planting a small apple orchard on a sunny slope above the lake near the spot where Thurlow Terrace meets the park.
"We have all these statues honoring things around the capital that are important to New York State," said Nine Pin founder Alejandro del Peral this week. "The idea is to put some sort of testament to New York's apple agricultural resource, which is world class."
A snapshot from a winter day, then
This photo is the frozen Washington Park Lake in the 1880s. It's from the extensive Albany Group Archive on Flickr.
There are a few things we like about this photo. One is that it shows the old lake house. The other is that, if you head over to Flickr and look at a big version of the photo, you there are all these little moments going on. People chatting. Kids playing. Three women trying hold their balance.
It's just a snapshot of life on a winter day, here, 130some years ago.
Earlier: "This is the hat."
Albany Lantern Parade
An event called the Albany Lantern Parade will be making its way through Washington Park November 5. Blurbage:
This free, family friendly event showcases community creativity, bringing neighbors together from across the Capital Region to celebrate the arts. At dusk, participants will gather at the Lake House to begin a stunning lantern lit parade around the lake.
"We're walking with lanterns to share some light as the days become shorter," said Sarah Read, the event's organizer. "This is about our Albany community coming together for a simple, free event to celebrate art, community and warmth on an evening few people look forward to - the night we have to turn back the clocks. If you come to a workshop, you'll meet new people, and the night of the walk you'll recognize these new friends - that's the community-building we're going for."
As alluded to above, there will be a series of workshops over the next month at which people can make their own lanterns to use during the event. The schedule is below.
Those plants in Washington Park are for admiring, not taking
We'll just get right to the point here: You should not dig up and take the tropical plants from Washington Park in Albany. Doing so is stealing from the city and its residents. Also: It's tacky.
Even so, someone has been stealing the plants. And Albany city's gardener would very much like them to stop.
Checking out the new Albany skate park
Check it out: The skate park in Albany's Washington Park is now open. Construction just finished up, and Friday afternoon there were a bunch skaters trying it out.
Here are a bunch of photos and a few bits...
Park Playhouse 2017: Ragtime
Park Playhouse in Albany's Washington Park opens its 2017 summer season June 29 with a production of Ragtime. The show will run through July 29.
It's looking like a very strong production, with a cast that includes many talented performers from the Capital Region. That video above is from a rehearsal posted by the production this past weekend. Show blurbage for Ragtime:
The Tony-winning score is just as diverse as the melting pot of America itself, drawing upon many musical styles from the ragtime rhythms of Harlem and Tin Pan Alley to the klezmer of the Lower East Side, from bold brass band marches to delicate waltzes, from up-tempo banjo tunes to period parlor songs and expansive anthems. Ragtime - a truly unique and powerful portrait of America.
Reserved seating for Park Playhouse shows is $16 for side sections, $18 for the center section, and $24 for table seats. And, of course, lawn seating is free. (That reserved seating does fill up.)
The rest of the Park Playhouse summer season includes production of The Music Man in the park during August, and a Park Playhouse Kids production of The Lion King Jr. at the Cohoes Music Hall later in August.
Washington Park bird walk
Wood ducks spotted in the Washington Park lake last year.
This could be a nice way to spend a Sunday morning: There's a bird walk in Albany's Washington Park May 7, co-sponsored by the Washington Park Conservancy and the Albany Institute. Blurbage:
Bird watchers and nature fans of all kinds can try their hand at spotting the many species of birds in Washington Park. Tristan Lowery and John Pipkin from the Washington Park Conservancy will lead the walk and share their birding expertise.
The program will begin at Englewood Place in Washington Park. Participants should dress for all weather conditions and are encouraged to bring binoculars.
The walk starts at 8 am. Suggested donation is $10.
You might think spotting a bunch of different types of birds right in the middle of the city would be hard, but as Julie noted last year, there's a wide range of feathered creatures who make a stop in the park.
The date has been corrected (the day was correct). Sorry about that.
Checking on the progress of the Albany skate park
From this past Friday.
Construction on the new skate park in Albany's Washington Park is in progress. The city is aiming to have it finished by June 21 -- national Go Skateboarding Day -- according to Brian Shea, the chief of staff for mayor Kathy Sheehan.
The new venue will occupy space along the Madison Ave edge of the park that was formerly rundown tennis courts. This space -- "The Blue Banks" -- had already been serving as de facto skate park. And a portion of the area that's not currently being renovated is currently serving that purpose.
Go see the tulips, don't wait
Important news: The Washington Park tulip beds are blooming.
As of Friday afternoon we'd say about 65 percent of the tulips were in bloom, and it looked like many others were getting ready to emerge.
So, don't wait until the Tulip Fest. Make some time to stop by take in the tulips over the next week.
Here are a handful of photos if you'd like to virtually gawk.
But, really, just go see them.
Albany skate park construction pushed to 2017
A rendering of the planned design.
The Albany skate park project in Washington Park -- originally planned to be completed this month -- has been pushed back to next year.
"The City is working diligently to bring this project to fruition by next summer," said Brian Shea -- the chief of staff for Albany mayor Kathy Sheehan -- on Tuesday. "We have established a bidding and construction schedule with an anticipated completion date that coincides with National Go Skate Day in June of 2017."
A tip of the hat to J'mo and grandmastergus who flagged the delay in comments here at AOA.
Early morning swim
In other news: Squirrels can swim. And this squirrel was swimming in Washington Park Lake Saturday morning as the fog lifted.
In other other news: WHAT?
(Thanks, Laura!)
Poems in the fountain
While taking in the summer-like weather Tuesday in Washington Park, we noticed these little bundled scrolls blowing along with the leaves around the empty King Memorial Fountain fountain in the park (AKA, the Moses fountain). There were maybe 15 or 20 of them.
So we opened one of the scrolls. Inside, a poem:
Raise your words,
Not your voice.
It is rain that
grows flowers,
Not thunder.
Rumi
As the scroll noted, that poem is attributed to JalÄl ad-DÄ«n Muhammad RÅ«mÄ«, a Persian poet, Islamic scholar, and mystic who lived during the 1200s, born in what's now Afghanistan and later moving to what's now modern-day Turkey.
Earlier on AOA:
+ The Troy Poem Project
+ The Moses fountain in Washington Park
The Half Moon Market returns this October
The market this past spring.
The popular Half Moon Market is set to return to the lake house in Albany's Washington Park October 8 and 9. Blurbage:
The Half Moon Market is independently organized with support from the City of Albany and The Washington Park Neighborhood Association, as well as several community sponsors. We are proud to feature close to 40 regional makers, artists and small companies offering handmade jewelry, ceramics, stationery, clothing, apothecary and more, as well as a few local food & drink vendors.
Here's the lineup of vendors for the upcoming market. The vendors range from art to clothing to home goods.
The Half Moon Market is organized by Adelia Sugarman and Caroline Corrigan.
Here's the Albany skate park design
A closeup of the design for lower end of the park.
Updated
The city of Albany has posted the design for the skate park planned for Washington Park. We've clipped out the renderings for easy viewing -- they're in large format after the jump.
The park will be built at four rundown tennis courts on the park's southwestern side. These courts -- known as The Blue Banks -- are already a de facto skate spot. (It's been the site of Go Skate Day for the last few years.)
The design is by the action sports division of the design firm Stantec. Kanten Russell -- a project manager for Stantec, and a former pro skateboarder -- was at a public meeting last month at the Washiington Park Lakehouse to discuss plan. Much of what he said then matches what's in a city statement accompanying the design:
The Skate park in Washington Park project includes the construction of a new 20,000 square foot skate park on four underutilized tennis courts located in the southwest quadrant of Washington Park. The skate park will make use of the existing tennis court surface and take advantage of the terraced construction of the courts. The surface will be complemented with a diverse range of obstacles, features, and reflect input from community residents and Albany skaters collected during the design process. The work will generally concentrate on the three lower courts allowing for a potential future phase to develop the upper court, should funding become available.
The budget for the project is $200,000. About half that is coming from a state grant, another portion from the Washington Park Conservancy, and the rest from money the city has already set aside for these sorts of project.
The city will soon be the construction contract up for bid, and it's aiming for a completion sometime in November.
Albany is finalizing a design for a skate park
A project manager from the design firm Stantec talking with people about the design after the meeting.
The long push for skate park in Albany is starting to see some progress. The design for a venue in Washington Park is scheduled to be in place by the end of this month, and construction could be in progress this fall.
Both the bits of news are from a public meeting Wednesday night at the park's lake house to gather input local skaters about the project design. Here are a few more details.
Today's moment of tree
This tree stands in Washington Park, just off to the side of Moses and the tulip beds. The sign underneath it reads:
This tree is a senior citizen of Washington Park
Please respect and enjoy,
DO NOT -- PAINT, CLIMB, or INJURE
Thank you.
European Beech, fagus sylvatica 'pendula'
That "pendula" appended to Latin name marks the tree as a "weeping" cultivar of the European Beech. Remarks an old US Forest Service fact sheet describes of the cultivar: "It may be the most picturesque of all the weeping trees."
Albany skate park design public meeting
Skaters at the blue banks this past spring.
There city of Albany has a meeting lined up June 15 to gather public input about the proposed skate park in Washington Park. It's at the Washington Park Lakehouse and starts at 6:30 pm.
Word that the city was thinking about building a skate park first popped up in the fall of 2014. And at a packed public meeting in November of that year, city officials mentioned there was an outline of a plan to build the park at four rundown tennis courts in Washington Park. Those courts -- known as "the blue banks" because they're blue and tiered -- already serve as a de facto skating spot. (It's not technically allowed there, but stop by almost any evening and you'll see plenty of people skateboarding there.)
In the time since, the city was awarded a $100k grant for the project via the state Dormitory Authority. And this past March the city issued a request for proposals seeking bids for engineering services related to the park project. The RFP mentions that the city has a $200k budget for the project, and the document includes a diagram that points to some potential features of the skate park. (The RFP is embedded after the jump if you're curious.)
Albany Go Skate Day: The annual Go Skate Day is set for Saturday, June 18 at the Washington Park blue banks.
Idea: A farmers' market for Washington Park?
Ryan emails, not so much with a question as an idea to float (link added):
As we enter outdoor farmers' market season, I have been thinking that the Washington Park Lakehouse would be the perfect spot for a weekend summer farmer's market. Aside from the beauty of the park in summer, the Lakehouse is well equipped to hold markets (as evidenced by the Half Moon Market, which is a welcome addition), and there is plentiful parking around the park. On top of that the development in Park South will likely add thousands more residents within a few blocks of the park over the next several years. Not to take anything away from the other summer outdoor markets in the area, because they are great, but Washington Park seems to be screaming for a farmers' market. If you have any insight, I'd love to hear it.
Ryan had asked if this idea had ever come up before -- we're almost certain it has in some way, but as we were thinking about it we couldn't point to a specific instance.
A quick take on the idea: A farmers' market in the park might work, though there would be organizational (Who runs its?) and logistical (What about Park Playhouse?) issues to address. The overall question we come back to is whether there's enough room for another entry in the already crowded local farmers'-market market. It's not just a matter of there being enough customers to go around, it's also about whether there are enough farms with the resources necessary to show up each week at an Albany market and contribute to a critical mass of vendors. If you're a small farm, showing up at more than a few markets each weekend is probably a big stretch.
That said, there's also the possibility of induced demand. Would an Albany market add customers who wouldn't otherwise be shopping at farmers' markets? Would that make it worthwhile for more farms to participate or expand?
Like Ryan, we're curious to hear your thoughts.
Blooming tulips, before and after
It's prime tulip season, so we put together another around of "sliding" before-and-after photos of the tulip beds in Washington Park.
The pre-bloom photos are from April 22. And the post-bloom photos are from Friday, April 29.
The tulips be at their peak this coming week. And thanks to the snapback cold a few weeks ago, it looks like many of them will be around for Tulip Fest.
Happy spring.
Birding in Washington Park
A pair of wood ducks in the Washington Park lake this week.
The Capital Region is a very wild place -- and not just on Lark Street around 2 am.
Many colorful and fascinating birds call this place home. And spring is a migratory season for birds, a time in which a lot of our noisy old friends rejoin us from the south. If you take a closer look you'll get to know quite a few avian residents.
A great place to start birding is Washington Park, right in the middle of the city of Albany...
The Half Moon Market is set to return this spring
The Half Moon Market is set to return to the Washington Park Lake House April 23 and 24. It touts itself as "a unique two-day marketplace event featuring some of the region's best artists and makers of handmade goods."
The first market as last fall and featured more than 30 region vendors selling art, handmade jewelry, ceramics, stationery, soaps, and other items. Here's a photo gallery. The list of vendors for the April market will be posted soon, according to the website.
April 23 and 24 are a Saturday and Sunday. The market is set to be open 11 am-6 pm both days.
photo: Half Moon Market Instagram
Update on the Albany skate park plan
From previous Go Skate Day in Washington Park.
This Saturday is Go Skate Day in Albany's Washington Park and it could be a big day for the future of the proposed Albany skate park.
"Tomorrow is an opportunity," city recreation department commissioner Jonathan Jones told us today. "Tomorrow's our shot to show the city, to show everyone, that a skate park is possible in Albany."
Speed bumps for Washington Park?
Alison emails with a question that's not exactly an Ask AOA question so much as an idea:
Should there be speed bumps in Washington Park? People often fly through there like it's the highway, which is really unsafe for everyone who uses the park. A couple years ago, I was there when a dog ran into the street and was hit by a car going way too fast. The dog should not have darted out in front of traffic of course, but in a park these things can happen, and wouldn't it be best if people were driving like they were in a crowded park full of kids, bikers, walkers, and pets?
The 'driver must stop' signs in the crosswalks aren't really working, and drivers often speed up to avoid having to stop when they see someone trying to cross. So, speed bumps in the park...friend or foe?
Alison's idea reminded us of something Albany Bagel floated earlier this year (in addition to speed bumps): car-free Saturdays in Washington Park.
For whatever reason, car/pedestrian interactions have been a frequent topic of discussion in Albany in recent years. (Whether that's a result of increased issues or increased awareness is a good question.) And city leaders have said the push for red light cameras grew out of hearing neighborhood groups consistently express concerns about traffic safety issues.
So, thoughts on whether this is a step in a good direction?
... said KGB about Drawing: What's something that brought you joy this year?