On Sunday the bike and I made a detour through Sunrise Park off Southeast Thurston Street. The visit reminded me of the flap over “wetlands” that delayed the reconstruction of this park several years ago.
Over the last three years I’ve made a few visits to Albany’s Sunrise Park while the place was being rebuilt to better serve the neighborhood. Last week, on my way somewhere else, I stopped by again and was impressed by what it has become.
Did they ever complete the renovation of Sunrise Park, I was wondering one day last week. So, riding along on Queen Avenue, on my way somewhere else, I turned right on Thurston Street to take a look.
Albany’s Sunrise Park is interesting for at least two reasons. First, it’s being renovated specifically to help the surrounding neighborhood, one of Albany’s poorest. And second, the process of getting it done illustrates the insanity of state and federal rules on “wetlands.”
The bike and I took a detour down Thurston Street from Queen Avenue this week. And as expected, the Albany city project to do something for the Sunrise Park neighborhood was well under way.
Sunrise Park and sections of two major streets — Hill and Oak — are about to be rebuilt, totaling more than $3 million in city public works spending in South Albany this year.
A good idea, but vandals destroyed it
Last year I noticed that the Albany Parks Department had carried out a nice new idea at Sunrise Park. But like so many good things in public spaces, it did not last because vandals ruined it.
Tags: Albany parks, story boards, Sunrise Park, vandalism