There have been several proposals on the table to redevelop Troy from South Troy's riverfront to landscaping the hills with housing tracts and dotting each entrance to the city with chain drug stores. I have my own visions of what Troy should look like and for the next few weeks will present a dozen of them here. Troy is a city waiting to be rediscovered, but we want to make sure the city doesn't end up looking like every other city - full of fast food chains and mall type department stores.

My proposals begin at Congress Street and run the entire length of the river to the Menands Bridge. When taken as a whole, they blend the city's great historic treasures into new uses and give people a reason to come to Troy.

This simple idea is to reestablish Troy's beginning point at Ferry and River Street, where city father Dirk Vanderheyden built his farm in 1707, and progress outwardly from there, allowing the city to keep and promote the existing historic North River Street area, and to rebuild a new South River Street area that continues along the river into South Troy. This proposal reconnects the part of the city that has been taken away by the Congress Street Bridge/Ferry Street Tunnel.

Hopefully, these columns will stir discussion and debate on where Troy needs to be in 5 to 10 years, and I hope it will stimulate even more alternative designs and ideas for the city.

The following proposals are based on an artist's view of having a clean canvas to work on. Obviously, in the proposals that follow, existing business would have to be relocated, bought out, and/or would agree to this vision.

Proposal One (A)

Trojan Market Place
Location: Taylor Apartments, Congress to Division.

For the last few years, a public farmer's market has been located in the parking lot of John Hedley's office complex on River Street, north of the Green Island Bridge. Local farmers bring their products to the parking lot, once a week, set up tents and overheads, and then leave. It's time that a permanent location of the market be developed and housed with permanent open-air pavilions.

This new public market should be located where buildings 1 and 2 of the Taylor Apartments exist. The fact that the intrusive bridge that now bisects this housing complex has made living there unbearable also makes the need for change obvious.

The market square would be two side-by-side pavilions east of the bridge access road that could be enclosed in inclement weather so yearlong use could be utilized.

In addition, the lands in which building 3 sits should become a terraced park with a small active playground called Ilium Park.

The access road that now runs along the river should be abandoned for car use and turned into part of a greenway and trolley route (explained later). A utility road can run along the western side of the bridge until it meets with Building 4 of the Taylor apartments.

Building four should be renovated and expanded into a new hotel complex (Ashley's Ferry Inn) complete with a top-level restaurant where diners can view the Hudson River Valley, and perhaps a new ferry to Albany. This hotel complex would be located right off the exit ramp of the bridge.

Proposal One (B)

Pedestrian Bridge
Location: Along north & south side of Ferry Street where bridge access road enters Ferry Street Tunnel.

Ferry & River have been radically altered. It's the location of Dirk Vanderheyden's home, Ashley's Ferry, and the first two roads in Rensselaer County - the road to Hoosick and the Road to Schagticoke. Since it's unlikely that the bridge will be taken down in the near future, there's a need for a pedestrian bridge that will take people over it and reconnect with both sides of Ferry and the city downtown.

Currently, there's a small pedestrian tunnel on the east and north side of the bridge exit ramp that leads under the bridge to go from building 2 to building 3.

A pedestrian bridge should be built at the location where the bridge access ramp drops into Ferry Street tunnel at the point where the former alley between River and First intersects the tunnel. The bridge would be accessible for the handicapped by having a large ramp run parallel to the tunnel (Ferry Street) on both sides. This would lead along the River street sidewalk between the barrier wall of the north access ramp and Russell Sage dormitory building. The area on the east side of the bridge and Ferry Street can be landscaped, as it will be part of the Trojan Marketplace.

More detail to follow in the coming weeks.