By Dave Lucas
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-874466.mp3
Albany, NY – Times change and upstate New York cities reflect and react to those changes in many different ways. In Albany, there are ambitious plans for two projects: The Albany County Convention Center and The Harriman Office Campus. Both projects have been heavily criticized and scrutinized in the Times Union newspaper. Capital District Bureau Chief Dave Lucas has updates on the two projects.
The convention center has been on the drawing board for quite some time. Despite criticism in the newspapers "letters to the editor" section that the center would add to traffic congestion and parking problems in downtown Albany,(and should be put on the back-burner until the economy improves) officials press on with the plan... the Albany Convention Center Authority and Mayor Jerry Jennings want to subsidize part of the convention center's $220 million price tag with state taxpayer money.
The 330-acre Harriman Office Campus sits between Western and Washington Avenues near the Pine Bush area of Albany. The state has targeted 139 acres for development. This project is also under fire from neighborhood associations and the subject of an op-ed piece in today's Times Union. Peter Wohl is the president of the Harriman Research and Technology Development Corporation. He says campus development plans aren't the big secret the paper portrays them to be. For residents, politicians, developers and newspapers, the answers don't come easy in these uncertain times. But everyone agrees - change - is inevitable.