a couple threads on a small old factory town saved by a new modern art museum.

part one is basically walking up main street and part two is coming back.

 

beacon, ny (size 4.9 sq mi, pop 16k, density 3,333/sq mi) is an upstate commuter town on the hudson river 60 miles north of nyc & 90 miles south of albany – wiki sez:

 

The area occupied as Beacon was originally settled as the villages of Matteawan and Fishkill Landing in 1709, which were among the first communities in the state. Beacon incorporated as a city in 1913, amalgamating the two villages as well as a small portion of the hamlet of Glenham from the town of Fishkill.

 

The city served a variety of roles during the Revolutionary War. It manufactured war supplies, and served as a fort and signaling point. The city's name came from signal fires that were atop nearby Beacon Mountain. During the 1800s, the city became a factory town and was known as "The Hat Making Capital of the US" with nearly 50 hat factories operating at one time.

 

During the 1960s, urban renewal led to the destruction of some significant historic buildings. In the late 1970s, the Dutchess Ski area, which had been a large tourist attraction, was closed. Also in the 1970s, a decline in the economy shuttered most of the factories. This decline quickly became a severe and ongoing economic downturn that lasted from about 1970 to the late 1990s, during which almost 80 percent of the city's commercial business spaces and factories were vacant.

 

Starting in the late 1990s, with the opening of one of the world's largest contemporary art museums Dia: Beacon, Beacon began to an artistic and commercial rebirth…:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beacon,_New_York

 

 

metro north shots from the train ride up to beacon:

 

125th st

 

the oldest bridge in nyc is the massive highbridge in the bronx (1837-48).

It certainly deserves a thread! more:

http://www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET%20SCENES/HIGH%20BRIDGE/highbr.html

 

bx

 

one more

 

 

dia: beacon museum (sorry, no photos allowed inside – boo, hiss!)

 

The Building and Site

Dia:Beacon occupies a former Nabisco (National Biscuit Company) box printing facility built in 1929 and designed by Nabisco’s staff architect Louis N. Wirshing, Jr. In The building’s most recent owner, International Paper, donated the property to Dia in 1999.

 

The former factory is built of brick, steel, concrete, and glass, and is considered a model of early twentieth century industrial architecture. Design elements include broad spans between supporting columns, and more than 34,000-square-feet of skylights which create an exceptional environment for viewing works of contemporary art in natural light. These features were an important part of Dia’s decision to site the museum there, as was its location on the banks of the Hudson River only a five-minute walk from the Metro-North Hudson Line train station in Beacon, sixty miles (eighty minutes travel time) north of New York City.

 

more on the building:

http://www.diabeacon.org/sites/page/1/1003

 

the dia: beacon museum has a scenic setting & is a very cool old factory w/ great light

 

 

more on the museum:

http://www.diabeacon.org/sites/main/beacon

 

no stopping – onward to main street beacon!  :laugh:

 

fyi the marker in front of the church says the guy who signed the declaration of independence for georgia is buried there

 

poppys makes burger fans weep with joy – see for yourself:

http://www.poppyburger.com/Welcome.html

 

the mural is of the old newburgh-beacon ferry – more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newburgh%E2%80%93Beacon_Ferry

 

looks like they took a stab at jet age era modernism  :laugh:

 

the beautiful howland cultural center - it gets a lot of community use  :clap:

http://www.howlandculturalcenter.org/

 

mount beacon is the end of part one

 

* I hope you are enjoying a winter saturday stroll around beacon, ny -- part two link:

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,21954.0.html

 

 

Neat place.

Love the Howland Cultural Center. The exterior is very interesting. From the link you gave...it's a former library and the outside walls are "red and black Croton brick interlaid with light Jersey brick".

thanks, nice pictures. I've been meaning to go to Beacon, but did you actually go to the Dia? (I was hoping of for more pictures of it )

wow!  Very nice story... thanks for sharing

Wow, that museum has a great site!  I didn't know the terrain was quite that mountainous up there- really dramatic vistas.  Great shots- lots of good looking buildings left in that town.

thanks, nice pictures. I've been meaning to go to Beacon, but did you actually go to the Dia? (I was hoping of for more pictures of it )

 

of course we went to dia, its the minimalist mecca. as i mentioned above there is a strict no photo policy, which was particularly frustrating to me because its inconsistent -- you can take all the photos you want of variations of the same artwork at dia in marfa, texas. oh well.

 

its too bad, but i dont think a whole lot of people go into beacon proper because its a bit of a hike (not a bad walk, but town is out of view). most people just get off the train, go to the dia museum, hang out at the great museum cafe and bookstore and then go back to the train.

 

oh, btw some locals told me mta wants to spearhead a big tod development around the beacon metro north station, which could suck life out of downtown again unless they truly add new residents and are very careful about it. the community is very aware of this, they arent at all against it, but have a hand in and are monitoring the mta planning closely.

 

 

love the hills

thanks, nice pictures. I've been meaning to go to Beacon, but did you actually go to the Dia? (I was hoping of for more pictures of it )

 

of course we went to dia, its the minimalist mecca. as i mentioned above there is a strict no photo policy, which was particularly frustrating to me because its inconsistent -- you can take all the photos you want of variations of the same artwork at dia in marfa, texas. oh well.

 

its too bad, but i dont think a whole lot of people go into beacon proper because its a bit of a hike (not a bad walk, but town is out of view). most people just get off the train, go to the dia museum, hang out at the great museum cafe and bookstore and then go back to the train.

 

oh, btw some locals told me mta wants to spearhead a big tod development around the beacon metro north station, which could suck life out of downtown again unless they truly add new residents and are very careful about it. the community is very aware of this, they arent at all against it, but have a hand in and are monitoring the mta planning closely.

 

 

sorry, I missed the part where you mentioned no photos. That's a shame. I also thought the town of Beacon was closer to the Dia than it apparently is; and that the train station was closer to town than it is to the museum. I guess it wouldn't be a bad trek in the warmer weather. If nothing else, at least the Dia's presence appears to have done a little to help rejuvenate Beacon (or was it the other way around, with the artists showing up first?)

Innnnnnnnnnteresting.