Poughkeepsie digs in for Quad celebrations

Volunteers from Cub Scout Pack 10 and the South Avenue Neighborhood Association, along with city of Poughkeepsie workers, recently planted bulbs in several city parks. The plantings are part of a Heritage Plants Tour that will bloom from spring to fall in Poughkeepsie next year to mark the Hudson Fulton Champlain Quadricentennial. The planting project was made possible through a grant from the state Quadricentennial Commission and community services from the city of Poughkeepsie. In the photo above, Cub Scouts Riley Faulkner and Brian Panzar plant bulbs.

Also, two bronze plaques were set in concrete in front of two historically significant sites in the city of Poughkeepsie: the original City Hall in Poughkeepsie, currently the Dutchess County Commissioner of Jurors Building at 228 Main St., and in front of Alex’s Restaurant at the corner of Market and Main streets, site of the first church in Poughkeepsie, the Reformed Dutch Church.

"These events are underway to help bring tourism back to downtown Poughkeepsie, and to highlight Poughkeepsie’s eventful ... history that began in 1687," City Historian George Lukacs said in a press release.

Wallkill artist Alexandra Baer helped design the plaques and has been working with the city as part of a 2006 Greenway Trail Grant to provide pedestrians with a way to view the buildings as they originally looked in the early 18th and 19th centuries.

The description on the plaque in front of Alex’s Restaurant notes the building of the first church in 1723, and the historic context of the church with the Revolutionary War. The plaque in front of the Commissioner of Jurors building notes its construction in 1831 and the modest building costs associated with its construction. Both plaques will be officially dedicated as part of the Quadricentennial celebration in 2009.

"We are very excited at the enthusiasm we are receiving in preparing for next year’s celebration of 400 years of progress in our river communities," said City of Poughkeepsie Chair of the Quadricentennial celebration, Nancy Cozean.