Almost every medium-size American city has a convention center of some kind. But they rarely generate enough economic activity on their own to revitalize downtowns. Albany needs to make itself a more compelling destination. The downsized convention center plan that has been proposed will not do that.
Convention centers that prove successful are located in places people want to experience, near noteworthy attractions. The message for Albany is clear. Make downtown Albany a place where people want to live and visit and then consider building a convention center.
Each year, the University at Albany's Master of Regional Planning Program conducts a planning studio that presents second-year students with a real world problem. In the fall of 2011, the task was to figure out what should happen in downtown Albany to make it a more vital, inviting and livable place.
A community advisory committee was formed to provide feedback and advice to the student planners. Downtown property and business owners, residents, representatives of downtown cultural institutions and nonprofit organizations, and officials from the Albany Office of Economic Development and Planning and Capitalize Albany were invited to participate.
One of the most serious weaknesses the student planners identified was that downtown Albany is physically cut off from the Hudson River by I-787, severely limiting public access and views of the river. Despite downtown's closeness to the river, when people are downtown they are typically unaware of the river's presence.
The students concluded that the best way to revive downtown Albany's fortunes would be to reconnect downtown to the Hudson River physically, psychologically and symbolically. To accomplish that, they proposed building a Hudson River aquarium.
Omni Development Co. agrees that an aquarium is just the kind of facility that can inject new life into downtown. But the site previously proposed for a convention center is far from the best site. It is too far physically and visually removed from the Hudson River.
An exciting, creatively designed and programmed aquarium would dramatically change people's perceptions of Albany. The widespread publicity and buzz it would generate would make people want to come spend time in the city.
While researching material for the book "Making Places Special: Stories of Real Places Made Better by Planning," I spent considerable time in Chattanooga, Tenn., interviewing people and learning about the various initiatives that brought about Chattanooga's remarkable transformation.
Both Chattanooga and Albany are moderately sized cities located on major rivers, the key to their establishment in the first place. Like Albany today, Chattanooga had an economically struggling downtown that had turned its back on the river. But all that changed with the opening of the Tennessee Aquarium in 1992. The aquarium quickly became the city's No. 1 tourist attraction and the signature of Chattanooga's downtown skyline.
In its first year, the aquarium drew more than 1.1 million visitors — 50 percent more than planners had forecast. It ranks among the top 10 most popular aquariums in the country, and its IMAX Theater has added to the attraction. A 2005 expansion of the aquarium added saltwater exhibits plus a staircase and waterfall leading down to the river's edge.
Chattanooga's aquarium has stimulated a significant amount of new downtown development. A 2012 article in the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported that the aquarium contributes $77.4 million a year to the overall economy.
An Albany aquarium would enjoy a distinction that would set it apart from even Chattanooga's aquarium. The Hudson River Estuary is one of the largest tidal estuaries in the world. The ocean's tidal pulse is felt throughout the Hudson River Valley as far north as Troy. Because fresh river water and Atlantic Ocean saltwater are constantly mixing, the Hudson River Estuary is a unique ecosystem that hosts an exceptional diversity of habitats and species.
When the UAlbany students considered where an aquarium should be located, they said it should be built on the site of the abandoned Central Warehouse that mars the city's skyline. Thousands of motorists can't help but form a negative impression of Albany when they see the scarred exterior of the warehouse as they drive on I-787 and I-90.
Demolishing the Central Warehouse building to make way for the aquarium would undoubtedly be expensive. However, engineers might determine that the interior of the warehouse could be hollowed out to accommodate the aquarium. The visual prominence of the massive warehouse could then be turned from a liability into an asset. Its walls could accommodate a huge, four-sided aquatic mural, or serve as the backdrop for a colorful and dynamic computer-generated display, enticing people to visit Albany.
Gene Bunnell lives in Albany. He is an associate professor in the Department of Geography and Planning, University at Albany. His email address is gbunnell@albany.edu.