KINGSTON – The vacant site of Kingston’s old Midtown welfare motel will see revitalization next year, as part of the mayor’s new Broadway Commons program. A proposed lease of the city-owned property, located at 615 Broadway –adjacent to the UPAC Theater – has passed the common council’s Finance and Audit Committee.
As Broadway Commons, the parcel will undergo mixed use, combining public
open space with private events. Robert Airhart has agreed to lease the
property for $1 per month, and erect his popular 1839 Belgian Spiegeltent,
attracting local vendors.
The lease runs to December 2018, and must be voted on by the full common council in September.
Mayor Steven Noble said his administration is excited about the potential offered by Broadway Commons, transforming a public nuisance into a community asset. His office first proposed the idea last May. “Our goal is to turn it into a public space, where people can come and use it, recreate, look at art, do all kinds of things on that site,” he said.
The antique wooden Spiegeltent structure, which features a Victorian carnival style, occupied the same lot during the summer of 2013, before being moved into to the old Vaudeville theater at Back Stage Productions Uptown.
Prior to demolition, the blighted Kings Inn motel was notorious for drugs and prostitution. It closed in 2007 and was razed in 2011. Currently the empty land is used as overflow parking for UPAC patrons.
Although not for sale, Airhart’s lease allows him to collect three percent commission, should a buyer approach the city with an offer to purchase, while he operates the Spiegeltent there.
“I’m not putting up a competition to anybody’s business; that’s not my intent at all,” Airhart said. “I’m going to put a new face on the street, for this vacant lot.”
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