In 2020, the Downtown Revitalization Initiative Committee discussed the future of the historic Furgary Fishing Village and a draft Request for Proposals. “As part of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, the city will preserve and redesign the Furgary Fishing Village as a public park,” then-Hudson Mayoral Aide Michael Chameides said. The draft RFP required the master plan to identify short-term and long-term recommendations and actions for site cleanup, design and site preparation. The Furgary Fishing Village, also known as “The Shacks,” is a cluster of 17 hunting and fishing cabins on 1.75 acres of riverfront at Dock Street and North Front Street.
Temporally, geographically and economically, The Furgary of 2024 is a universe away from The Shacks of 2020, so remote that its presence may seem irrelevant to the present-day Hudson of artists, hotels, restaurants and the New York City tourist trade. But The Shacks offer a counter-history, a glimpse of how Hudson once lived and worked and how it can move the city forward. Like the three notches that marked the path to Jules Verne’s center of the Earth, the 17 cabins of Furgary point the way to the future, offering a sort of instruction manual for the city to build what it needs to advance.
It was inevitable that the Hudson Department of Public Works started demolition of the city-owned Furgary Fishing Village by tearing down four cabins to make room for a planned new riverfront park. Mayor Kamal Johnson prevailed on the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to get the project moving. Hudson is facing demands from the state. Hudson and the state have received complaints that the area is unsafe, and there is reason to believe parts of the area are sinking. The shacks have been in poor condition and only have been getting worse for the last 25 years. The city has a limited amount of resources and a relatively short time to construct the park.
Many in Hudson who care about local history will feel a certain despair over the loss of The Shacks. That’s to be expected. On Wednesday, Dan Keefe, public information officer for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, said he anticipates his office will recommend a portion of the funding for the restoration go to preserving one or more of the old cabins, or possibly installation of educational signage and displays of photographic documentation. Maybe that way, the past and the future can walk hand in hand.