The Town of Queensbury took one step more to redevelop a pie-shaped piece of property on River Street where it meets the Feeder Canal. The parcel, a “brownfield” or environmentally contaminated piece of property owned by the global giant BASF company, is part of the Queensbury South Brownfield Opportunity Area.
It sits at the confluence of the street, the Glens Falls Feeder Canal Towpath, and the canal itself.
This allows many opportunities for development and is one way to rebuild an economically distressed part of town, Town Supervisor John Strough said at the town board meeting Dec. 21.
“We’re taking a look at what we can do in south Queensbury,” he said.
He mentioned a bicycle way station and picnic area, an informational center, a small boat launch for kayakers to ply the canal, or a parking area. A letter from BASF mentions rest rooms. The towpath is a nine-mile walking and biking trail that runs from Queensbury, through Glens Falls and Hudson Falls to Fort Edward, the Feeder Canal Alliance website says.
Although the location in the southeast corner of the town--sandwiched between the Glens Falls and Hudson Falls borders--has been classified environmentally contaminated, it is clean enough for basic development.
“Plenty of things could be done with this property,” Strough said.
The town board voted at the meeting to approve a Permission to Enter Premises Agreement with BASF, a step the company required before it would allow the town to engage in a survey of the property, a letter to the town said. After designs are created, the town and company can talk about land purchase and other details, the letter states.
The resolution from the town directs town administration to pursue next steps in the process.
A recent Chapman Museum newsletter said the property in 1960 was acquired by pigment manufacturer Hercules, which became part of Ciba-Geigy, a Swiss-based chemical company, which decided to close the Glens Falls plant in 1987.
“Due to contamination, the site has been remediated in a series of ‘cleaning’ projects, but it remains largely undeveloped,” the newsletter states.