Tricentennial Park - Albany 3.43

Tricentennial Park is an urban park in Albany, New York built to commemorate that city's three hundredth anniversary as an incorporated city and is the site of several statues and monuments. The park encompasses the entire block bounded by Broadway to the east, Columbia Street to the north, James Street to the west, and Steuben Street to the south. First proposed in 1914 it was built in 1986 as part of the tricentennial celebrations of Albany's incorporation as a city in association with the renovation of the Albany Union Station.HistoryA park was first proposed on this site in 1914 as part of architect Arnold W. Brunner and landscape architect Charles Downing Lay's master plan for the city as published under the name of Stvdies for Albany. It was intended to be a gateway for visitors to the city arriving by train at the Albany Union Station across the street.The park was built in 1986 on a 150 - car surface parking lot as part of the celebrations of Albany's 300th anniversary of becoming a city incorporated under the Dongan Charter. Originally Corning Park behind City Hall was to carry the Tricentennial Park name, but that was dropped in favor of dedicating it to Mayor Erastus Corning II who had died in 1982. The park cost $378,000 at the time, only $2,000 over budget; with Norstar Bancorp paying for the statuary to be placed in the park. At the time, Norstar was renovating the Union Station across Broadway from the park into the bank's headquarters. A time capsule was placed in the park, to be opened in 2086.