After five years of transformation, Scenic Hudson officially opened the doors of its new Northside Hub in what can be a model for bringing new life to forgotten industrial sites in the cities of the Hudson Valley and across the country. With the right vision and committed partners, contaminated and discarded properties can be restored and welcoming again.
Just steps from the popular Walkway Over the Hudson, the Northside Hub at 58 Parker Ave. is a place to bring people together. Scenic Hudson combined a historic renovation of the abandoned Standard Gage factory — once a center of innovation and jobs in Poughkeepsie that counted President Franklin D. Roosevelt among its visitors — with a brownfield cleanup of contaminated soil and groundwater. The restored buildings and landscape produce more energy than they consume and are powered entirely by the sun.
Now on the National Register of Historic Places, the Northside Hub is home to Scenic Hudson staff offices and light-filled spaces for the local community and visitors to learn, grow, play, create, and celebrate. The factory floors that turned out precision measurement tools during World War II are once again buzzing with innovation: Every detail is grounded in sustainable design, aligned with Scenic Hudson’s mission of protecting the health and beauty of the Hudson Valley for future generations. This includes:
- a state-of-the-art fresh air system that — for the first time in the United States — uniquely integrates “trickle vents” to heat and cool the building, providing up to double the amount of fresh air than a traditional system;
- a terraced park with native plants on what used to be a paved brownfield area, featuring arcing pathways that follow the former rail lines into the factory site;
- stunning angled solar panel and timber canopies that provide shaded parking and, together with rooftop solar, produce more than enough energy to power the entire site;
- a three-story atrium that works as an “air chimney” to help pull fresh air through the building and unifies the two main factory structures;
- features that keep all rainwater on site to reduce the downstream impacts of storms, including trenches with vegetation called bioswales, underground retention, and a green roof; and
- versatile community resources including an auditorium, an open-air pavilion, open green spaces, and exhibition space that will be available for events beginning in January 2026, as well as office space for local organizations and businesses to grow.
Scenic Hudson’s Northside Hub is an innovation-driven collaboration between the environmental organization and dozens of dedicated partners, led by the nonprofit architectural firm MASS Design Group and Consigli Construction Co., Inc. It was made possible by New York state agencies that provided vital funding, including New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and Empire State Development (ESD), as well as Foss & Company’s investment with state and federal historic tax credit programs.
For Poughkeepsie, the Northside Hub is the latest in a series of projects to harness the potential of underused areas for the local community. Scenic Hudson was a major supporter of turning the city’s out-of-service 1889 railroad bridge into the Walkway Over the Hudson, now the world’s longest elevated pedestrian bridge. Just down the road, the organization protected a former rail corridor that now, as Dutchess County’s Northside Line, offers a safe path to bike and walk across the city. And since 2022, the nonprofit has harvested 5,000 pounds of fresh produce at the new Pershing Community Farm next to Pershing Avenue Park, which were supplied free of charge to the local community.
Running behind the Northside Hub, the Fall Kill Creek holds immense potential to connect people with nature and make the area more resilient to flooding and heat. Scenic Hudson is working with partners to increase public access to the urban waterway, including around the Hub, and has already helped make much-needed improvements to the creekside Malcolm X and Pershing Avenue parks.
At its core, the Northside Hub embodies what Scenic Hudson stands for as an organization credited with kickstarting the modern grassroots environmental movement 60 years ago. The nonprofit is regarded for rehabilitating polluted industrial sites to meet community needs for safe, welcoming spaces that respect the air, water, and land around us. The Northside Hub represents Scenic Hudson’s continued investment in Poughkeepsie, the city and community that the nonprofit has called home for decades. Learn more about the Northside Hub.
