BREAKING! Landing on broadway: bringing alive at five back to the streets
Photo provided by Matt H Wade
Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan & Downtown Business Community Host Groundbreaking for the Transformation at Tricentennial Park and Announce Alive @ 5 Moving Back to Downtown Albany for Summer 2025
Mayor Kathy Sheehan will be joined by city officials and members of the Downtown Albany Business Community today at 2PM at Tricentennial Park to break ground on a significant transformation of the park.
Tricentennial Park will undergo a $1.25 million renovation aimed at creating a more inviting outdoor space in Downtown, enhancing accessibility, increasing the number of trees planted, and allowing for year-round use. Currently, the park’s multi-level design contributes to drainage issues that necessitate its closure during the winter months. The City of Albany will be implementing a simplified, yet modern, redesign inspired by parks in New York City and Europe, with the goal of reclaiming this valuable community asset for year-round enjoyment.
In conjunction with the improvements at Tricentennial Park, Mayor Sheehan will announce that Alive @ 5 will be returning to Downtown Albany for the Summer of 2025—marking a return to where the event originally debuted.
“I am very excited about both the investment in Tricentennial Park and moving Alive @ 5 back to where it all began in Downtown Albany, breathing life back into our newest and fastest-growing neighborhood.”
Jeffrey Buell, Founder of Sequence Development, further emphasized the collaborative effort, stating, “Our entire network of people committed to making Downtown Albany the best it can possibly be is very grateful to Mayor Sheehan and all the staff that are going to make this wish a reality. We are very cognizant that as Albany pivots its way into a new downtown post-COVID, the collaboration of business and government is paramount to all successes. This is a vitally important step in getting people to come back into Downtown Albany and transitioning from a place people have to be to a place people WANT to be.
This relocation from the Hudson Riverfront to Downtown Albany is a collaborative effort with the Downtown Albany Business Community, aimed at enhancing accessibility and encouraging more people to spend time downtown, taking advantage of its unique food, beverage, and craft offerings. Additional details regarding the lineup will be shared at a later date.
Mayor Sheehan further expressed her enthusiasm by stating “We heard loud and clear from the Downtown Business Community that after an Alive @ 5 show on the Riverfront, visitors would get into their cars and leave rather than stay to experience the nightlife Downtown has to offer. Bringing Alive @ 5 back to Downtown Albany is a commitment to our businesses and our entire city, showing that we hear them, we support them, and we want to work with them to make our Downtown more vibrant and welcoming. The pandemic and work from home policies fundamentally changed people’s habits, but by coming together and being flexible, we will make this the best Alive @ 5 yet.”
Attendees at the event will include City Engineer Howard Goebel, City Cultural Affairs Director Alay Medina, Capitalize Albany President & CEO Ashley Mohl, Downtown BID Executive Director Georgette Steffens, Discover Albany President & CEO Jill Delany, Park Albany Executive Director Sean Palladino, Jeff Mirel, principal of Rosenblum Development, and other notable members of the Downtown Albany Business Community.
“We are very much looking forward to thousands of people once again roaming the streets on Thursday afternoons,” said Buell.
So are we, said Metroland.
So. Are. We.