For Len Tantillo and others who have long dreamed of a downtown canal, the state’s newly released blueprint for Albany contained a welcome surprise.
Page 45 of the plan, in a section dedicated to the “Warehouse District Gateway,” depicts a marina at the site of what was once Lock 1 of the Erie Canal. The body of water is shown surrounded by newly constructed buildings and is connected to the Hudson River.
The plan doesn’t go into much detail and only quickly describes the marina as, if you’ll excuse the jargon, one of the “opportunity areas for nature-based placemaking.” Still, the inclusion of a distinct and long-standing proposal from the grassroots Albany Waterway group was a victory, Tantillo told me, and illustrative of the nonprofit’s work to build support, as evidenced by its 1,200-person mailing list…