Aliya Schneider is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Hudson Common Council at a special meeting Apil. 5, approved a $650,000 donation to the city for Promenade Hill Park, thereby allowing A. Colarusso and Son to begin construction. Three resolutions to enable park renovations to start were approved during the special meeting. The first resolution directed Mayor Kamal Johnson to accept the donation from the H. van Ameringen Foundation, the second approved changes to a bond resolution, and the third authorized the city to enter into a contract with Colarusso for the park renovations. The H. van Ameringen Foundation, overseen by T. Eric Galloway, co-founder, and president of the Galvan Foundation, committed to making the donation to support the park renovations after the project budget fell short. The gift was made in honor of Galloway’s husband, Henry van Ameringen, who died in September. The park improvements have been allocated $1.1 million from the city’s $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant. The lowest construction bid for the planned renovations came from Colarusso and was $585,500 over budget. The city planned to use cheaper materials for the park renovations and rewrite a request for bids before the foundation came through with the donation to cover the shortfall. The city now plans to move forward with the original park plan and timeline, set for completion in December. Note: Johnson is a WGXC volunteer on-air programmer. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.