FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 20, 2022

City Secures $1.8M to Convert City Hall & Neighborhood Center to Fossil Fuel-free

KINGSTON, NY – Mayor Steven T. Noble is pleased to announce that the City of Kingston has received $1.8 million in grant funding from NYSERDA’s Carbon Neutral Community Economic Development program to convert City Hall and the Andy Murphy Neighborhood Center (AMNC) into fossil fuel-free buildings.

The funding will allow the two historic buildings to become clean energy hubs and achieve carbon neutrality by using solar, heat pumps, and a thermal energy network. The funding will allow for more solar power and EV charging on-site, and the installation of stormwater and thermal infrastructure. Once completed, there will be no systems using fossil fuels, and both buildings will have highly efficient envelopes. The upgrades to City Hall and the AMNC will also improve their resiliency from climate impacts such as heat waves, severe storms, flooding, and power outages.

“This grant is one of the largest the City of Kingston has received and will be the largest influx of funding to make our historic City Hall and Midtown Center less polluting, more resilient, and become some of the first municipal buildings in New York State to get off of fossil fuels by decarbonizing the energy sources,” said Mayor Noble. “I am extremely proud of the work our staff have done to create a more sustainable city government. This grant from NYSERDA is a huge step forward for us and will allow us to demonstrate that even historic buildings in our historic city can go green. I want to thank Governor Hochul and NYSERDA for their continued support of Kingston and I want to also thank Julie Noble, the City’s Sustainability Coordinator for implementing our City’s vision for a better future for the next generation of Kingstonians.”

Julie Noble, City of Kingston Environmental Education & Sustainability Coordinator said, “In 2019, in partnership with the NoVo Foundation, the City hired Cadmus and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to develop a long-term roadmap for the City to achieve 100% renewable and resilient community-wide electricity supply. This Energy Transition Roadmap, along with the City’s 2030 Climate Action Plan, are providing the blueprint for sustainable, independent, and transformative energy systems. This carbon neutral project advances those goals.”

The total project cost is expected to be approximately $3,259,000. The City of Kingston will seek additional funding opportunities. The project is expected to be completed by fall 2025.

Kingston City Hall opened in 1875, was renovated in the late 1990s, and has recently undergone significant energy efficiency upgrades. In 2019, 145 storm window inserts were installed to improve overall envelope performance, and the lighting system was completely overhauled with LED replacements.

The Andy Murphy Neighborhood Center was built in 1874 as an armory for New York State. Today the building housed municipal offices, and serves as a gathering place for youth programs with a gymnasium for sports, and as an emergency shelter during catastrophic events. The lighting system at the AMNC was upgraded in 2019, cutting electricity use in half. This year, the City further invested in the building by installing a solar array on the roof that will generate more electricity annually than the building alone uses. Additionally, a kitchen renovation is underway, which includes all-electric commercial-grade appliances, used to cook hundreds of meals a week for low income and senior residents.