Basilica Hudson

Basilica Hudson is an arts and performance venue in Hudson, New York, USA. It was established in 2010 out of a 19th-century factory located near the city's "South Bay" riverfront along the Hudson River. Its creative directors in 2013 are musician Melissa Auf der Maur and independent filmmaker Tony Stone.History of the siteThe building that currently houses Basilica Hudson was originally built in the 1880s as a foundry that produced railroad car wheels. Later, it was converted into a glue factory that closed in the 1980s. In 1999, the site was slated for inclusion in a redevelopment proposal by the Americlean corporation to build a processing facility for the dry cleaning solvent perchloroethylene. The successful campaign to defeat this proposal was led by the newly formed Friends of Hudson environmental organization. After the defeat of the Americlean proposal, the property was acquired by a Florida developer who sought unsuccessfully to establish an arts center. In 2001, developers and civic activists Patrick Doyle and Catherine Dodge Smith acquired the property and opened it as a community arts center under the name Basilica Industria. The venue was the site of a 2003 Patti Smith concert benefiting the Friends of Hudson campaign to stop development of a 1,800-acre cement plant in neighboring town of Greenport. By 2008, musician Melissa Auf der Maur and filmmaker Tony Stone, then newcomers to Hudson, began curating events, filming, and holding band practice in the space.