The Glenwood power plant has long been a favorite place for us to visit. Abandoned since the 1960s, these massive buildings have deteriorated significantly over the decades.

History
Built between 1904 and 1906, this large power plant was built to power the electrification of the adjacent New York Central 'hudson line' - powering electrified trains which replaced steam locomotives and enabled the expansion of Grand Central Terminal. These tracks still pass directly to the east of the power plant, serving Metro North's present day Hudson line, along with Amtrak trains to Penn Station and CSX freight trains to and from Oak Point in the Bronx (connecting all Long Island). For the last 15 years, there have been nothing but rumors of redevelopment soon to take place here, though never any signs of it actually happening beyond a lot of talk and ugly proposals for 'adaptive reuse' which suggested basically dropping a glass tower on top of the existing brick buildings.

Present:
It had been perhaps 2 or 3 years since i dropped by Glenwood power plant. I had heard rumors that the property was being cleaned up, so I figured I should go take a look for myself. Sure enough all of the decades of overgrown was stripped back, with the ground surrounding the buildings cleared. Part of the old freight trestle were loads of coal were delivered had now been removed.

This all seems to be in preparation for a slightly less ambitious plan than those that have come before it. To quote a recent article on the matter...

"Under the ambitious design, the site’s southernmost building would be transformed into a hotel with guest rooms lining the upper floors and overlooking an atrium with a restaurant and a reception area. Adjacent to that, the cavernous “turbine hall” would become a convention center with shops and a possible health spa.

The project would preserve all of the Glenwood power plant buildings, but would add two floors to the current “switch house,” a narrow structure at the northern end of the site to be converted into a “corporate retreat” area with a ballroom and a more “intimate” hotel.

The open-air courtyard would become a “seasonal garden” with a cafe and a glass roof."

We will see if any of this actually happens. Cleaning up the cruff around the buildings is a pretty start but it's going to take far more work to do anything productive with this space, as the photos above show.