A painting by artist Len Tantillo of a proposed canal in downtown Albany.

ALBANY — The proposal to build a downtown canal always felt like one of those grand plans likely to go nowhere, another of those cool ideas other cities pull off that wouldn’t happen here.

But that was before Gov. Kathy Hochul allocated $200 million for “high-impact projects” that would shake downtown from its doldrums and force the world to notice. Suddenly, supporters of Albany Waterway Inc. had new hope.

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“If the governor is looking for something impactful, this is it,” said Albany attorney Bartley Costello, the group’s chairman. “This is something that could be done and should be done, because it will bring life into the city.”

Albany Waterway, building on ideas that have circulated for decades, is essentially floating three distinct proposals.

The first would uncover an Erie Canal lock and waterway located near the Central Warehouse, creating a large basin and marina. Touted by former Mayor Jerry Jennings in the 1990s, the idea would resurrect Albany’s largely forgotten history as the canal’s starting point while reconnecting the city to the Hudson River.

The cost is estimated at $50 to $100 million, according to a recent state Department of Transportation study on reimagining Interstate 787, although there........

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