Seven to Save 2000

Lower State Street is arguably Albany's most historic and architecturally important streetscape, extending uphill from the Gothic style D & H Building to the magnificent State Capitol Building. As a result of recent demolitions and new office construction, the five properties at 132-140 State Street stand out as an intact and historic row in the downtown's most significant commercial corridor. The five buildings, which include two former hotels, the Elks Lodge, and a rare surviving townhouse, are included in a local historic district and are listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places. The buildings of 132-140 State Street, designed by leading local and national architects between 1832 and 1923, reflect Albany's singular importance as a commercial and governmental center. However, beginning in the mid-1980s, the properties were acquired by Sebba-Rockaway, Ltd., a British developer, that is marketing them as a single property poised for clearance rather than as landmarks ready for reinvestment. With no response to an unsuccessful strategy meant to attract large-scale development, the future of the historic row on lower State Street is precarious.

Schenectady’s downtown is like many in upstate New York. Retail development on the outskirts of cities has led many businesses to relocate, leaving once thriving "Main Streets" nearly empty. Schenectady’s "Main Street" is State Street, which has witnessed disinvestment over the decades, and a decline in the number of people coming downtown to shop. The city has made a commitment to reversing this trend, but at the expense of what gives Schenectady a sense of place and distinguishes it from any other downtown– its historic buildings. With the intention of bringing more people into the central business district, the city has supported the demolition of 11 turn-of-the-century buildings for a new state Department of Transportation headquarters. Eight of these buildings are eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. After much contest from the Schenectady Heritage Foundation, the Preservation League of New York State, and many residents, the city has refused to locate the DOT building elsewhere. And, Schenectady may be gearing up to demolish another eight buildings which stand on the preferred site of a new City/County Courthouse. One of the buildings in this block is the former Oddfellows Hall, a terra cotta-clad structure that was recently restored by Proctor’s Theater for an Arts Center.

Seneca Park is nationally recognized as an important historic landscape, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. late in his career. Olmsted is hailed as the "father of American landscape architecture" and was the designer of Central Park in New York City. He himself chose the land along both sides of the Genesee River for Seneca Park with the goal of creating a wild and scenic refuge in a busy urban center. But since the creation of the park in 1893, much of it has been lost to residential, industrial, and roadway development. The area that most retains Olmsted's design is around Trout Pond in Lower Seneca Park. But that's precisely where the Monroe County administration plans to expand the Seneca Park Zoo and construct an 800-car parking lot. Currently, the zoo occupies 12 acres on a narrow plateau, hidden from the open land, walking paths, mature trees and recreational space of the Trout Pond area. The zoo expansion plan favored by the administration, which has development rights in the city-owned park, would triple the size of the zoo and extend it off of the plateau. Parkland would be lost for animal exhibits, while a seven-acre parking lot would eliminate an open meadow, forested area, walking paths and vistas to Trout Pond. Under strong protest by park advocates, preservationists and neighbors, the development would undo much of the extensive and historically appropriate restoration completed after the devastating ice storm in 1991.

Across New York State and the nation, communities are facing difficult, often divisive decisions concerning the fate of older school buildings. While some municipalities are choosing to rehabilitate schools, others are favoring new construction and abandoning buildings that have functioned as neighborhood anchors for generations. The City of Niagara Falls is in the midst of such a controversy regarding the future of the 1924 Niagara Falls High School, vacated in June 2000 after a new high school opened elsewhere in the city. What's at stake in Niagara Falls is whether the landmark-quality school will be retained for new community uses or demolished and replaced with a plaza-style shopping mall. The handsome three-story building, with its ornate 1,200-seat auditorium, occupies a prominent site in the heart of the city's "Little Italy" neighborhood, which is experiencing reinvestment. After determining that the school district could not use the former school, the Niagara Falls School Board agreed to sell the property to Benderson Development Corporation. Benderson proposes to redevelop the site with a new commercial facility if it can obtain the necessary zoning change. Unless city government, the school board, and others can agree on the desired outcome for the building and site, the Classical Revival style school will be leveled and a shopping mall will be built in its place.

The Glimmerglass/Upper Susquehanna Region, which includes the nine towns and villages surrounding Otsego or "Glimmerglass Lake," is one of New York State's most intact and lovely cultural landscapes. From Cherry Valley to Springfield to Milford, the homes, churches, farms, fields, and roads retain a remarkable degree of visual and architectural integrity. In fact, 2,300 buildings and sites are listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places. Yet the region's agricultural activities and small town character are threatened by the growing impact of tourism in the form of sprawl development. Due to its historic association with the origin and popularity of baseball, Cooperstown and environs has become a magnet for rapid and large-scale development. Youth baseball camps, motels, amusement parks, strip malls, and parking lots are consuming open land and straining aging infrastructure. The cumulative effect of these projects-- some in place and more proposed-- threatens to destroy the unique and beautiful network of historic sites and settings that distinguish the Glimmerglass Region in the state and the nation.

Long Island’s real estate boom is destroying much of the region’s existing properties and open space, including the home that was built in 1938 for A. Conger Goodyear. The Goodyear House was designed by internationally renowned Modernist architect, Edward Durell Stone (1902-1978). Its floor-to-ceiling glass walls and flat roof are typical of the Modernist style, but it was also constructed with deep overhanging eaves, influenced by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. The property is now owned by the Wheatley Construction Company, which has been building new luxury homes on the rolling Long Island countryside that originally was the setting for the Goodyear House. The house itself is in danger of demolition for new construction as well if a sympathetic buyer does not step forward soon to save the property.

The penthouse of 809 United Nations Plaza in New York City is a rare sight to behold. It contains the Edgar J. Kaufmann Conference Rooms, the creation of an internationally acclaimed master in modern architectural design, Alvar Aalto. The rooms are one of only three projects in the United States designed by Aalto (1898-1976), a renowned Finnish architect. Now, the three rooms are facing an uncertain future. The owner, Kokuren Shien L.L.C., plans to convert the conference rooms into offices, destroying Aalto’s masterpiece. Once the owner was made aware of the importance of the rooms, they offered to give the removable portions to anyone willing to pay for the cost of removal. They also agreed to wait 90 days before commencing with demolition. That agreement expires this month.