Guild House Roof Repair “Ground-Breaking”
League President Jay DiLorenzo makes remarks at a press conference celebrating the beginning of restoration work at the Guild House. Also pictured: Norman Young, General Contractor, DCMC Construction; State Senator Patricia Fahy; the Right Reverend Jeremiah D. Williamson 10th Bishop of Albany; The Very Reverend Fr. Leander S. Harding, Dean of the Cathedral of All Saints; and Alexandria Sifontes, President & CEO of ASA Construction Specialties, LLC.
On a blustery day in Albany, the League was proud to stand with the Cathedral of All Saints team as they announced the beginning of emergency roof repair work at the Guild House, situated just behind the imposing Cathedral. This work is funded in part by a grant from the League Preservation Opportunity Fund.
Workers on a crane coming down from the Guild House roof.
During the press conference, League President Jay DiLorenzo said, “This building is more than just a historic structure, it is a community asset that one day is going to provide – again – important social services to the people in this neighborhood; services that make people feel at home, feel welcome, the kind of services needed now more than ever before.”
The Preservation League has taken a strong interest in saving the Guild House, adding it to its “Seven to Save” list of buildings across New York State it sees as most threatened.
Reverend Leander Harding, the Cathedral’s Dean, hailed the event as “the new beginning for a building with a storied past serving the community of Albany.”
State Senator Patricia Fahy, who, alongside NYS Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, helped designate State funds to support restoration efforts at the Guild House, spoke about the importance of supporting historic preservation. She noted that projects like the Guild House help “teach our children who we are…and when we restore our buildings it enriches the history of Albany and of New York itself.”
The Guild House began life in the early 20th Century as an immigrant settlement house and meeting place and later served as a school. It closed in the 1970s and has been empty since. Over the years it has suffered serious deterioration. Once restored, it will house social services provided by the Cathedral, beginning a new life as it serves its original purpose once again. As Jay DiLorenzo said, this “grassroots effort is not just [to] rebuild the walls, but also it’s historic mission, because we feel that’s really essential…because it’s great to have these old buildings, but if they don’t play an important role in our current society, they are useless to us.”