Albany Heritage Project

Built Environment Group, December 13, 2001

Present:

"Matthew Bender" <imatthew@nycap.rr.com>

"Bill Bouchard" <jwbo@hartgen.com>

"P. Thomas Carroll" <carroll@rpi.edu>

"Richard Nicholson" <nichor@ci.albany.ny.us>

"Emer O'Keeffe" <mtida@albany.net>

"Anthony Opalka" <anthony.opalka@oprhp.state.ny.us>

"Robert Petito" <jgwarpetito@aol.com>

"John Pipkin" <j.pipkin@albany.edu>

"Ned Pratt" <nedpratt66@aol.com>

"S. Thyagarajan" <thyag@energyanswers.com>

"Clare Yates" <cld@albany.edu>

Themes and Concerns:

Possible events:  lectures, presentations, panel discussions, exhibits, events, web-sites, slide shows, CD-ROMS’s, bus/walking tours.  Tours and other events might be linked to books (e.g. Diana Waite et al.’s on architecture;  William Kennedy on North Albany and the Pastures, Tom Carroll on Gateway, etc.), might include “bus-to” events at varied sites, and might be coordinated with ongoing tours, concerts, exhibits and events.

It was noted that many groups conduct tours. The same is true of other endeavors we might consider.  We should be careful not to duplicate unknowingly such activities.

We should be aware of differential scales:  differential scales of buildings, projects and places;  hierarchy.

Principal focus on the city of Albany as opposed to the greater Capital Region, but we must make appropriate links, e.g. Erie Canal and Hudson Mohawk gateway;  railroad history.  It was also pointed out that it would be a mistake to neglect rural traces, for example rural Dutch buildings in Albany County.

Historical changes in scale and focus of the city;  center of gravity moves west.  Changing street plan:  colonial grid, Pastures grid, DeWitt Plan etc.;  streetcar suburbs.

Should not focus on existing built environment to the point of neglecting archeological traces;  there have been many recent discoveries, and archeological information can be fruitfully linked to themes such as immigrant history.

Post-vernacular architectural styles as symbolic dimensions of social and civic expression  (links to ethnicity, status, etc.).

Various focal places were mentioned including:  State St. Hill, Empire State Plaza, Ten Broeck Triangle, Pastures, South End, Capitol area, Sheridan Hollow, State Office Campus, Academy Park, Center Square.

Must take to site events in various settings:  Albany Academy,  AIHA, churches, cathedrals, synagogues.

Modernism and megaprojects in Albany.

Possible markings in public space e.g. delineation of various stockade lines on sidewalks.

Connect Albany’s urban form to physiography of site:  ravines, fill, Ruttenkill, Fox Kill, etc.

Link buildings to places under the theme “Buildings with Agendas” (e.g. D&H Building, State Education Building and the Draper/Doane conflict).

Albany Rural Cemetery as microcosm of the Albany (“projections” of architecture and neighborhood character).

“Local voices” - find ways to involve local informants.

Should not focus exclusively on elite and central places/buildings, but take care to involve people, buildings, and history in the North and South Ends, reaching out to all citizens of Albany.

We should attend to different levels of audience, especially local and lay audiences, and not try to maintain a uniformly scholarly level.

Places as a possible overarching theme.

Next Meeting:

Wednesday January 2, 2002