The view of Building B-2 at the former U.S. Bureau of Mines from the fence on Liberty Street on Oct. 5, 2024.
The U.S. Department of Energy intends to demolish an old building off Liberty Street, on the campus of the former U.S. Bureau of Mines. The question is why has this four-story office building been left to rot to the point that the government wants to tear it down.
In its 217-page environmental assessment, the Energy Department reports that the structure, known as Building B-2, has been vacant since the mid-1990s, and utilities such as water, power and gas have long been turned off.
There’s asbestos to deal with, maybe lead paint, along with dead birds in the attic, mold on some walls, and other problems. So why would a research lab operated by the federal government just abandon a building like that?
You may not remember, and I didn’t either until I went to the clippings in newspaper.com, but times were tough for the Bureau’s Albany Research Center in the 1990s. The Democrat-Herald reported on efforts by local officials and Congressman Peter DeFazio to keep the center’s appropriations from being slashed, but it didn’t work.
Congress abolished the Bureau of Mines in 1995. In Albany, this prompted obvious fears that the center would close.
It didn’t close but became, along with other Bureau labs, part of the fossil energy section of the U.S. Department of Energy. Now of course we call it the National Energy Technology Lab or NETL.
In 1995, the last year of the Bureau of Mines, the Albany center had nearly 130 employees and a budget of $9.5 million. By 1996, according to a newspaper story in April of that year, the staff was down to 83 and the budget was $5 million.
So, no wonder they didn’t need Building B-2. No wonder they had to save on expenses wherever possible. And that evidently led to the decision not to pay for utilities to keep the now empty four floors in B-2 heated and the roof patched enough to keep the rain out.
The building was constructed in 1875 and was moved to its present site in 1926, according to NETL. Until now though, when its demolition is likely, no one showed much interest in its preservation. Now the City of Albany and others have asked the Energy Department not to tear it down or to save artifacts if it is demolished..
The government’s comment period on the environmental assessment ran out last month. I asked NETL what happens now. The local contact listed on the environmental assessment referred me to Shelley Martin, the agency’s public affairs director in Morgantown, WV.
“Regarding the status of the building,” Martin emailed back, “NETL is informed by multiple factors and inputs and plans to make a final decision regarding B2 in 2025.”
So we won’t know the outcome for a while. But now, remembering what was going on around 1995, at least I have a good idea of why the building was allowed to run down. (hh)
Even from the street, you can see signs of the building’s deterioration since the 1990s.
ATEZ Environmental Remediation, a firm based in Harrisburg, evidently has been working at Building B-2.
An old building, allowed to run down
The view of Building B-2 at the former U.S. Bureau of Mines from the fence on Liberty Street on Oct. 5, 2024.
The U.S. Department of Energy intends to demolish an old building off Liberty Street, on the campus of the former U.S. Bureau of Mines. The question is why has this four-story office building been left to rot to the point that the government wants to tear it down.
In its 217-page environmental assessment, the Energy Department reports that the structure, known as Building B-2, has been vacant since the mid-1990s, and utilities such as water, power and gas have long been turned off.
There’s asbestos to deal with, maybe lead paint, along with dead birds in the attic, mold on some walls, and other problems. So why would a research lab operated by the federal government just abandon a building like that?
You may not remember, and I didn’t either until I went to the clippings in newspaper.com, but times were tough for the Bureau’s Albany Research Center in the 1990s. The Democrat-Herald reported on efforts by local officials and Congressman Peter DeFazio to keep the center’s appropriations from being slashed, but it didn’t work.
Congress abolished the Bureau of Mines in 1995. In Albany, this prompted obvious fears that the center would close.
It didn’t close but became, along with other Bureau labs, part of the fossil energy section of the U.S. Department of Energy. Now of course we call it the National Energy Technology Lab or NETL.
In 1995, the last year of the Bureau of Mines, the Albany center had nearly 130 employees and a budget of $9.5 million. By 1996, according to a newspaper story in April of that year, the staff was down to 83 and the budget was $5 million.
So, no wonder they didn’t need Building B-2. No wonder they had to save on expenses wherever possible. And that evidently led to the decision not to pay for utilities to keep the now empty four floors in B-2 heated and the roof patched enough to keep the rain out.
The building was constructed in 1875 and was moved to its present site in 1926, according to NETL. Until now though, when its demolition is likely, no one showed much interest in its preservation. Now the City of Albany and others have asked the Energy Department not to tear it down or to save artifacts if it is demolished..
The government’s comment period on the environmental assessment ran out last month. I asked NETL what happens now. The local contact listed on the environmental assessment referred me to Shelley Martin, the agency’s public affairs director in Morgantown, WV.
“Regarding the status of the building,” Martin emailed back, “NETL is informed by multiple factors and inputs and plans to make a final decision regarding B2 in 2025.”
So we won’t know the outcome for a while. But now, remembering what was going on around 1995, at least I have a good idea of why the building was allowed to run down. (hh)
Even from the street, you can see signs of the building’s deterioration since the 1990s.
ATEZ Environmental Remediation, a firm based in Harrisburg, evidently has been working at Building B-2.
Tags: Building B-2, Burau of Mines, Historic buildings, National Energy Technology Lab