Every now and then, passersby get an indication that the work of saving and restoring the former St. Francis Hotel in Albany is going on inside.
At 113 years of age, the two-story structure housing the Wood Apartments in the 200 block of Southeast Third Avenue may be among Albany’s oldest apartment buildings. Now the facade is getting structural repairs.
It has taken a while, but now a faded former apartment house on East First Avenue in Albany has been rebuilt as something completely different. Now it’s the Opera House, a building with century-old lines on the outside and modern, well equipped apartments inside the walls.
It was four years ago that “1st Hand Seconds,” a downtown women’s second-hand clothing shop with a mission, moved from one historic Albany address on First Avenue to another, on Second. Now it’s ready to celebrate the remodeling of its 1929 building with a Saturday open house.
Another page is about to be turned in the continuing story of changes in Albany’s downtown. Pride Printing has occupied the ground floor of the former St. Francis Hotel for about 50 years, and now the business leaving.
It was 46 degrees at 2 this afternoon and sunny. As long as the sun shines, cold weather evidently is no deterrent when it comes to refreshing the paint on a historic Albany church.
Saving Central School — with heat louvers
Classrooms in Albany’s 109-year-old Central School have problems with ventilation and heating. The school district has devised a solution, and the city’s Landmarks Commission approved it this week.
Tags: Albany schools, Central School, Historic buildings, HVAC, Landmarks Commission, saving history