The front of the historic Albany High School building on Third Avenue on the evening of July 17. The photo shows both old and replacement windows.
It was four years ago that Albany officials stopped the Willamette Community Church from replacing the remaining old windows in the church’s building, the historic former Albany High School at 420 Third Ave. S.E.
I think of this every time I pass the stately old building on my bike, wondering if the flap over its windows has been resolved.
It hasn’t.
“There is still a compliance case open for the windows that are in question,” Matthew Ruettgers, director of the city’s Community Development Department, told me via email on Monday. “Staff will continue to work with the church for a resolution. However I currently do not have a timeline on when it will be resolved.”
What’s the sticking point? It’s vinyl.
Over some 20 years leading up to 2021, the church had replaced 122 windows. The old ones had wooden sashes, and the modern replacements were made of vinyl. (My original story on this controversy, with background on the 1909 building and the costs of the windows, is here.)
In 2021, the church wanted to finish the window project by replacing the last 34. When all but 11 were done, somebody — I don’t know who — complained that the work was being done without having undergone the city’s historic review process.
In response, the church sought permission for the 34 windows, but the Albany Landmarks Commission said no. On appeal, the city council voted 6-0 to affirm the denial in October 2021.
Looking at the building, you can’t tell whether the new windows, which rest in the original wooden frames, have wooden or vinyl sashes. This undercuts the main justification for rejecting vinyl windows in historic buildings.
The only way you can tell the difference is that the new windows have three panels; the remaining old ones have two.
Two weeks ago, on July 7, the city council and the Landmarks Commission held a joint meeting. The old high school windows did not come up.
One idea that did come up was to streamline the process for permitting solar rooftop panels on historic houses. These require public hearings before Landmarks in each case, and the thought was that such installations could more quickly be approved by the city staff, especially if the panels can’t be seen from he street.
Here’s my question: If modern additions to the exterior of historic buildings, like solar panels, are OK if they can’t be easily seen, why is vinyl still considered unacceptable even where it can’t be seen at all? (hh)
Thank you Hasso for bringing this up. I can not believe that this has not been taken care of. So much for Landmarks “working with the church” . The appeal was denied, but with the understanding that the church could expect some assistance in going forward. I really wondered if Council’s direction would be followed. I only voted yes on the appeal thinking that the church would get assistance to complete their project. Four years later and nothing?? Unacceptable. The vinyl will look historic before Landmarks helps them out.
Goes to show that reporting or somehow keeping it public when things promised aren’t followed through is the best way to get things done.
I am a Historic Restoration and Preservation Technical consultant.
There a several reasons why restoration and/ or replacing in kind is essential for historic buildings.
Once you open the fabric of the external surface of an old building, the probability of accelerated decay begins.
Wood sashes are complex systems, how they fit into a brick building, shed water, etc is important to maintaining the brick. The subtlest of design difference of the replacement of these original windows can accelerate the decline of the brick.
Vinyl windows do not flex or breathe, or release atmospheric moisture like a tight grain locally sourced wooden window.
Your interior space may be “drier”, but that moisture has a probability of being absorb into the brick and mortar.
Sealing the brick will only accelerate this possibility.
Please consult an actual Historic Preservation expert. We are loosing these beautiful buildings that can still teach us so much about structural sustainability as well as preserving the lost science of building towards permance.
Keeping this building as a testament to human inginuity is crucial in our throw away culture.
Contact the community college in Astoria. They had a program for historic preservation a couple of years ago and the instructor was brilliant. He could help you figure this out and it would save you a lot of cost into the future.
I apologize if this post is to the wrong person, and if the text is a bit off. I’m tapping it out on the tiny screen of my phone.
I wish you well, what ever you decide
Pride= Yes
Religion = NO
That is your Mayor/City Council folks.
Nonsense. This window thing was way before pride became a thing with the current council. And religion had absolutely nothing to do with it.
I forgot to tell people to watch the City Council meeting video for October13, 2021. It will explain the decision.
I think Hasso’s question on why possible solar panels might be allowed on historic buildings but windows are a point of conflict illustrates the emotional aspect of these kinds of decisions rather than any objective standards. As Hasso said–if it’s not easily visible from the curb, why prohibit it?
My guess is it’s simply someone’s dislike of vinyl windows. But, because solar is currently “in favor” by most government bodies, no one will prohibit it lest be called anti-climate.
As a poster in the prior article linked by Hasso questioned: How historic is enough? Any ADA-compliance is non-historic, so are electric lights and indoor plumbing for some houses.
This is just nuts. Any time the owner of a property invests money in a building to extend the life of a building the landmarks commission and the city ought to consider it to be a good thing. Our forefathers must be cringing at the over regulation and burdensome bureaucracy.
There are objective standards.
The Secretary of Interior standards, which are woven into the law at stake here, require “like for like” replacements on protected historic resources.
Vinyl is not wood and does not last like wood. There are ways to repair wood, and there are no ways to repair vinyl. If there’s a gas layer between panes and the seal fails in 10 years as they often do, the window no better and possibly worse than unrepaired wood. Don’t believe the sales pitches for new windows.
The windows are clearly visually different. Two does not equal three. I would have expected more historic literacy in Albany of all places. This is like saying it’s good to spell “cat” as “katt.”
The only assistance the city could offer the church is education — such as on historic materials and how to maintain them. Do we really know that was not offered?
Wow!
The national standards do allow for vinyl windows.
I worked at Albany Christian School that is at the WCC building. In the classrooms that still had the wooden windows, I can share from my and other staff experiences that the windows are so heavy that opening and closing them was very difficult and when closing them you had to be especially careful to not get a hand or finger caught because of the weight it would drop down quickly when removing the block keeping it slightly open. It is a safety concern trying to open and close the old wood ones.