New visions for Saint Rose
We asked Times Union readers what the college’s campus might become next.
For many people, the coming closure of Albany’s College of Saint Rose hits hard. For some, it’s the loss of a cherished institution; for others, a worrying vacancy as dozens of buildings and acres of land face the prospect of going dark.
The campus is woven into the fabric of the Pine Hills neighborhood. It’s spread across dozens of buildings, many of them turn-of-thecentury residences converted into offices. What might come next is unclear: After the last class graduates at end of the 2024 academic year, the institution will have financial obligations to resolve before questions of redevelopment even can be asked.
But we live here, and we’re dreamers. So we invited online Times Union readers to reimagine the Saint Rose campus, sharing their visions of what the property might become. Some of the responses are printed here.
A few common themes emerged from the more than 100 responses we received. First, many hoped that at least some of the property will remain dedicated to teaching and learning, perhaps becoming part of another college, a high school, a home for music instruction or a training center. A strong sense of community also connected many of the responses — seen also in the fact that many of the people weighing in identified themselves as Pine Hills residents. It’s the kind of neighborhood that becomes part of people’s identity, and a number of writers advocated for uses that would preserve the campus’ feeling of a human-scale, walkable community.
A final theme emerged from both the number and the substance of the responses: hope. Even in a moment of uncertainty, with a major institution fading, many people see possibility and potential and growth in Albany. That’s encouraging, and it speaks well for the future.
The ideas below are loosely grouped into categories. We hope they’ll add to the conversation about Albany’s next chapter.
Education
I would at least like to see the speech clinic continue to be used. As a local speech pathologist who graduated from Saint Rose, I know how vital that clinic is to people across the lifespan and all over the Capital Region. Could one of the hospital systems, BOCES, or someone else keep it running?
Maureen Aromi, Albany
SUNY or Russell Sage should use the educational facilities and residences, with an emphasis on opening more opportunities for local residents to enroll in reasonably priced continuing education for part-time or single-course enrollment.
Vida Chernoff, Albany I would like Siena to move its Albany Med program to the area. This would serve two goals: The Siena students would be closer to the hospital and they could continue their mission of service in the immediate area.
Maureen Klein, Colonie
I’m a student at Saint Rose and I think the campus should continue to be used for education of some kind. It would be nice if they could save the education department and make the education building a satellite campus for teachers at UAlbany.
Isaac Sievers, Saint Rose
The Lally School of Education should open up as a public library for teachers. This way teachers can use the curriculum library and meet with other teachers to get ideas and make connections. Also, using the building for professional development opportunities, trainings, and speakers would benefit teachers as well in the community. There could even be a psychologist on site that can take clients and specially help teachers work through burnout and help with any other mental health issues that may occur. This could be a huge teacher resource in Albany.
Ashley Isabella, Duanesburg I have heard that KIPP Academy, Tech Valley High, and other schools are looking to expand. The Saint Rose campus might serve as a great location to establish a collaborative environment for these schools to share space, and some services, and expose their students to a wide variety of experiences socially, and academically. The campus has a great variety of real estate that could be creatively utilized to fill this need. Given the difficult environment for higher ed, supporting the charter schools to feed the local colleges should benefit the greater regional economy and keep more of our “intellectual capital” in the area.
Chet Opalka, Averill Park
I’m wondering if the classrooms couldn’t be utilized as a Hudson Valley Community College (West Campus?) annex for people from the Albany area who find transportation to and from Troy for classes to be a hardship. Educational opportunities are never a waste of time or money if the state of New York would step in and help. And we all know that a community college education is an excellent pathway to better wages and life stability for everyone! Night classes for adult continuing ed, and day classes for those who wish to do so fulltime. Win-win as far as I see it.
Rosemary Gavin, Latham
I envision a massive new eco college in place of Saint Rose. A coalition would bring professors and students who are working on drawdown of CO2 projects. The world is desperate for these available, proven, implementable technologies.
Victor Anderson, Pine Hills
Business
Move offices from Wolf Road to Pine Hills. I work in an office building near the airport, and so do 700 of my colleagues. This is the only reason my husband and I own the second car. To go out for lunch, my colleagues and I have to drive, and it’s mostly chain fast food places around us anyways.
Emily Smith, Troy Main campus buildings should be leased to attractive employers such as architecture, tech and engineering firms. Albany needs high-paying jobs and must be a hub for upstate engineering and design. The Pine Hills can achieve that outside of the government/law downtown. … As sad as the closure is, if we bring in high-paying desk jobs to the neighborhood, we will create greater opportunity for local business that isn’t limited to the nine-month school cycle but all 12 months out of the year.
Matthew Garcia, Pine Hills
Get the properties back on the tax rolls. Offer low rate loans for purchasers who will live or do business there for 10 years. Condominium-ize some buildings for market-priced and low- to moderate-income housing. Turn some of the parking lots into parks and a farmer’s market. Beg Stewart’s Shops to locate there. Engage the owners of existing businesses, such as Madison Cafe, to be involved in the planning. Residents, business owners, tenants advocates and large Saint Rose donors can guide the planning. Albany Med or Saint Peter’s satellites there, with PILOT clauses?
Thea Hoeth, Center Square, Albany
Community and social services
Make the swimming pool open to the public with fees funneled toward free swimming lessons for children from low-income households and free lifeguard training for racial groups statistically underrepresented within the profession.
Lydia Brassard, Pine Hills
What about a full-service reception/service/resettlement center for refugees and asylum seekers? It could provide initial basic services like housing and meals and include English classes, employment assistance, connections with legal advisers and medical care. Could be an intake and launch site for other locations throughout the Northeast.
Kathy Menard, Albany
Community recreation center, social and/or medical day care for seniors and people with disabilities, offices for state employees, rehabilitation center for people recovering from addiction.
Michelle Bucinell, Pine Hills
I would like to see some of it be used for benefits to the community, some not-for-profit that deals with arts and our unique culture. I would like to see some of the property be able to generate tax revenue for the city, and that can be accomplished with residential and commercial development. Most important is that our residents are able to have their voices heard, even though it’s private property. Even though we lost an institution that’s over 100 years old, we have an opportunity to reimagine what can be.
Corey Ellis, Albany Housing for homeless/low-income only, community center, arts/trade training, worker-owned/run cooperative spaces.
Collin Thomas, Albany
I would love to see the athletic complex turn into a community center or expanded facilities for the Albany High students.
Hailey Hanoufa, Albany
A community continued learning and resource center. Use the formal classroom spaces for trade learning and job development opportunities for the community at large. Use the theater and athletic buildings for community events — theater, music, arts, and athletics. Use the housing for the elderly and disabled to maintain quality and controlled rental units. Use spaces for true community involvement, integration and supports. A place to bring the at large community together by combining a place for for-profit and nonprofit businesses to meet the needs and supports of the Albany community.
Matt McMorris, Park South, Albany
The Arts
I would like to see the Massry Center for the Arts and Hearst Center continue to support music, art and theater education. The facilities were built to do just that, they already have the resources necessary to pick up right where they left off, and there is clearly a need for music and the arts in education since more and more schools continue to shut these programs down.
Kristin Gordon, Schenectady
I’d like to take over stewardship of the Massry Center and either create a Capital City Fine Arts Center, or see it become a fine arts high school for the area, offering “majors” in art, music, theater and dance.
Bryan Cady, Guilderland
I just called Capital Region Classical and suggested, a bit naively, that they and A Place For Jazz purchase the Massry Center as it is a perfect music venue. Of course making it an arts center would be great as well, combining many local musical organizations and arts venues.
Fred Perkins, Albany
A youth music school that provides a mix of private and group lessons for a variety of instruments, with optional participation in small instructor-led ensembles (chamber music, jazz band) and orchestras during after-school hours and recitals/performances at the Massry Center on the weekends. Inviting members of the Albany Symphony to teach master classes to advanced students. A daytime pre-K program that introduces music and movement to a new generation. It would be wonderful to have a center for music/arts/dance education within the city of Albany!
Rebecca Schreck, Albany
1.) Make an art incubator. 2.) A maker’s space to promote innovation and to promote collaboration between technical innovation and artistic vision. 3.) Business incubator. 4.) Children’s museum (see Museum of Play in Rochester). 5.) Workforce training for at-risk populations. 6.) Trade school (in collaboration with ideas 1-3).
Housing
Benjamin Bucinell, Pine Hills
I’d love to see a mini-village, with a
VISIONS,
mix of affordable and market-rate housing, senior housing, a senior center, a day care center, community gardens and spaces for creators, for educational events/ adult education classes, and for music. The goal is community — so, as one example, kids at the day care would spend time with the seniors.
Maura McNulty-Finn, Albany
A residential community that provides a variety of levels of support with a variety of educational, recreational and vocational programs and supports tailored for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
Tara Obrien, Schenectady
Senior citizen campus with housing, activities areas, exercise areas, medical areas. Our population is aging, and this could help them when they need some assistance and community after retirement.
Diana Pletts, Mayville
This site would be a great fit for a world-class continuing-care retirement community. The community would have an educational aim as well as a strong performing arts component.
Mark Kissinger, Delmar
I’d like to see a 55+ or mixed-age co-housing community where residents could buy a whole house, a large, medium or small apartment, and all would have access to communal dining, activities and outdoor space.
Joann Sternheimer, Albany
Considering the affordable housing crisis in the state, it seems prudent to have the Albany Housing Authority or a state entity take over the buildings through whatever means necessary to act as stewards and provide Albany residents with safe and affordable residences.
Brandon Bissell-Evans, Albany
Some of the buildings could easily be restored back to their residential past and sell for high-end prices. I hope it keeps its beauty and not turn into a commercial mess.
Tommy McGrath Jr., Wynantskill
Give grants to Albany residents to restore the Madison Avenue homes back to residential homes. Or, if that’s not possible, then sell them to Albany residents and we can restore them ourselves! One of those houses used to be my family’s house; I would be heartbroken if it got sold off to developers. Please don’t sell those beautiful houses to developers. They’ll tear them down and we’ll lose all of that history and it will forever change that neighborhood.
Alisabeth Natali, Albany
I would like to see the academic building used for high-tech related research and the dorms converted to luxury apartments to help maintain the area economy.
The city should be working with a developer to convert the residential buildings back to single-family and duplexes. Let’s be creative. The academic years are over.
Robert Haggerty, Albany House the homeless, make a community geared towards service. There’s already dorms; other buildings can be converted into vocational training areas.
Jaha Jarvis, Schenectady