100 years ago in The Record
Monday, March 11, 1918
The Troy Development Corporation’s subscription campaign gives the Collar City “the opportunity to show how great a price it is prepared to pay for its future, or to secure the growth it has been looking for in the past few years,” says Chamber of Commerce secretary Edward McColgin today. March 11 marks the formal launch of the drive to raise $200,000 through the sale of shares in the new corporation, which will find or create housing for an expected wartime influx of people working at the Watervliet Arsenal and other major industries. $45,000 had already been raised from “prominent citizens and business houses without systematic effort” before today’s canvass of “all business houses and manufacturing establishments in the city.” Speaking at a kickoff luncheon at the Rensselaer Hotel, Troy corporation counsel Herbert F. Roy stresses that “everyone investing in the corporation is to share equally in its success with the directors.” Trojans are being asked to pledge money today and pay up within the next 30 days. Liberty Bonds previously purchased to support the U.S. war effort will be accepted as payment. “If we raise the $200,000, the United States government will no doubt lend us sufficient money to take care of the erection of permanent homes,” The Record reports. “The United States cannot win this war without guns and Watervliet is to be one of the three big gun plants, and is to be the largest of its kind in the world. This means that thousands of men, high paid men, will live here in Troy, if we give them a place to live.”
The Development Corporation’s first major project will be the conversion of the old Samaritan and Troy hospital buildings into “inns” that will accommodate up to 700 workers.
Housing Survey of City of Troy
In the meantime, Frank Mulvihill starts a 2-3 week survey of Troy’s housing market in preparation for the city’s application for government assistance. Mulvihill is an assistant to housing expert John Nolen, who was hired recently by the Chamber of Commerce to conduct the survey. Nolen is expected to arrive in Troy and take charge of the survey tomorrow. The Record reports that “Mr. Nolen will only be employed by the Chamber of Commerce for some weeks, after which … the Chamber of Commerce will go ahead with its housing work, reinforced by the exhaustive and authoritative report of Mr. Nolen.” The report Nolen will prepare is considered a prerequisite for government aid. The Chamber brought him to Troy after reviewing the report he made on behalf of Wilimington DE.