In the News
 

First published: Friday, March 3, 2000

 
Don't demolish history for 'disposable' store 
 

As the Albany Board of Zoning Appeals considers plans to demolish School 10 to build an Eckerd drugstore, I hope they're paying attention to the financial markets.

Recently, JC Penney announced that because of a multimillion-dollar loss in the last quarter, they will close 45 department stores. In addition, as the parent company of Eckerd Drugs, they will also close 289 Eckerd outlets -- approximately 10 percent of their stores nationwide. 

School 10, at Central and North Lake avenues, was designed by prominent 19th-century architect Albert Fuller, and is eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. It served a generation of students, and has great potential for adaptive reuse.

To demolish this century-old structure only to replace it with a drive-through Eckerd drugstore would be a grave mistake. It would forever burden this intersection with "disposable architecture.'' And if overexpansion continues to take its toll on profit margins, might this store be the next to close?

While I applaud efforts to revitalize the city and bring in new businesses and tenants, I must urge our leaders to show an appreciation for the historic buildings that make Albany unique. We do not have to sacrifice School 10 to gain a drugstore. In cities throughout New York, developers have adapted existing structures -- they should be encouraged to do the same in Albany.

Our city's architectural heritage should be embraced and recognized as an asset, not viewed as in impediment to progress.

COLLEEN M. RYAN
Albany 

Copyright 2000, Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation, Albany, N.Y. The information you receive online from Times Union is protected by the copyright laws of the United States. The copyright laws prohibit any copying, redistributing, retransmitting, or repurposing of any copyright-protected material.