For Immediate Release 
Contact: Elizabeth Griffin 
Phone (518) 465-0876  

Jackaline Ring
HAF Holiday House Tour Co-Chair
(518) 408-3297 (days)

Historic Albany Foundation Reinstates
Annual Holiday House Tour

(Albany, NY: October 28, 2004)  The sights, sounds and magical spirit of the holiday season will fill Albany’s historic neighborhoods on Sunday, December 12 from 12 noon to 5 pm, as Historic Albany Foundation reinstates its annual Holiday House Tour.

A dozen beautiful private homes in the Center Square, Hudson Park, Washington Park and Mansion neighborhoods will welcome visitors, along with four other captivating venues:

• The Albany Institute of History & Art will offer refreshments, a 2 pm lecture and book signing Kaaterskill Clove: Where Nature Met Art.  Free gallery admission is provided with the HAF Holiday House tour ticket.
• The wonderfully decorated Fort Orange Club will open its doors from 1-3 pm, where visitors will enjoy traditional caroling by members of the Westminster Presbyterian Church Choir. 
• Tours of the landmark Cathedral of All Saints will be given on the half-hour from 3-5 pm by Jim Gwynn.
• A stop at the elegant law offices of Bixby, Crable and Stiglmeier in the former Harmanus Bleeker Library will showcase the stunning adaptive re-use of this magnificent old building.

In addition, over 20 restaurants and merchants on Lark Street, Central Avenue and in the Mansion Neighborhood are joining the tour festivities by offering in-store specials, ranging from wine tasting to discounted meals and purchases upon presentation of tour tickets.  Ronald McDonald House Charities “Caroling for Kids” singers will stroll along Lark St., evoking memories of holidays long ago.  Santa Claus will arrive on Lark near Madison Avenue by horse-drawn carriage at 1 pm and depart at 4 pm.

Tickets are $20 for members of Historic Albany Foundation and Albany Institute of History & Art; cost for the general public is $25. Advance ticket purchase by cash or check is available at: the Downtown BID offices (522 Broadway, Albany); Albany Heritage Area Visitors Center (25 Quackenbush Square, intersection of Broadway and Clinton Ave., Albany); and the Lark Street Bookshop (215 Lark St., Albany).  Telephone orders by credit card can be placed with Historic Albany Foundation at (518) 465-0876 and picked up at the Albany Institute of History & Art on December 12 from 11 am-2 pm, where day-of-event tickets will also be available for purchase.

The Historic Albany Foundation (HAF) is a not-for-profit membership organization founded in 1974 to promote appreciation and preservation of architecture in the Albany area. Its programs include: advocacy, education, technical assistance and the Architectural Parts Warehouse at 83-89 Lexington Ave., which recycles and sells used historic elements of all types. The stabilization and eventual re-use of St. Joseph’s Church in Arbor Hill for a community purpose is HAF’s current major focus. The proceeds from the Holiday House Tour will help HAF continue its preservation efforts.

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