Few buildings in Albany new or old have, in recent years, received more publicity than St. Joseph’s Church.  Though its plight is well known throughout the city, until the end of last year little measurable work had been done to counter its decline. 

Just before Christmas of 2001 that the City of Albany became aware that the wooden structure that supported the roof above the church’s crossing was, in the word of their engineer, in a “dynamic mode of failure.” A previously documented problem had advanced to the point where something had to be done almost at once in order to save one of Albany’s greatest architectural treasures.

Because of its prominent location, St. Joseph’s Church serves as both a signpost and an anchor for Albany’s northern skyline.  The church itself was built between 1856 and 1860 to the designs of renowned Catholic architect Patrick Keeley. Keeley, one of the most prolific church architects in American history, always considered Saint Joseph’s to be his masterpiece, an assessment with which subsequent generations of architectural historians have concurred.  It stands today as one of the most fully developed churches of its kind in the nation. 

But deterioration due to years of incomplete—and at times non-existent—maintenance had left the building in a threatened state of disrepair.  This long-term deterioration culminated with the city’s seizure of the structure and subsequent emergency stabilization to forestall structural failure. Continued work is needed to maintain the structural stability reestablished by the recent emergency stabilization program. But the City’s recent efforts have, for the time being, helped save a masterpiece.