ALBANY — In the wake of the catastrophic blaze at the former Kenwood Academy, city historians and preservationists are again searching for ways to prevent other historic properties in the city from meeting a similar ruinous fate.
The issue is not a new one, and the city has demolished hundreds of buildings over the last decade, including deteriorating historic buildings.
At Kenwood, the city cited the owner several times in the past few years for code violations and completed at least two major board-ups of the building. And as late as January, there were discussions between the Historic Albany Foundation, the city, and others about trying to find a way to move the property forward.
Pamela Howard, Historic Albany Foundation’s executive director, said a small group met over the last week after the fire to brainstorm ways it can partner with the city on the issue, including pushing for legislative changes to speed up the process for getting buildings out of the hands of absentee owners.
“Because unfortunately, when you have either irresponsible or absentee owners that’s how these buildings get into the most disrepair and become targets for demolition,” she said.
The former Kenwood Academy caught fire on March 23, two days after it was sold at auction for $100,000 to Guild Investment Group. The investors had recently assumed the site’s mortgage and were in discussions with the city and Albany County on topics such as the site’s zoning and back taxes.
Rick LaJoy, head of the city’s department of Buildings and Regulatory Compliance, said demolition should wrap up by Sunday. The work, which will include engineering reports, will cost the city about $300,000. No cause has yet been determined for the fire.
During the demolition work, some of the bricks and other items that survived the inferno were set aside for the Doane…
Read the full article here