A letter from our Honorary Chairs, Brad and Paige Allen

Dear Friends in Preservation:
On behalf of Historic Albany Foundation, we invite you to join us on the 2023 Honorary Committee for Feast, one of Historic Albany’s largest and most-anticipated fundraisers of the year.  On Saturday, April 22nd at 6 pm we will hold Feast 2023 in person on the fourth floor Terrace Gallery at the New York State Museum.
We are thrilled and honored to be invited to be the Honorary Chairs of Feast 2023, as we have been involved with Historic Albany Foundation for many years in several different ways.  We have hosted Feast and the Holiday House Tour, and Brad served on the Board of Directors from 2008 to 2011.   

Albany is blessed with a rich architectural history, but that history can easily be erased without constant attention.  Since 1974, Historic Albany Foundation has been working to preserve and protect that history through raising awareness about the architectural gems around us, advocating for buildings that are in danger of being lost, and educating those of us who have the pleasure of owning an older home on how to be good stewards and ensure that the features that make our homes special are lovingly maintained so that future generations can also enjoy them.  For all these reasons, we have been longtime financial supporters of Historic Albany Foundation.  We hope that you have been similarly inspired by the good work of the Foundation and will join us on the Honorary Committee for Feast 2023. 

Behind the scenes the event committee and staff are planning a wonderful evening with a WINDOWS ON ALBANY theme, and we look forward to seeing you there.  The evening will include a sumptuous buffet, wines, spirit tastings, a fun assortment of unique desserts, live music, and as always – a fabulous silent auction.  The auction will again be held online, and starting at noon on the day of the event the auction will be open only to Honorary Committee members.  The auction will open to the general public at 6pm. This year we will also be having a special in-person only auction of window sashes that have been beautifully transformed into a piece of art embodying Albany’s history, spirit or culture.

We hope that you will consider joining us on the Honorary Committee this year to support the vital mission of Historic Albany Foundation.  Please RSVP by Friday, February 24th to be included in the invitation.  You may RSVP online at: www.historic-albany.org/feast.
Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you on Saturday, April 22nd! 
Brad and Paige Allen
Long-term supporters of Historic Albany 

Join us on the Honorary Committee

Rewiring Workshop

Free #ToolLibraryAlbany Workshop

Learn basic rewiring methods and practices for repairing old table lamps. We will provide tools and materials to use. Please feel free to bring your own table lamps to fix (please nothing too fragile or valuable) Workshop leader Dave will be on hand to guide you through the process. We cannot help to fix
light fixtures. Due to capacity and safety, we will only be working with table lamps.

Join here

2023 Calendars Only $8!

Have you got your  2023 Calendar yet? We have a few of our architecturally, Albany-inspired Calendars left for sale in our Warehouse. You can stop by 89 Lexington Ave, Albany 12206 OR we can mail one to you! Buy in person or buy online here. 

Photos from Endure Skatepark Volunteer Day

We were thrilled to welcome 50 volunteers last Saturday to the Endure Skatepark in the Warehouse distinct of Albany. This project is part of Noteworthy Resources  a local nonprofit which works "to empower communities and make supportive holistic resources accessible through educational workshops, community events, support groups, and skateboarding". 

We are always looking for new volunteers to help with our Tool Lending Library, as well as new projects/partners to help in the community. If you have any suggestions or want to get involved, email Kim here. 

Senior Planner- Historic Preservation and Design Review
City of Albany Position

"This is a specialized professional planning position with primary work assignments focused on the area of historic preservation and design review.  In addition to these responsibilities, the incumbent is responsible for specific phases of moderately difficult planning projects and duties in the field of municipal or community planning. In a smaller unit the Senior Planner would be assigned planning projects calling for individual leadership to a greater extent than would be the case in larger planning units."

Find out more

What's New in the Warehouse?
While not for sale, come on by the Warehouse and see the 1917 GE street lamp that was donated by one of our Tool Librairans and repaired by Frank Coluccio, electrical engineer extraordinaire and longtime Warehouse volunteer!

Although the wiring seemed fairly simple at first, Frank discovered that, unless a lightbulb was screwed into the Mogul-size socket, it would short out and trip our breaker. Perhaps this was some kind of safety feature to prevent a lineman from being accidentally electrocuted while changing the bulb?

Look how beautiful that wave-patterned authentic Holophane glass globe looks! Even with a lower-than-normal-wattage lightbulb installed, it wonderfully diffuses light laterally so as to not blind drivers while focusing it downward to spotlight the road. Exposure to the ultraviolet light of the sun over the years it was in service has solarized the manganese dioxide clarifier in the glass to a lovely light shade of purple.

Warehouse Manager Dave did some research and determined this is a Novalux pendant with “stripped glass” and “Holophane prismatic dome reflector.” 

Dimensions: 26” tall x 14” diameter 

Come see us next Wed 12-6pm
Tool Lending Library - open 9am-12pm the following week

News 

Simple Roof Repair Tips

"  A few old-fashioned repairs for minor problems are DIY-friendly, provided you are comfortable working on the roof and you follow all safety procedures." 

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