The Central Warehouse is a former warehouse building in North Albany, a neighborhood of Albany, New York. The building was a refrigeration warehouse built in 1927, 11 stories tall, with 400,000 square feet (37,000 m2) of space. The structure is considered a landmark of the community and city.[1] The building has a rail line that enters the second floor and the walls are 3 feet (0.91 m) thick concrete.[2] In 1981 the building began to have signs placed on it seen from I-787, and in 1983 one in particular "Year of the Bible" received numerous complaints, and the state began proceedings to have it removed. The signs violated the Federal Highway Beautification Act and were removed in 1986. Previous signs from 1981 to 1983 were not disputed by the state because Albany Mayor Erastus Corning 2nd had personally approved them, and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) chose not to enforce the law since it would be against Corning's wishes,[3] Corning died in 1983.
In 1996 the building, which by then had been abandoned, was found to have up to 18 inches (460 mm) of ice built up on some floors. It was believed that the ice kept the ammonia in the refrigeration system from expanding, bursting pipes, and being released into the atmosphere.[1] The building was abandoned in the early 1990s.[4] The ammonia was subsequently drained from the pipes.[5]
On October 22, 2010, a fire began in the warehouse and lasted for days. The current owners claimed no structural damage was done to the building, and that plans to renovate the building into a residential and retail complex were still possible. Over $1 million had already been invested in cleaning the insides of the building.[6]
The City of Albany declared a state of emergency on July 29, 2022 after chunks of the building's concrete wall began to fall near the train tracks below. Amtrak, who uses this portion of the track for service west of Albany, temporarily suspended use of the track.[7] On August 1, after the city made emergency repairs to the crumbling wall, Amtrak resumed use of the track. The City billed the building's owner for the repair costs.[8]
In October 2022, longtime owner Evan Blum lost control of the property after a judge ruled in favor of foreclosure. The building is now under the management of Albany County.[9]
References
edit- ^ a b Roy, Yancey (1996-03-29). "Vacco Acts to Avoid Environmental Emergency". Times Union (Albany). Hearst Communications. p. B10. Archived from the original on 2014-05-02. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
- ^ O'Brien, Tim (2010-10-23). "Warehouse to Burn for Days". Times Union (Albany). Hearst Communications. p. A1. Archived from the original on 2014-05-02. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
- ^ Armstrong, Shirley (1986-11-12). "'Year of the Bible' Ending State Persuades Firm to Cover 1983 Sign". Times Union (Albany). Hearst Communications. p. B1. Archived from the original on 2014-05-02. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
- ^ O'Brien, Tim (2010-10-23). "Warehouse to Burn for Days". Times Union (Albany). Hearst Communications. p. A1. Archived from the original on 2014-05-02. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
- ^ Denn, James (1997-06-27). "Buyer Bucks Market Glut". Times Union (Albany). Hearst Communications. p. B9. Archived from the original on 2014-05-02. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
- ^ Churchill, Chris (2010-11-02). "Prospects for Warehouse Not Up in Smoke". Times Union (Albany). Hearst Communications. p. D1. Archived from the original on 2014-05-02. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
- ^ "Central Warehouse partial collapse affects Amtrak routes in Albany". spectrumlocalnews.com. 2022-07-29. Retrieved 2022-08-30.
- ^ Cropley, John (2022-08-01). "Central Warehouse fixes allow Amtrak to resume service through Albany". The Daily Gazette. Retrieved 2022-08-30.
- ^ Singleton, Mikhaela (2022-10-27). "Evan Blum finally loses Central Warehouse but legal troubles still loom". News10.