HAF 50th Anniversary News

50th Anniversary Gala Committee Kick Off Meeting
Wednesday, January 17th at 5:00 pm
HAF Offices - 89 Lexington Avenue
All are welcome to join!

History Corner

50 Years of Logos

We have a lot of files on historic buildings and one of the little things we always take note of in our records is the different logos at the top of HAF's letters and documents. Without seeing a date, we know when it was from by the architectural detail at the top of the page. Which one is your favorite?

1970s-80s
This is our original logo, a profile of a cornice corbel. It started with us at 300 Hudson Avenue and lasted until we moved to 44 Central Avenue in 1984. We love this logo so much that we put it on t-shirts and hoodies that can be purchased in our new Merch Shop in the Parts Warehouse!

1980s-90s
With a new home, we got a new logo, a full cornice from the front. Anyone remember the "kiss my cornice" t-shirts? We clearly have a thing for cornices (don't you?).

1990s-present 
In 1996, HAF looked at changing our logo.  Many options were given in the newsletter, and this is the one that was selected, an ionic column capital.

Special Anniversary Logos

2009
A 35th anniversary logo with a little flourish to accompany the capital commemorating the anniversary.

2014 

Our 40th anniversary logo which commemorated the date by making key into a stylized 40. It's all in the details!

2019

Our 45th anniversary logo which was created by using the silhouette from a contemporary house number 4 and a number 5 from a telephone pole seated atop our capital. Both are actual salvage pieces that were found in the Parts Warehouse and photographed.

2024
You'll be seeing this a lot over the next 12 months!!  Look for little additions, like a little sparkle and shine!, calling attention to what event it is for.

Programs & Events

Call For Interns

2024 is HAF's 50th anniversary year. We have a year full of events to commemorate. We are looking for interns who would like to help with events, programs, research, PR, marketing and more!
Contact Shöna Nilsson at: [email protected].

What's New in the Warehouse?

Turning up the heat in the warehouse with these radiators! We just got in nine more this week and have plenty to choose from. No need to be cold this winter!

Advocacy

Seeking Input for Endangered Historic 2024

In 2000, Historic Albany started creating a list of endangered historic buildings in the City of Albany to guide our advocacy efforts and prioritize them based on need and the impact on the surrounding neighborhoods. Historically, big white elephant buildings like vacant churches, school buildings, factories, or campuses were on the list with a few rows of homes; St. John's Church, St. Joseph's, Wellington Row, Schools 22 and 17, the Tudors, Kenwood/Former Doane Stuart Campus, to name a few.  For the complete list, click here to see all of our past lists.  It takes about 10-15 years to really take a vacant and very endangered building and save it. Over the years, we have had many saves and also lost some dear friends. Some are still endangered and remain advocacy priorities. 

This year, Historic Albany is putting together another list of our advocacy priorities.  To do this, we would like to know what buildings you want to be saved, what buildings matters most to you. They can be the vacant house on your street, the struggling church in your neighborhood, an iconic landmark that you absolutely love, there are no buildings too big, to small, or not important enough.  If it matters to you, we want to know about it.  

From now until February 16, we want you to send us a list of the buildings in the City of Albany you care about and will select 10 buildings from all of the submissions that we will focus on for the next few years. We will be selecting buildings in mid February and releasing the 2024 list in March.  If your building(s) isn't selected, it doesn't mean it will be ignored. We will continue to do what we can, when we can for Albany's built environment.

Submit Your Endangered List HERE

NEWS

Hudson begins tearing down shantytown

The city began razing the historic fishing village last week and will attempt to complete the work in the summer.

Remaining historic shad fishing shanties on the Hudson River shoreline are seen on Monday in Hudson. The city of Hudson has begun tearing down the shanties. The shacks, once used as year-round residences for people doing commercial fishing, are considered landmarks to some. Will Waldron/Times Union.

To read the full article CLICK HERE!

Grand Street Community Arts celebrates new media arts center in Albany’s troubled Mansion Neighborhood

Architect John Ferraro says the many-faceted restoration project will transform a dank decrepit cellar into community-friendly space. Plans have the organization’s small radio station occupy part of the space in the Mansion Neighborhood.

To read the full article CLICK HERE!

21 Second Street is For Sale!

The owners of 21 Second Street have listed this historic rowhouse for sale. The building has been vacant a number of years and is an excellent candidate for the NYS and Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credits in the historic Arbor Hill Neighborhood, just up from Ten Broeck Triangle. 

To view the listing on Zillow CLICK HERE!

Black Modernism—Questions for Consideration and Dialogue

A conversation with Brandon Bibby of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.

Curved concrete, glass skyscrapers, structures integrated into nature: each Illustrating the familiar visual language of the Modernist architecture movement, a language synonymous with the style's equally well-known architects such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, Eero Saarinen, Richard Neutra, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

However, where—and who—are the Black Modernist architects? Answering that question is the start of a not-so-simple conversation about the movement.

For many, Black Modernism, the adaptation and influence of the Black experience in Modernist architecture and design, is a vastly undervalued and under-researched field. If Modernism was about considering the future in design and the way humans lived, how did the idea of Black Modernism shift and change in this period, particularly with the transformation of both the Black experience and community?

To read the full article CLICK HERE.

Click Here for more information.