Old buildings have new uses

Ralph Pascale grew up in Cohoes. As a teenager, he spent many an evening at the "Canteen" community dances held at the St. Agnes Lyceum, the gym at St. Agnes School in Cohoes. The building was also used for students' gym classes and CYO basketball games.

Now, Mr. Pascale and his wife, Margery, own it. A sign outside announces its new use: "The Spendwood School of Dance."

"Sometimes, I'll stand upstairs and look down at the gym and think, `What's that about? I bought the Lyceum!'" Mr. Pascale told The Evangelist, chuckling. "It's like buying your school or something."

New uses

St. Agnes Lyceum is one of many buildings once owned by the Albany Diocese that are now in other hands. As emotional as losing a church or school is, parishioners and alumni can often take comfort in seeing a building they loved put to good use -- and the new owners often delight in sharing the building's history.

Mr. Pascale is one of them. Knowing a few years ago that his wife's dance school had outgrown its Waterford facility, he approached the Diocese about buying the Lyceum, which hadn't been used since the school closed in 1996. He needed a building with 20-foot ceilings and a clear expanse of space for gymnastics classes, and the former gym fit the bill.

After the deal was hammered out, Mr. Pascale began some major renovations. "It needed a lot of work, but I enjoy construction," he remarked.

Renaissance

In nine months, carpenters and plumbers put on a new roof and installed a heating system, added hundreds of feet of mirrors and glass walls so parents could watch their children's lessons, and separated what were once showers and locker rooms downstairs into five classrooms.

For every wall torn down, Mr. Pascale said that workers had to break through 28 inches of solid concrete; a sign still hanging outside notes that the Lyceum was once designated as a fallout shelter. "It's a very substantially built facility," the new owner stated.

Bowling lanes in the basement were left untouched, but Mr. Pascale had maple flooring built up to match the lanes, creating a large dance floor. Upstairs, the vast gym was filled with parallel bars, mats and pommel horses.

They got rhythm

The Spendwood School of Dance opened in its new location in 2000. Hundreds of students, from tiny children to grandmothers, now take lessons there. And people from the community often pop in to see new look of their old gym.

"People tell us they used to set pins when it was a bowling alley," Mr. Pascale said. "A lot of people say they went to St. Agnes or went to it when it was the Canteen."

Hearing about the "old days" makes the new owner proud. "I keep saying I'm going to put a journal upstairs for people to write stories in," he declared.

Historical building

In a southern corner of the Diocese, Lexington town historian Karen Deeter loves to boast about the provenance of one town building: the former St. Francis de Sales Church. Once a mission church of Immaculate Conception parish in Haines Falls, it's now home to the Lexington Historical Society in Greene County.

Ms. Deeter had wanted to form an historical society for years when she learned in 1999 that the tiny church was up for sale. She drove there immediately.

"The minute I stepped inside, I knew I had to go forward," she recalled. "It's beautiful, a peaceful little place. The people loved that little church."

'Perfect'

Ms. Deeter not only convinced the town to purchase the building for the historical society, but also got the church listed on the National Historical Register.

Built in 1895, the church is what she called "a perfect example" of the kind of structure erected by middle-class Catholic boarders of that era, who came to the town from New York City.

Except for a heating system, renovations were hardly necessary. "It was like someone had been saving it for us," she commented. "It had been well-used and well-loved."

Sign of faith

Today, the historical society uses the building for exhibits. There's a permanent genealogy section, for example, books and photographs, and temporary displays that change every few months. The current exhibition, called "Collections, Old and New," showcases town residents' collections of everything from parts of an old sawmill to clothing and postcards. (The exhibit runs throughout August.)

But the building's former use is still evident. When Ms. Deeter spoke to Rev. Anthony Motta at Immaculate Conception about buying the church, he asked whether one corner could remain an altar.

"We'll do better than that," the historian promised. Now, once a year, prayers for the town are offered at the former church.

Connections

"It's a beautiful story," boasted William Privett, executive director of the Herkimer Area Resource Center (HARC), about how his facility found a home at the former St. Joseph's Church and School in Herkimer.

He actually sees the connection between HARC, a day treatment center for people with severe disabilities, and St. Joseph's as a ministry. Back in the 1970s, he explained, the circa-1957 school building stood empty, and HARC made a deal with the parish to use the space.

"I don't know if they saw it this way, but the parish created the beginnings of a ministry to people with disabilities by leasing the building [to HARC] for a dollar a year," he noted.

Growth

That agreement stood for years, with HARC running a sheltered workshop for about 100 people in the school. Eventually, HARC began paying about $38,000 a year to lease the space, but officials began to realize that just leasing wasn't the answer.

"It was not the ideal situation for us," Mr. Privett recalled. "We were operating out of a basement. You couldn't get the people with the severest disabilities downstairs. We had the gym operating as a workshop for people with the most severe disabilities, but it was limited in space."

In addition, the cosmetic packages and other blister-packed items assembled by people at the workshop had to be funneled in and out of the basement on a conveyor belt -- a time-consuming and tedious process.

In 1993, St. Joseph's parish merged with nearby St. Anthony's, and St. Joseph's Church stood empty. Six years later, HARC bought the church and school. The original workshop had already been moved to another location, so renovations on the newly bought property began. Offices, classrooms and a modern conference/training center were created, along with a new handicapped-accessible entryway, and a loop for buses to drop off and pick up the 55 people who'd be coming to day treatment services at the site.

Pleased with results

"It looks beautiful!" Mr. Privett said. "We're a credit to the neighborhood." In addition, it was good for HARC to stay located in "a neighborhood that's basically accepted us."

The director often gives former parishioners and neighbors a quick tour of the facility. Some are saddened that their old church is no longer there, he said, but others say, "Wow, I remember when I used to come to CYO dances here, and now it looks like professional office space -- and that's wonderful."

HARC has not forgotten where its property came from. A memorial stone was recently erected at the facility, acknowledging the memory of former parishioners. The stone will be dedicated in September during a ceremony in which Catholics will process from St. Anthony's Church to the site, and Rev. Robert Shinos, the pastor, will bless the stone. Officials will also speak on the history of St. Joseph's parish and HARC.

Said Mr. Privett: "We want very much to acknowledge the feelings of the people who contributed to the church and the school, and say, `Thank you for your gift to people with disabilities.'"

Other buildings once owned by the Albany Diocese that have "new missions:"

* St. Pius X Church in Pottersville, once a mission of St. James parish in North Creek, was bought by the Pottersville Fire District in 2000 and its property was used to build a new firehouse;

* St. John/St. Ann's School in Albany has become the home of Equinox, a not-for-profit organization that offers counseling, help for youth and domestic violence victims, and other resources;

* St. Anthony's Church in Albany, which closed 30 years ago, is scheduled to become a combination of office space for nonprofit groups, and an arts, crafts and performance center;

* St. Edmund's in Acra, a former mission church of Sacred Heart parish, Cairo, was bought by the town of Cairo for development as town office space; and

* St. Thomas Church in Schenectady, closed in 1999, is now a Hindu worship space. (KB)

How Diocese handles property matters

At last count, the Diocese included about 180 parishes, more than two dozen mission churches overseen by those parishes, and 40-odd schools. But that number constantly fluctuates. While St. Anthony's Church in Albany was being sold recently to a not-for-profit community group, for example, the Diocese was also looking at creating a new parish on 100 acres of land purchased in Malta.

Noel Olsen, diocesan Real Property director, told The Evangelist that the Diocese has sold 26 buildings in the past five years, plus some land without structures on it.

Not all of the property originally belonged to the Diocese. Mr. Olsen noted that people sometimes will their homes to their parishes, which then sell the houses to help with parish upkeep. The Diocese also tries to buy adjoining pieces of land when it's looking to expand a parish.

Schools that are closed are often sold to local school districts, as was the case with St. Michael's in Cohoes and Our Lady of Angels in Albany. Churches aren't usually rented out, according to the director, but are either razed or sold -- and then only sold to buyers who will not use the property for anything against Church teachings. For example, a church cannot be sold for use as an abortion clinic or as a worship site for a schismatic Catholic church.

If several buyers are interested in a building, Mr. Olsen added, the Diocese tries to choose the buyer whose business or organization will most benefit the community.

"If we have properties that can be used by somebody else in a way that serves the community, we feel good about that," he said. (KB)

(8/28/03) [[In-content Ad]]