Saint Rose opens music center

Where there was a hole in the ground, students arriving at The College of Saint Rose in Albany this fall will find a modern brick-and-glass structure for music and art on Madison Avenue.

The $14 million Massry Center for the Arts, named for the family that helped endow it, has a 400-seat recital hall, art gallery, rehearsal rooms, teaching studios, piano labs and classrooms.

The main hall will host concerts by the college's music groups and outside performers and recitals by students and faculty. The choral and instrument rehearsal rooms were designed to replicate the acoustics of the main hall.

A high-ceilinged art gallery will host exhibitions and lectures by resident and other artists. College officials expect the center to further engage the school with the Pine Hills neighborhood, Albany and the greater Capital Region.

The 46,000 square-foot center, designed by Saratoga Associates, was built to be energy-efficient. It was constructed, in part, with recycled materials. A geothermal system, with 40 wells plunging 450 feet deep under the parking lot to tap the earth's constant temperature, will heat and cool the building. (CDR)

(08/21/08)