Raise the Roof! Preservation League Recognized by the Albany County Historical Association
The Preservation League was honored to be recognized by our colleagues at the Albany County Historical Association (ACHA) during their "Raise the Roof" Gala on Thursday, November 7. The League was awarded alongside the New York State Library, and the Rapp Road Historical Association, in recognition of their work to promote the rich and diverse history and culture of our region, and more broadly, all of New York State.
This event raised crucial funds for ACHA’s new Education Center, as the museum faces a critical moment of losing its current space. Plans for the Education Center have been developed through a collaboration with community focus groups, archival research, and Thaler Reilly Wilson Architecture & Preservation (TRW) of Albany, NY. Based on studies funded by grants from the Preservation League of New York State, the center will be reconstructed on the site of the historic Ten Broeck Carriage House and Olcott Family Greenhouse. In total, just over $60,000 was raised during this year’s Raise the Roof, and ACHA will continue to match all donations through November with a challenge matching grant for a goal of $100,000 in total. The total project cost is $1.9 million, with over 84% of the necessary funds already raised.
During the gala, representatives from TRW shared a slideshow to contextualize the new Education Center:
The ACHA was founded in 1942 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to presenting and preserving the rich and diverse history and culture of Albany County. ACHA received the 1798 Ten Broeck Mansion and part of the 1764 historic landscape as a gift from the Olcott Family in 1948 and has operated the Ten Broeck Mansion and historic gardens as a museum since then. ACHA serves over 8,300 people annually as a community-centered museum with free family garden, arts, culture, and history education programs, plus tours, lectures, exhibits, and community outreach initiatives. Their extensive education and community outreach activities will benefit greatly from a new Education Center.
The Preservation League awarded ACHA one of our New York State Council on the Arts-funded Preserve New York grants in 2020 the fund a Cultural Landscape Report of the Mansion’s gardens and landscape. That report was followed by a 2021 NYSCA-funded Technical Assistance Grant for a Feasibility Reuse Study for the Ten Broeck-Olcott Carriage Barn. These studies laid the groundwork for ACHA’s new Education Center, which will be built on the footprint of the historic Carriage Barn that unfortunately could not be saved. The new building will celebrate the historic structure and recreate original architectural details. But most importantly, it will allow ACHA to do its work of welcoming thousands of people to experience a full history of Albany on their site.
The League has been proud to support ACHA’s work over the past decade. In addition to the grants that have helped ACHA plan for their new Education Center, the League has also awarded grants to care for the historic Mansion as well: A Building Condition Survey was funded through TAG in 2015; a Historic Structure Report was funded through Preserve New York in 2018; and ACHA was among the inaugural grant recipients of the League’s Preservation Opportunity Fund — our first bricks-and-mortar grant program. That grant, announced earlier this year, funded a roof restoration at the Ten Broeck Mansion — critical work that will systematically repair the Mansion’s slate roof and the circa-1850s southern addition roof, as well as restoring a deteriorated balustrade and roof deck.