Photos from Mansion Neighborhood Party

Marci's back yard

Just a few images from a very successful party.

Worth, the photographer, was one of the hosts, and expressed his regret that "he didn't have any pictures of all of the wonderful food they had!"

Please send an email to committee150@verizon.net to schedule your party, or to receive information on joining Committee 150!

Open House Slated for Sunday, July 9

Historic St. Joseph's Church Open to Public from 1 - 3 p.m.

ALBANY, 6/20/2006 – On Sunday, July 9, from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m., Historic Albany Foundation will host an Open House at the former St. Joseph’s Church. The public is invited to see the interior stabilization project, view an exhibit about the history of the building and parish, and hear about plans for the future.

St. Joseph’s is located at Ten Broeck and Second Streets, one block from the Palace Theatre. There is no fee to attend the open house.

Committee 150 members will be present to discuss their campaign to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the former St. Joseph’s Church, and to raise $150,000 to continue stabilization work on the once-endangered building.

Through parties and donations, Committee 150 has already raised more than $10,000. A challenge grant from prominent investment counselor Candace King Weir, owner of C.L. King & Associates Inc., which matches each $2 raised with $1 additional, brings the total to date to over $15,000 – one tenth of their goal. The campaign began in May and is slated to end in the fall.

“We have a number of events already scheduled for July and August,” said Colleen Ryan, who co-founded Committee 150 with Elizabeth Griffin. “From a Gershwin Garden Party, to a New England Style Clambake, to a Splashdown for St. Joe’s featuring a chartered trip on the Albany Aqua Duck, Committee 150 members are coming up with fun and creative ideas for their parties.”

In addition, The Upstate Artist’s Guild is planning a party for August, and two Committee 150 members have joined forces to offer a “Winner’s Choice Raffle” with a prize of a catered dinner party for 8 or cocktail reception for 25 at an elegant Center Square residence, to be announced at the final Open House at St. Joseph’s in September.

“It’s not too late to join Committee 150 and support the stabilization of the former St. Joseph’s Church,” said Ryan. “With each party, each open house, and each discussion, we hope that people will begin imagining the possibilities for this magnificent structure.”

For information about the stabilization project at St. Joseph’s, contact Erin Tobin Bearden at Historic Albany Foundation at http://www.historic-albany.org/ or 518-465-0876 x 12. To learn more about Committee 150, or to sign up to plan and host a party, visit committee150.blogspot.com or leave voice mail at 518-462-1900.

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Be$t Party Yet!!!

Carol Bullard, Worth Gretter & Marci David hosted a party in Albany's historic Mansion Neighborhood on Saturday. With lovely weather for a garden party, excellent food and wonderful friends, this party brought in over $2,500 for Committee 150! (With the matching grant from Candace King Weir, $3,750 will go towards the stabilization of St. Joseph's Church!)

Please remember, the Committee 150's goal for the take from each party to average $1,000 ... and while the first few parties have raised more, it's OK to raise less!

More than anything, we want to make sure that lots of people get together this summer to celebrate the 150th annniversary of St. Joseph's Church, Albany's spectacular historic architecture, and the neighborhoods that make this city such a wonderful place to live. So ... no pressure!

If you would like to host a party but would like some help with ideas, here are some events that are in the works for the next month or so that might inspire you ...

• A Red White & Blue 4th of July
• Old-Fashioned New England Clambake
• Gershwin in the Garden
• A Picture-Perfect Party
• Splashdown for St. Joe's! (a chartered ride on the Albany Aqua Duck)

Group raising funds to save crumbling landmark church

Summer parties planned to match $300,000 grant

First Published Monday, 6/12/06
BY ELI FANNING Gazette Reporter

A series of summer cocktail parties may help save a 150-year-old former Roman Catholic church.

The historic but deteriorating St. Joseph’s Church is located off Ten Broeck Street near the Palace Theatre in downtown Albany. The landmark building was decommissioned in 1993 and 10 years later was transferred to the Historic Albany Foundation by the city of Albany, which took possession of it from a private owner. In the interim years, however, its condition deteriorated badly, and it now needs critical roof work and protection from pigeons.

The foundation has obtained a $300,000 matching grant from the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and it has managed to raise about $100,000 to match the grant. With help from a new group called Committee 150, the foundation is hoping to raise $150,000 to $200,000 by September.

"We are a neighborhood advocacy group and we want to put ourselves out of business," said Committee 150 organizer Colleen Ryan. "We are trying to save that building for that next use. We are trying to help people realize the possibilities."

The committee’s goal is to raise money through a string of invitation-only summer cocktail parties. Two parties staged thus far have netted $2,500 in pledges to save the Gothic-style church, which was designed by the noted American architect Patrick Keely and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The church was built in the 1850s for Irish parishioners helping to build the Erie Canal.

The former church is surrounded by a fence and two small parks. The inside is largely vacant, and Ryan said the foundation is seeking good ideas about a future use of the building.
Much of the stained glass remains in place, though nesting pigeons have destroyed some of the panes, said Erin Tobin Bearden, executive director of the Historic Albany Foundation. Slate is falling off portions of the sloped roof, Tobin Bearden said.

“The term the engineer used is that roof is in a dynamic mode of failure. That strikes fear into my heart,” Ryan said.

A main support pillar was restored in 2003 but the roof is still leaking, allowing water to slowly destroy to church. "Water is the worst enemy of old buildings and that’s what took its toll," Ryan said.

The church hosted an open house Sunday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Similar open houses will be held at the church at the same time on July 9, Aug. 13 and Sept. 10.

MEREDITH L. KAISER/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER John Szypulski, of Niskayuna, left, his mother, Diane Szypulski, of Colonie, and Dan Gallucci of Thompson, Pa., share memories of St. Joseph’s Church and its school during an open house Sunday at the 150-year-old church building.

Photos from St. Joseph's Open House

Our name in lights!

Even with stiff competition from the Flag Day Parade in Troy, the Pride Parade & festival in Washington Park, and a Soap Box Derby race on Madison Avenue, about 100 people came to see the former St. Joseph's Church in Albany's historic Ten Broeck Triangle neighborhood.

Special thanks to the Palace Theatre for putting our open house info on their marquee!

If you missed this open house, there are 3 more scheduled for this summer -- watch this space for updates and schedule information.

Friends "Cook Up" Raffle for Committee 150

Be on the look out for Stephanie Richardson and Frances Tarlton at Albany events this summer!

They have put together a "Winner's Choice Raffle" where the prize is dinner for 8 or a cocktail party for 25 -- hosted at Frances & Mike's house, and catered by Frances, Steph, Mike and Tom.

Frances' elegantly appointed house has been on the garden tour, and I can personally vouch for Steph's mouth-watering culinary talents! (Her crab cakes are to die for...)

Tickets will be offered at Capital Wine & Spirits during the Garden Tour and at the St. Joseph's Open House(s) on July 9th and August 13. The winner will be announced at the final St. Joseph's Open House on September 10th.

Just think, you could pay back several dinner obligations or host a wonderful cocktail party for 25 friends -- all for the price of a raffle ticket!

Open House SUNDAY at St. Joe's

Contact: Colleen Ryan
518-428-9348 (mobile)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Open House this Sunday at historic St. Joseph’s Church

ALBANY, 6/7/2006 – On Sunday, June 11, from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m., Historic Albany Foundation will host an Open House at the former St. Joseph’s Church. The public is invited to see the interior stabilization project, view an exhibit about the history of the building and parish, and hear about plans for the future.

St. Joseph’s is located at Ten Broeck and Second Streets, one block from the Palace Theatre. There is no fee to attend the open house.

Committee 150 members will be present to discuss their campaign to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the former St. Joseph’s Church, and to raise $150,000 to continue stabilization work on the once-endangered building.

Through parties, donations and a challenge grant from prominent investment counselor Candace King Weir, owner of C.L. King & Associates Inc., Committee 150 has already secured over $10,000.

“Many people have asked what will happen to St. Joseph’s once it’s stabilized,” said Colleen Ryan, who co-founded Committee 150 with Elizabeth Griffin. “Before addressing the future use, we need to raise the funds to ensure that the stabilization project can proceed. With each party, each open house, and each discussion, we hope that people will begin imagining the possibilities for this magnificent structure.”

For information about the stabilization project at St. Joseph’s, contact Historic Albany Foundation at www.historic-albany.org or 518-465-0786. To learn more about Committee 150, visit committee150.blogspot.com or call 518-462-1900.

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STOOPATHON a success!

The Brunch Buffet ...

Thanks to the generosity of everyone who attended (and a number of folks who did not, but still made a contribution) our rain-soaked STOOPATHON for Committee 150 raised $1,410 $1,565! And with the generous matching grant announced last week from Candace King Weir, that total climbs to $2,347.50 !!!

If you were unable to attend the STOOPATHON but would still like to support the work of Committee 150 in raising money for the stabilization of the former St. Joseph's Church, please make your check payable to Historic Albany Foundation, and write Committee 150-CMR in the memo line. Send your check to Historic Albany Foundation, 472 Madison Avenue, Albany, NY 12208.

Saving an old Albany church, one party at a time

Summer events set to raise about $1,000 each to rescue building

By BRIAN NEARING, Staff writer, TIMES UNION
First published: Thursday, June 1, 2006

ALBANY -- People who want to help pay for repairs to a landmark former church in Arbor Hill will be holding dozens of house parties this summer to raise the money. A group called Committee 150 intends to hold 150 parties -- with a goal of raising about $1,000 each time for the Historic Albany Foundation, which will put the money toward work at St. Joseph's Church, said Colleen Ryan, the committee's co-founder.

"People get asked for money all the time," said Ryan, a former board president of the historic foundation. "They don't always get asked to have a party. People have all kinds of ideas, from upscale affairs to community-oriented."

In 2003, the city gave the foundation ownership of the 141-year-old neo-Gothic church, which had been closed nearly a decade earlier by the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese. The roof was in danger of collapse because leaks had rotted a key supporting pillar.

Earlier that year, the city took ownership of the church from Lark Street restaurateur Elda Abate through eminent domain in January 2003, saying the building was in danger of falling down, and spent nearly $250,000 on exterior scaffolding and other emergency repairs.

The state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation provided a $300,000 matching grant for repair work, but the foundation had to raise its own money and spend it before being reimbursed.

So far, the foundation has spent about $100,000, Ryan said. The roof has been repaired and pillar replaced, but more work remains, including the restoration of the ornate stained glass windows.

"People are always saying to me, that's great you have the state grant. Well, it doesn't work exactly that way. We have to spend the money first," said Ryan.

Even though it's been four years, the foundation isn't in danger of losing the remaining portion of the grant, said Wendy Gibson, a spokesman for the office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. "They are making an effort and we are working with them," Gibson said.

Ryan said the committee, which includes about 70 members, held its first house party during the running of the Kentucky Derby in May at a Mansion neighborhood residence, where about $1,100 was raised. (Actually, the party was on Spring Street...)

She's also making the 10th annual version of her own springtime gathering -- which she dubs Stoopathon -- into a house party for St. Joseph's.

Already, a prominent investment counselor has stepped up with a challenge. Candace King Weir, owner of C.L. King & Associates Inc, will match $1 for every $2 raised at the parties, Ryan said.
"We already have 70 parties or pledges -- agreements to host a Committee 150 event or contributions of $1,000," said Ryan, who founded the committee with Elizabeth Griffin, the former executive director of the Historic Albany Foundation.

"Even though we had raised $100,000 of the $300,000 matching grant before I left, I felt there was something we could do as a community to secure the remaining funds while raising awareness of this magnificent building and neighborhood," Griffin said.

Parties will be held in June, July, August and September. The group's steering committee has developed a Committee 150 Kit that will be sent to each host, which includes background on the stabilization project and tips to help them meet the fundraising goal.Information on Committee 150 and upcoming parties is available at http://committee150.blogspot.com.

Brian Nearing can be reached at 454-5094 or by e-mail at bnearing@timesunion.com.