The
Union-Schenectady Initiative, announced last October as a broad-based plan to revitalize
the neighborhood to the immediate west of campus, will address an important College issue
— increasing housing options for students.
As of early February, the College had acquired thirty-seven properties in the US
Initiative area (the neighborhood has a total of 258 houses). Diane Blake, vice president
for finance and administration, said the sixteen houses the College has bought on Seward
Place — the street to the immediate west of the campus — will be used to house students.
“This will help generate revenue and move us closer to our long-range goal of
becoming a true residential college,” she said.
The College plans to house about 100 students on Seward Place, starting this September.
The residences will be renovated into apartment-style housing, with eight students per
house.
“Apartment-style housing is what students have been asking for,” Blake said.
“It really is a win-win-win. The students' needs are met, the College expands its
housing services, and a neighborhood gets a boost.”
Other houses in the neighborhood will be renovated as rental units for faculty and
staff. Work will begin this summer, with completion of the entire renovation project
expected in the summer of 2000. The ultimate use for the former DiCocco's Luncheonette,
which the College also purchased, is to be determined.
In other news:
— Fleet Financial Group has contributed $15,000 to the Union-Schenectady Initiative to
support the College's development of an Office of Neighborhood Outreach. The center, which
will be staffed by Union students, staff, and community volunteers, will include a
homework center and tutoring program for children, sponsor a variety of neighborhood
weekend programs, and provide important health and wellness information.
Herm Ames, president of Fleet National Bank-Upstate New York Region, said the outreach
center “is an exciting opportunity to strengthen the neighborhood, and Fleet is proud
to be a part of it.”
— Renovation of the new home for the Admissions Office, the Alpha Delta Phi house, is
scheduled to start July 1 with a targeted completion of June 2000. Work on Fero House, the
new home for Alpha Delta Phi, started in April, with completion by this fall. Work
includes a new dining and kitchen area.
— The Nott-Seward parking lot at the northwest corner of campus will be paved as part
of the project area for the Union Schenectady Initiative. Plans also call for sidewalks,
parking islands, new lighting, and emergency phones. Work on the lot, which will hold
about 200 cars, will be done by this fall.
— Modernization of the former guest house at 1294 Lenox Rd. will be done to prepare it
for use as a sixteen-bed theme house this fall.