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School’s
Out
Well,
the secret is finally out, and, just as many people had predicted,
Gov. George E. Pataki has big plans for development at the
W. Averill Harriman State Office Building Campus in Albany.
But the plan doesn’t offer space for Albany’s third middle
school, as some people had hoped. And it will involve
relocating thousands of state employees into downtown Albany
and neighboring cities, a concept that the New York State
Public Employees Federation has a problem with.
“Everyone
knows there’s a shortage of parking in downtown Albany,” said
PEF president Roger Benson. “Adding a minimum of another 900
employees to this area without provisions for additional parking
would only worsen an already bad situation.”
Last Wednesday (April 3), Gov. Pataki unveiled a $300 million
plan to transform the Harriman campus into a research and
development park. The governor promised a $64 million commitment
from the state for demolition and site improvements. He also
said that there would be another $240 million in private investments.
But many question why this location cannot also be the home
for Albany’s third middle school.
“It
is hard to believe that there is not an extra 20 acres to
spare out of 300 to house a school,” said Albany Alderman
Michael O’Brien (Ward 12).
O’Brien, who is involved with Friends of Westland Hills Park,
a city group opposed to the Albany School District’s plan
to construct a much-needed third middle school in Westland
Hills Park, off Colvin Avenue, said that the Harriman Campus
would be an ideal spot to build a school.
“The
Harriman campus could afford the new school site, and it would
not take away precious parkland from the city of Albany,”
said O’Brien.
But the possibility of a school being included in future plans
at Harriman campus looks dismal. Even Albany Mayor Gerald
Jennings, who first pitched the Harriman campus as an ideal
location for a new school last year, has backed down on the
idea. Last Wednesday, Jennings was quoted on the Times
Union Web site, shortly after a 10:30 AM press conference,
as saying that the land is much too important to be used for
a school.
“Consultants
don’t believe that a school will work in a sophisticated tech
park,” said Randall Sawyer, spokesman for the state Office
of General Services. “But the opportunity for the public to
share their comments still exists through public hearings,
which could start in early May.”
—N.G.
This
Land Can Be Your Land
It
looks like Lonnie Palmer, superintendent of the Albany City
School District, is about to put another vote before Albany
residents. But this time, rather than a $175 million school-facilities
plan, which Albany residents passed in December, he wants
to make a deal—well, maybe more of a swap.
In order to use Westland Hills Park, the proposed site for
Albany’s third middle school, as part of the school-facilities
plan, the district needs to give the city an equal amount
of land in kind. New York state law requires that any time
parkland is taken away from a city, the land must be replaced
somewhere else.
Last Wednesday [April 3], the Albany school board met with
Albany Common Council members to propose exchanging 3.3 acres
of land surrounding the Sunshine School in Lincoln Park for
2.9 acres of land at Westland Hills Park. The board plans
to put this land swap before Albany residents for a vote on
May 21.
“First,
voters have to approve it, ” said Palmer. “We can’t give anything
away without having voters’ approval. The land in the end
belongs to the citizens in Albany, and we want to make sure
that a fair trade exists for the city.”
But many are saying that the 3.3 acres at the Sunshine school
isn’t an even exchange for the land at Westland Hills Park.
“The
school district is getting a piece of a pristine parkland
in Albany. In turn, the city will get land that is attached
to a school that the district is currently using,” said alderman
Michael O’Brien (12th ward). “In my opinion, it is not as
suitable as Westland Hills.”
The school district has also agreed to give the city $1 million
for improvements to Westland Hills Park as part of the land-swap
deal.
“It
is like we are stuck between a rock and a hard place,” said
alderman Dominick Salsolaro (1st ward). “We certainly don’t
want to loose parkland to build a school, but I know the city
needs the school just as bad.”
—N.G.
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Columns
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