As Troy merrily chips away at its architectural heritage,() visitors from the outside have taken note. Last year the New York Times wrote, “Whizzing by, you can't tell that Troy has a downtown — much less one of the most perfectly preserved 19th-century downtowns in the United States. Has there ever been a case of less effective civic advertising?” A big part of the “advertising” problem is Hoosick Street, where it is open season on cool old buildings. An English-style country church becomes a gas station, a proud corner house with a stylish turret becomes a litter-filled lot with an “AVAILABLE” sign. Instead of an entrance beckoning people to explore Troy, Hoosick Street continues down the path to suburban wasteland.

We have a mayor who says he understands the importance of preservation, but doesn’t demonstrate commitment in city policy. Under the mayor’s tutelage Troy has lost Freihofer’s, the Riverside Club, the American Theater marquee, a pair of early 1800’s townhouses at Fifth and Jacob, two federal and one pre-civil war house on the Hillside, and many others. Hizzoner has stated that he ran on a “pro-demolition” platform and has a mandate from the people. Sure, there is a mandate for safe buildings, if that’s what he means, but demolition should be the absolute last resort. And while the mayor will tout the notion that Freihofer’s was a private matter, his administration did nothing to help find developers who would embrace the historic structures and rehab them.

Troy gives sweeping powers to the city engineer to declare “emergency” demolitions without detailed reports and photos to support the order. The wood-framed house at 319 8th was offered for sale by the mayor last month then, oddly, torn down two days later. No specific reason or supporting documentation was offered. And who can forget the Cinema Art marquee debacle. Though supported by five cantilevered steel I-beams, our illustrious engineer cited the slack in a pair of decorative chains to order the marquee removed by emergency decree. But in photos from the twenties the chains had the same slack. In fact, wouldn’t a sagging marquee have tightened the decorative chains? But, hey, I’m no engineer.

The surprise of the year is the proposed demolition of the over 200-year-old building now housing the Spring Garden restaurant. The restaurant owners want a new structure and the planning board narrowly approved a scheme by normally renovation-friendly TAP (Troy Architectural Program) to rip down the end cap on the oldest surviving intact block left in Troy. Folks at the Lansingburgh Historical Society say that the building may date to the 1780’s or 1790’s. While barred from examining the structure by the owners, these stalwart preservationists see no sign of structural problems. Vince Jimino of the planning board said that he would have been more inclined to vote against the demolition if the building were in a historic district. Mr. Jimino, the building is from the 1700’s. Isn’t that historic enough?

Of note: Two members of the administration’s hand-picked demo-friendly board voted against this heinous act. The board did insist that the proposed replacement have a “colonial” feel to it. Why not just leave the actual colonial building that is there? We can only hope that the good folks at TAP realize the error of their ways and can persuade the Tang family, who owns the building, to embrace rehab. This result would be a win-win for everyone. The Spring Garden would save a bit of Troy history and the owners would be local heroes. I personally promise to begin frequenting the restaurant and will encourage others to do the same.

The environment never comes up when discussing demolition and it should. I remember seeing a demolition last year by Dan’s Hauling. Clouds of dust billowed past the “DANGER ASBESTOS” signs into a crowd of children getting off a school bus across the street. When RPI demolished the federal-era house at 196 8th St., RPI consigliere Chuck Carletta boldly declared “we will wrap that building in plastic if necessary” to keep lead dust out of the air. Instead, RPI’s Allison Newman sent letters to neighbors telling them to not go outside during the demo. What? Who isn’t going to go outside to witness a demolition on their block? I spent half the day with a group of RPI students on the roof next door videotaping the show. I also shot video of an 8-year old kid at the site saying the demo was “cool”, but she got a lot of dust in her eyes. Gives a new meaning to “Let’s Go Red!”

Where is all the lead paint dust, asbestos, arsenic (used soaking horse hides whose hair was then used in plaster) and other nasty stuff going? Presumably, when hoses tapped into our fire hydrants wet down a demo site, the nasty stuff goes into the ground, storm drains and the river. Painting over lead paint, repairing plaster and properly handling asbestos in a building will keep these substances inert and reduce their danger. Demolition releases them full force into our air, ground and water. A friend’s child had elevated levels of lead though they were meticulous about scraping chipping paint and filtering water. Seems it came from dirt in their yard.

Also damaging to the environment is the fact that millions of pounds of wood, lathing, plaster, brick, and mortar go into our local landfills each year. Fossil fuels are burned operating demo machinery and carting waste. Carbon dioxide is released when digging and grading soil. I nearly put on an Earth Day t-shirt a few weeks ago until I noticed Harry Tutunjian’s name emblazoned across the front. Sure, it is great to glorify yourself on a t-shirt, but our pro-demolition mayor cannot point to any substantial greening of Troy – in fact, his demolition fervor adds to the browning of our city. (After finding a Sharpie, I blacked his name out and put the shirt on.)

Troy needs to learn that a Walgreen’s is not progress and, in the case of the Spring Garden, that a “colonial-look” structure is not as valid as the real thing. We need to embrace the history and heritage in all our neighborhoods and protect the environment. We need a government that is committed to preservation , not demolition.

How about this election year mantra, “It’s the old buildings, stupid!”