David Filkins {TU}-2:45pm--Lower State Street below Erie Blvd. is closed as strong winds caused the facade of Olender's Mattress to peal off and a 7ft piece of steel hit State Street.

     SFD officials said a 7 foot long piece of steel fell onto State Street. Upon inspection, fire officials found the whole facade was in danger of coming off.

     A demolition crew is inspecting the building and the street will be closed until the facade is repaired or removed.

    

Did someone mention "renaissance"? This is what happens when you have DSIC/Krats running a facade improvement program. The last thing considered is public safety and need. A couple doors down is Gillen's Gulch, where Robinson's Square retail mecca was to be built.

     Must have posted about the neutron bomb conditions on State St. below Erie a dozen times. Only response was more "rebirth" nonsense. When all private enterprise vacates a street that is not a positive development. No amount of government largess nor increase in taxes will remedy the free fall. Take another look at what Metrograft has done to lower State Street.

Quoted Text

State Street in Schenectady was closed due to falling facade, left, while crews dig up State Street in Troy after a water main break. (James Goolsby and Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

http://www.timesunion.com/

The block that Metroplex forgot.

All Metrograft cares about is the 400 block of State around Proctor's. Both State Street below Erie Blvd. and State above Nott Terrace has collapsed. The 400 block with its infamous, still unopened, The Big Hose, is no renaissance success story.

Quoted from benny salami

Did someone mention "renaissance"?

That is EXACTLY what I thought when I heard about this. It appears that it is just one failed attempt after another down there.

Appearances have become reality. Having a hole in the State street scape aka {Gillen's Gulch} where a furniture store stood for decades worsened the winds effect. Everything they have done Downtown has hurt private sector businesses, increased taxes/DSIC fees and chased away customers.

Quoted Text

Repairs to Olender Mattress in Schenectady near completion

By RYAN HUTCHINS, Staff writer
Last updated: 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, January 7, 2009

SCHENECTADY — The facade of the Olender Mattress building on State Street is expected to be fixed within the next week, the business' owner said today.
     
A 7-foot-long piece of the corrugated steel that lines the front of the building had fallen onto the road and sidewalk on Dec. 31 as wind swept through the region. Fire officials closed State Street near Erie Boulevard while workers tried to secure the facade, which was in danger of coming off completely.

Owner Richard Olender, whose great-grandfather founded the retail mattress business in 1902, said structural engineers would be inspecting the building in the next few days and workers should be able to finish bolting down the metal.

"We initially secured the area and we're following up with securing it more," Olender said.

That requires sealing up the space between the edge of the facade and the beginning of the siding so wind can't blow under the metal, loosening it again. The building itself, which is about 70 years old, is solid, Olender said.

He was not sure if additional repairs or renovations would be needed.

The company moved into.....................http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=757624

Another only in Schenectady Story. The "leaders" at DSIC spend millions fixing up facades at gin mills but ignore obvious eyesores like Olender's.

    Beautiful footage of Gillen's Gulch on TV-10 News, the huge empty lot  where Robinson's Square mall was to be built. This should be a final wake up call to the few sheeple that think Death Ray is doing something to justify his huge salary and title as owner of Schenectady County.

What I don't get about this one, the "metal" is not the facade that we should be protecting (if anything at all) - it's the original brickwork that lies beneath the metal monster. That's where the real beauty/history is.

That entire metal facade should be removed and the original exterior exposed. That's what the taxpayer funded DSIC facade program was for. Instead of basing it on need, of course Krat politics took over. The DSIC is controlled by the Mayor and Peggy King. This is a exactly what is wrong Downtown, politics rule and business people have no say in what's happening.