CDRPC@50 - Selling the South Mall - 9/25

The 4th CDRPC@50 speaker series will feature an evening program with Dave Hochfelder, co-founder of "98 Acres in Albany" - a digital history of urban renewal. The project has drawn on government documents, oral histories, and local reporting to tell the stories of the people displaced and the structures demolished for the Empire State Plaza.

Capital District Regional Planning Commission Continues
Speaker Series at University Club to Mark Anniversary
CDRPC@50

David Hochfelder, Ph.D. will discuss
"Selling the South Mall" - Monday 9/25

ALBANY, NY – The fourth in the Capital District Regional Planning Commission’s (CDRPC) speaker series, CDRPC@50, will feature David Hochfelder, Ph.D., a co-founder of 98 Acres in Albany, a digital history of urban renewal. He will discuss the people displaced and the structures demolished to make way for the Empire State Plaza at the National Register-listed University Club at 141 Washington Avenue at Dove Street on Monday, September 25 at 5:30 p.m.

The 98 Acres in Albany research project has drawn on government documents, oral histories, and local reporting, and tells the stories of the land seized by the State, before demolition and during construction of the Empire State Plaza. Roughly 7,000 people and 400 businesses were displaced and 1,150 structures demolished in the process. In their wake, an army of architects, contractors, and construction workers moved in. In combination with a book of photo-essays to be published by SUNY Press, the team plans to use GIS software to digitally reconstruct and repopulate Albany’s lost 98 acres.

The evening begins with a brief networking reception with light fare and cash bar at 5:30 p.m. followed by the presentation at 6:00 p.m. There is no cost to attend the presentation. Reservations for the September 25 program are required by Friday, September 22 and may be made by following the links on this page or by contacting Donna Reinhart at 518-453-0850 or donna@cdrpc.org.

In addition to Hochfelder, the 98 Acres in Albany project team includes independent historian Ann Pfau; Stacy Sewell, St. Thomas Aquinas College; Christopher Rees, University at Albany and Mike Wren, New York State Department of Health.

An electrical engineer turned historian, Hochfelder is associate professor of history at University at Albany, SUNY. He is the author of The Telegraph in America, 1832-1920 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012). Before joining UAlbany, Hochfelder served as a research historian at the Thomas Edison Papers.

This event is open to the public and presented by the Capital District Regional Planning Commission (CDRPC) and the University Club of Albany Foundation, Inc. One need not be a member of either organization to attend. If your municipality has passed a resolution accepting CDRPC as a training provider, this event will meet the State law for Planning and Zoning Boards continuing education requirements (sample resolutions available upon request). A certificate of attendance will be provided to Planning and Zoning Board attendees. Certification Maintenance credits may also be available for members of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

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The Capital District Regional Planning Commission (CDRPC), a regional planning and resource center, is in its 50th year of providing support to New York’s Capital Region. The CDRPC provides objective analysis of data, trends, opportunities, and challenges relevant to the Region’s economic development and planning communities. Since its creation, the Commission has been promoting intergovernmental cooperation; communicating, collaborating, and facilitating regional initiatives; and fostering dialogues on solutions to regional problems. The CDRPC was established by an agreement signed by representatives of Albany, Rensselaer, and Saratoga and Schenectady Counties in 1967, and these counties continue their commitment to the organization by providing financial support for its programs and services to this day. This funding forms the basis for CDRPC’s operating budget, and is further used to leverage funding from grants and other revenue sources to serve the best interests of the public and private sectors in the Region. For further information about CDRPC please visit www.cdrpc.org or https://www.facebook.com/cdrpc.

The 501c3 University Club Foundation which was formed in 2009 to recognize and maintain the unique historic and architectural significance of the University Club building and property, its neighborhood and the city of Albany, where it has been located since its inception in 1901. For more information call 518-463-1151 or visit www.universityclubalbany.com.