Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan has declared a state of emergency as officials work to determine the extent of structural failure of the downtown Central Warehouse building, a long-vacant eyesore in the city’s industrial riverfront area.
Sheehan says the city received a structural engineering report this week that says the collapse of portions of the exterior southerly wall of the building is considered “imminent.”
Amtrak has temporarily suspended service west of Albany, affecting multiple routes. Albany County has been in a protracted legal battle with the building’s latest owners over back taxes and the future of the site.
In a statement Friday afternoon, Albany County Executive Dan McCoy said the threat to public safety and suspension of train service is a “real world consequence of ongoing frivolous litigation” carried out by the building’s owner, which he says has “disingenuously” prevented the transfer of the title of the Central Warehouse to the county.
Mayor Sheehan spoke with WAMC on Midday Magazine:
I was on site and we had representatives there from DOT, from Amtrak and from our codes department, as well as some engineering support to look at the building, assess the situation that is identified and described in the engineering report that we received yesterday.
And at this point in time, Amtrak has decided to suspend the service that would go past those tracks. On the tracks past the building, until a solution to stabilize the…or remove an exterior wall is executed.
There was a release from your office that said collapse of the south facing exterior wall could be “imminent.” What was visible? Did you get a good look at the building?
Yes, we sent our code department there two days ago because of the protracted litigation that is associated with getting this building into the hands of a developer who is looking to redevelop that building. And because of the length of time that this process is taking and has been dragged out by litigation brought by the current owner, we felt it was important to check on it and look at whether or not there had been further deterioration. And that was when the condition that is described in the report was discovered: a significant deterioration, likely the results of the harsh winter that we had with a lot of freeze, thaw and ice. But it has resulted in that wall becoming an imminent failure, at risk of imminent failure. And given the proximity of the Amtrak rail tracks there, the Amtrak users, we notified Amtrak and they made the decision to stop running the train along those tracks.
So was there any physical material that actually fell on or near the Amtrak railway?
There is evidence of concrete next to the track. It's not on the track, but it's immediately next to it. And given the fall zone, if that wall were to have a catastrophic failure, the concern is that the tracks would be impacted. And that is why the decision was made to stop the rail traffic at this point in time. The engineers are determining whether there is a way to stabilize it such that the train traffic can resume. And those decisions and analyses are being made at this point in time. I don't have any conclusions yet. But recommendations are being developed.
From the city of Albany's perspective, this is an area that you and your administration have sought to redevelop. You mentioned the protracted legal issues revolving around the property owners of this building, the Central Warehouse building, but right next door, there's the new Albany Skyway, there's going to be a lot of work on the Livingston Avenue bridge in the future. How important is this structure, in this area to the city's efforts to redevelop the waterfront?
Well, this is a priority building. And we were planning to work with a developer to ensure that they are successful in their redevelopment, they have a great plan for the building. But this clearly creates an additional layer of challenge. And so that's why I'm grateful that the state has reached out immediately. And we are working to get to a solution. One of the things that's important to stress is that the building itself at this point in time does not appear to be at risk of collapse. The walls are actually attached to the building via rebar so they are independent structures. So the center of the building, the main building itself does not appear to be in any imminent danger. It's the wall that is separated from that building, but the wall as I understand it is not holding up the building. So, it can be removed and not have the entire structure have to come down. At least that is the initial assessment at this point in time.
