Music may be coming back to the former College of Saint Rose campus.
As the two-year anniversary of the Saint Rose closure approaches, Hudson Valley Community College on Tuesday introduced a proposal to move some of its music courses into the former Massry Center for the Arts.
Albany County Executive Dan McCoy said negotiations with the Troy college have been going on for a few months. And he said the Albany County Pine Hills Land Authority – the authority managing the campus’s redevelopment – couldn’t have asked for a better partner than HVCC and HVCC President Michael Brophy, who earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Saint Rose.
“That building is a gorgeous building – the Massrys and everyone that invested to build that – it’s a state-of-the-art facility," McCoy said. "And, you know, to reopen it up to the community. We do have events in there. Now, we've been doing events, but now this puts someone in charge of it, to really open it up for the community.”
McCoy says the community wanted the arts center to be utilized again. He called the deal, which is on a 90-day clock to close, a “win-win” for the neighborhood and the city. If done, McCoy says the county will be close to recouping the money it put into bonds to back the purchase and help develop the campus.