Albany's Oldest Dutch Building to Host Historic Masonry Repair Course from WDI

September 25, 2017

Albany's oldest Dutch building will host the second in a series of hands-on courses aimed at increasing the number of tradespeople skilled in the historic building trades.

Historic Masonry Treatments and Repair will be offered by Hudson Valley Community College's Workforce Development Institute (WDI), NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and Historic Albany Foundation, beginning Oct. 5.

The lecture portion of the course will take place at Historic Albany Foundation at 89 Lexington Ave., with the hands-on portion at the Van Ostrande-Radliff House, also known as 48 Hudson, Albany's oldest Dutch house.

With New York State's historic towns and cities experiencing an influx of renovation, revitalization and adaptive re-use, there is real need for skilled tradespeople who are professionally trained in these traditional trades.

After the successful run of a "Historic Wood Window Rehabilitation" course this spring, the second course of the Traditional Trades certificate program will focus on the discipline of masonry rehabilitation and restoration through hands-on workshops, lectures and field trips. Craftspeople trained in the preservation trades are in extremely high demand, and many of the students who have completed the first module in the program have begun working in the field of preservation carpentry.

Nationwide, there are approximately 15 preservation trades programs at the community college level that train participants in the many facets of historic preservation. This will be the first such program offered at a community college in New York State and it may serve as a pilot for similar programs across the state.

The Historic Masonry Treatments and Repair class will take place Thursday evenings and select Saturdays, beginning Oct. 5 and will run through Nov. 30. Students are encouraged to register at www.hvcc.edu/wdi, call (518) 629-4111 or email workforce@hvcc.edu.

The instructor will be Amanda Trienens, Principal Conservator at Cultural Heritage Conservation and Chris Templin, of Rosch Brothers Construction.

Certificates of completion for the Traditional Trades courses are awarded by the Workforce Development Institute and the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, which is New York's federally designated State Historic Preservation Office.

New York's State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), a division of State Parks, helps communities identify, evaluate, preserve, and revitalize their historic, archeological, and cultural resources. The SHPO works with governments, the public, and educational and not-for-profit organizations to raise historic preservation awareness, to instill in New Yorkers a sense of pride in the state's unique history and to encourage heritage tourism and community revitalization.

Historic Albany Foundation is a private, not-for-profit membership organization, founded in 1974, that works to preserve and protect buildings that have architectural, historic or civic value, by providing advocacy, technical assistance and education.

The Hudson Valley Community College Workforce Development Institute provides high quality, reasonably priced programs that meet the staff training needs of the business and industry communities, and the career-skills needs of individuals. WDI develops and teaches customized, client-specific training programs for staff and management and provides industry-specific courses through open registration. Training is offered in traditional classroom, online, and blended classroom+online formats and is also available on-site for business clients. Our fast-track training programs help individuals attain their career-path goals and help businesses achieve higher standards and maintain a competitive edge.

Contact:
Susan Holland, (518) 465-0876 (HAF)
Dan McEneny, (518) 237-8648 (SHPO)
Eric Bryant, (518) 629-8071 (HVCC)

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