Design plans tweaked, OK’d for Odd Fellows site

PHOTOGRAPHER: Justin Mason

Members of the city Planning Commission unanimously approved design plans for the modern structure Transfinder will build on the site of the soon-to-be demolished former International Order of Odd Fellows hall.

The new design is similar to concept plans submitted when the Schenectady-based computer software design firm first sought permission to topple the historic building at 440 State St. Architect J.T. Pollard tweaked several elements of the design, including the first-floor storefront, the building’s color scheme and the hue of tinted glass used in its windows.

The accepted design includes a mahogany-colored storefront similar to one that exists at the nearby Center City building. The windows will also be bronze-tinted and more transparent than the blue glass originally proposed.

“We tried to warm up the appearance of the building,” Pollard said during the commission’s meeting Wednesday. “The mass and scale of the building remains generally the same.”

The design retained the curved corner entrance originally proposed in the concept plan and three balconies. Tony Civitella, Transfinder’s founder and president, said the aim of the design was to have a modern look that is reminiscent of the old building and fitting with its surroundings.

“We wanted to make sure this fits your downtown,” he told the commission.

Transfinder purchased the property from Proctors for $600,000 and announced plans to extensively renovate the building in July. The company indicated the estimated $5 million project relying on $210,000 in Metroplex funding would save the ornate terra-cotta facade and about 20 feet of the front of the building.

But in mid-August, Transfinder paid the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation $150,000 to lift a covenant placed on the building after a Heritage Area grant helped to install an elevator and stairwell in 1997. Then in October, an estimator with Bonacio Construction said protecting the facade would be costly and would have no guarantee of success.

Civitella approached the city in late November with a markedly altered plan calling for full demolition. Commission members considered the demolition for more than two hours, until narrowly approving it on the condition that they have oversight on the new design.

Only a handful of people turned out to hear plans for the new building Wednesday. Schenectady Heritage Foundation Chairwoman Gloria Kishton was the only one to comment on the new design, describing it as reminiscent of Bowtie Cinema’s Movieland and other modern buildings downtown, and not objectionable.

But Kishton blasted the process Transfinder used to achieve its end. She blamed the company for abruptly springing the plans for demolition only two days before the commission’s business meeting in November.

“I think this entire process has been a fiasco,” she said. “The reason nobody is here tonight is because everybody thought it was a fait accompli.”

Commission members seemed pleased with the new design. Chairwoman Sharran Coppola credited the building’s new, more appealing design to the hard work of the commission and willingness of the developer to negotiate.

“Site planning is never easy,” she said. “This has been an arduous task.”