Thursday, July 14, 2011

Trinity Church Demolition

Chuck Miller has an excellent set of photos documenting the demolition of Trinity Church, including the work to salvage the historic building's stained glass windows (which are believed to be Tiffany).

Trinity Demolition Photos

Added 7/15 - Chuck also has a blog post about the demise of Trinity Church to accompany the terrific photos:

The Final Days of Trinity Church

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Breaking: Church Collapsing On Trinity Place


From today's Times Union, the loss of another historic structure:

19th-century Trinity Church collapsing

This blog, from 2009, has a photo and addition information on Trinity (as well as another vacant historic Albany church):

Hope For Albany's Decaying Churches

ETA: The photo above was taken around noon today from the corner of Westerlo and Trinity Streets shows the area around the church blocked off by police. Heavy equipment was parked in front of the building, but no demolition had begun at the time.

According to the book, "Architects In Albany," the structures twin steeples originally featured decorative wooden gables and pinnacles.

This church was the work of architect James Renwick, Jr. whose works include New York City's Grace Church and Saint Patrick's Cathedral, as well as the castle-like Smithsonian Institute. Trinity Church, built in the late 1840s, was his only work in Albany.

WNYT's coverage includes a photo of the badly damaged interior.

The Historic Albany Foundation has long been concerned about the deterioration of Trinity Church and, in 2005, placed it on their list of Endangered Historic Resources.

CBS 6 has a video report on the collapse now:

Historic Albany Church To Be Demolished

Demolition of the structure was scheduled to begin tomorrow, adding another building to the long list of lost historic buildings in Albany. However, a photo just posted tonight on Twitter by Daniel Boyce shows work has already begun at the rear and Fox 23 News has more on the story:

Crews Tear Down Crumbling Historic Albany Church

7/13 Update - Photographer and blogger Chuck Miller has an excellent picture of the rear of the church as demolition work continues:

All Over Albany - What's Left of Trinity Church