Actually I'm nervous about writing the following. Last time I wrote about historic buildings in Lansingburgh, they were torn down the next day. It appears that another one of the Burgh's historic structures, 848 Second Avenue, is going to meet the same fate - dejavu!

Riverside Shopping Plaza is a proposed development in the far northern section of Lansingburgh near the Waterford line. There is a Burgher King and Price Chopper situated there now to the left of Freihoffers. Adjacent to the Burgher King is a two story brick mansion in solid shape. It will be replaced by this shopping strip.

The mansion is the former residence of the superintendent and engineers who oversaw the operations of the old Lansingburgh pumping station that was on this site and adjacent to the residence. According to Jack Waite's "The Architecture of Lansingburgh, New York," this late 19th century building was part of a larger water works complex.

Drinking water was supplied to local residents by private companies beginning as early as 1800. One of the original city water works was created by damning up the springs on 'Spring' Avenue. Wooden pipes brought water down from the Aqueduct Water Works.

In 1832, the Troy Waterworks company sold out to the city and reservoirs were constructed near Oakwood Avenue on the Piscawen Kill during the 1830's- 50's, and more later over a 10 year period from 1859 to 1869.

During the beginning of the Civil War, a pumping station was built near the State Dam but was replaced by a new Lansingburgh pumping station in 1879, capable of pumping 12 million gallons of water daily. It was used to pump river water into the reservoirs.

The mansion now slated for demolition was the home of the superintendent of that pump station. The pump station was torn down previously (you can see a picture of it in my Lansingburgh book on page 66). The mansion will disappear like so many other Troy masterpieces - wiped from the historic canvas for a commercial development strip.

You may remember that years ago the home of Abraham Lansing , the founder of Lansingburgh, was torn down by Grand Union. That home had been used for 200 years. It was gone in a day. How long did the Grand Union last? What's there now?

Some have argued that this portion of Lansingburgh is already an eyesore with Burgher King and Price Chopper, so what's another development?

Let me remind you that cancer begins with one cell before it spreads throughout the whole body.

What is the long term effects of tearing down a residence and replacing it with a commercial site? Homes build community. Families are raised in them and more often than not the offspring stay in the area, grow up, and contribute to the community. When a business ceases to exist, the building may sit there unoccupied for years, or another business attempt (read that failure) is made, repeating itself over and over. How many times have you seen a particular commercial site go through more makeovers than a Mary Kay salesperson? That is not community stability. Keeping our residential community intact is far more beneficial in the long run.

If you keep replacing homes with commercial sites, you end up with an area that has no PEOPLE living in the community - read that nothing to gain, nothing to maintain! It looks like Wolf Road. Part of the reason for Troy's demise in the 1960's was the city's insistence in not only tearing down a large commercial district but thousands of homes as well. There wasn't a population left large enough to support a business district. If you don't have a sizable residential population to support business, no one wins.

I'm not against development. I'm against inappropriate development. Why couldn't this mansion be incorporated into the proposed development? The residents of Waterford must love the fact that they can drive over the bridge and shop and keep their core 18th century village basically intact. Can't blame them either. Except for a few obvious mistakes, Waterford has maintained most of its historic character.

Writing about Labor History

Since we are discussing labor history here, let's look at a more positive side. If your high school aged child loves local history, he/she can win cash awards for entering a contest on writing about local labor history. The Solidarity Committee of the Capital District/Jobs With Justice is sponsoring a Labor History Essay Contest. It's open to all high schoolers in the Capital District.

If they can write from 5 to 10 pages on a labor subject that describes and analyzes some event or person relating to our local labor history, he or she could win one of three prizes: $150 First Prize, $100 for Second prize, and $75 for Third Prize. Winners will have their works published during the Year 2000 May Day Celebration and perhaps read them in person at a May Day festival being planned for May 1st. Deadlines for entries are February 25, 2000.

More information can be obtained by calling Dan Wilcox at 482 0262.

Reach Don at drittner@aol.com.