March 17, 2010 — The Schenectady County Metroplex Development Authority today provided an update on its efforts to rehab and redevelop the Foster Building, a National Historic Register Building located at 508 State Street in downtown Schenectady.
Since purchasing the Foster Building in April, 2010, Metroplex has been working with Environmental Remediation Services, Inc. (ERSI) of Rotterdam and Bonacio Construction, Inc., of Saratoga to remove asbestos, stabilize the building, replace the roof and preserve the historic structure. As part of this work, 5,121 bags of contaminated material were removed from the building. Each bag contained 50 pounds of material for a total of 256,050 pounds. Another 340,000 pounds of demolition material was removed from the building bringing the total to 596,050 pounds or 298 tons.
A new roof has been installed on the building and all six floors of the building have been stabilized.
“We are pleased to be working with ERSI and Bonacio Construction. They have been great to work with and we will complete the stabilization of the Foster Building in the next few months. This effort is preserving one of the most important historic buildings in the Capital Region,” said Ray Gillen, Metroplex Chair and Commissioner of Economic Development and Planning for Schenectady County.
Sonny Bonacio, President of Bonacio Construction said, “It’s been a pleasure to work with Metroplex to help save this historic property. We really appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the exciting revitalization of Schenectady’s downtown.”
Once the building stabilization project is completed, Metroplex plans to work with Bonacio Construction to explore opportunities for retail, office and residential uses for the historic building located just one block from Proctors and other downtown amenities including the new YMCA.
The Foster Building was constructed over 100 years ago. It features a very distinctive façade that makes it one of the most important historic buildings in the Capital Region.
Bonacio Construction is one of the leading builders and developers in the Capital Region with a special expertise in downtown housing including projects such as Park Place in downtown Saratoga, a 215,000 square foot, six story building that features retail and office space along with 43 residential units. Bonacio is working with the Galesi Group to develop the new Market Center project in Saratoga which feature apartments built atop a new urban grocery store.
For more information, see www.bonacio.com.