St. Joseph's Church in Albany’s Arbor Hill neighborhood is a historic landmark for the city.
"This building has really nice architecture, it's a nice building,” said resident Reba Cassius, she’s lived near the church for two years.
The 162-year-old church is currently owned by the city of Albany; it was previously owned by the Historic Albany Foundation (HAF) who invested grant money to preserve the structure.
"It's very different than Kenwood in a lot of ways, the city owns it, they've been maintaining it and it's a much easier building to button up. You can see over there, there are windows that are broken and open,” said Bill Brandow, former HAF president. “But the ones getting in St. joes tend to be pigeons and things, but in the past when we owned it, there were break- ins."
The city, and residents have hopes of giving the structure new life and a different outlook than the Kenwood Commons, the former Doane Stuart School.
The former school caught fire Thursday evening and crews were demolishing what was left Friday due to the fire damage.
"Architecturally anyone who's been in either of those buildings, they are architecturally significant, they're beautiful,” added Brandow. “But St. Joes on the exterior really draw you in from a distance; almost anywhere you can see it from the city."
An internet search shows the church property is listed for sale at $100,000.
"The owner is willing to sell, and they are looking for buyers. This one the re-use is more difficult, essentially, it's one large space,” Brandow said regarding the church. “With Kenwood the issue was at first, they were asking too much, and then the condition became terrible after the owner abandoned their work. So, they're completely different issues."
Residents are hopeful a buyer can bring new life to these old bones.
‘It's a very prominent structure, but I don't think it should go anywhere,” said Cassius.
The St. Joseph’s Church and former Doane Stuart school chapel were designed by the same architect, Patrick Healy.