Location
The location of the original building
is 1 Academy Park, Albany, New York. The Capitol is right across from the
original Albany Boys Academy. The new Albany Boys Academy is located at 35
Academy Road, Albany, New York. If you are on the steps of the original
Albany Boys Academy, you can see the State Capitol (1806-1809) and the City Hall
(1829-1832), as well as the towers of four churches.
The When
the original Albany Boys Academy outgrew the building in 1930, the city
purchased it. It was restored and remodeled in 1935. It is now the
district office for the Albany City Schools.
When you enter the building if you head towards the back there is a marble staircase up to the landing. On the staircase railings there are painted gold fixtures and there is a circle window at the top of the landing. From there, the staircase splits into two sections and leads up to a large hall. On the second floor is a detailed chapel. It has a coved ceiling and Corinthian cornice and pilasters.
Completed in 1816, the campus was enclosed by an iron picket fence. The original building steps were made of brownstone, which would not hold up to heavy traffic. As a result, they were replaced with eleven marble steps leading up on each side to the front entranceway.
In the front of the original Albany Boy's Academy there is a statue of the great inventor, Joseph Henry. He was a student and a teacher at the academy, and he was the inventor of the electric socket.
The roof of the building has hipped roof sections. Hooker designed a cupola and on top of the cupola he put a weathervane in the shape of a fish and pumpkin. It was locally known as the fish and pumpkin weathervane. The weathervane was originally on the steeple of the Second Presbyterian Church on Chapel Street in Albany. The weathervane was moved to the Albany Academy cupola when the church was transformed into a theater in 1918.
The weathervane is now on the cupola of
the new Albany Boy's Academy building on Academy Road in Albany. That
cupola also has an electric clock that gives the hour. The new
building is also a reflection of Georgian architecture, and was designed by
Marcus T. Reynolds, a former student at the academy. When the original
Albany Boys Academy outgrew the building in 1930, the city purchased it.
The architect of the original Albany Academy was Philip Hooker. Between 1797 and 1830 Philip Hooker designed six churches, the State Capitol, City Hall, and two city markets, all in Albany.
He was born on October 28, 1766 in Rutland, Massachusetts, and moved with his parents to Albany in 1772. He was the son of Samuel and Rachel Hooker, and his father was a well known carpenter in Albany for many years. Philip Hooker's work was distinguished by its magnificent proportion and boldness in detail.
When Hooker started to design buildings, Albany was a Dutch frontier . He wanted to push Albany into the 18th century by abandoning its Dutch roots in favor of the more popular Georgian style. Many of his buildings reflected this new English style and because of his efforts three of his buildings still stand and are in use today. He was elected assessor seven times and was also on the Common Council. He was also the city superintendent and surveyor. He died on January 31, 1836.
The new Academy's architect was Marcus T. Reynolds. He also built the Delaware and Hudson Railroad Building, and designed the Hackett High School in Downtown Albany. The reason he built the new academy was because when he attended the original school he knew that the school was running out of room. He was a student at the original school in 1919.
He supervised the renovation of the original wooden cupola by redesigning a new copper one to replace the rotting old structure. He also modified the center hall and the double wooden staircase into marble.
The interior of the new building
includes classrooms, a library, several laboratories, a chapel or assembly hall,
a buttery and kitchen for preparing and serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The new facility also has a swimming pool and gymnasium. The capital
outlay for the building project was over one million dollars. Of this
cost, $450,000 was recovered in the sale of the original Albany Boy's Academy
building to the city of Albany in 1929, five months before the Wall Street crash
and the start of the Great Depression. Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt laid
the cornerstone on November 21, 1929. It has brick laid in Flemish bond
above a marble basement with a matching stone trim.
