3/8/2013 8:35:23 AM

Times Union: Bray: Inner cities return with new vitality

Times Union

About a decade ago, an international project organized by the Regional Plan Association in the New York City area and the Politecnico of Milan on "Transforming the Places of Production" focused on places like the deteriorating Harmony Mills in Cohoes, once the largest cotton mill in the United States.

Teams of architects, economic development experts, preservationists and other professionals from Milan and the Capital Region studied Harmony Mills to determine if it could be restored for economic use.

At first, members of the local team had no idea what to propose. A local architect said perhaps we should go look at MASS MoCA, the contemporary arts center housed in a former electrical components factory in North Adams, Mass.

Mike Fancher, from the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at the University at Albany, said he would be happy to talk with the international team if I brought them to the nanoscience complex. As we walked into the auditorium there, I overheard a couple of chamber of commerce staff who had been invited.

One said, "Why are we here? Those old industrial cities along the Hudson River are never going to attract tech-development. Tech-development only happens on green fields."

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Fancher gave a talk about the production possibilities that Harmony Mills offered with its grand space. He said manufacturers will be using nanotech research from this area for new products. Manufacturers could box off mill space for pre- and postproduction of new products. Manufacturing that's close to researchers — like General Electric is in Schenectady, with its research labs in Niskayuna — is productive.

The team was excited about the prospects Fancher presented. Redevelopment of Harmony Mills was recommended. The Italians also loved the architecture, heritage and Mohawk River setting.

Compare the 440-acre green field Vista Technology Campus in Bethlehem with Harmony Mills and prospects for historic inner cities of Albany, Troy, Cohoes and Watervliet. Progress is coming to the inner cities. Today, the Vista Tech Campus has uses like a supermarket, bank, and medical office. Harmony Mills Fallsview Lofts has more than 300 high-end apartments. Cohoes leaders are orchestrating a renaissance in its downtown. Ed Tremblay, Cohoes economic development director, calls his city "an incubator for innovation and new businesses."

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