Preservation Projects

Home » Preservation Projects

When Albany County purchased the site of the Watervliet Shaker Church Family in 1928, over 20 buildings were torn down and a brick facade was added to the 1848 Shaker Meeting House. At the time, the County intended to use the site as a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients and for a new nursing home facility.

In 2005, Shaker Heritage Society worked with the New York State DOT and Albany County to bring the 1848 Shaker Meeting House back to its original appearance. Historic Albany Foundation gave the project a Preservation Initiative award in 2007. Since then, we completed stabilization of the roof and chimney of the 1856 Drying House.

Working with the Northeastern Woodworkers Association, the Society constructed a new foot bridge across Shaker Creek to unify the site and improve pedestrian access. In 2015, the Society celebrated the centennial of the barn complex and the completion of a $405,000 stabilization effort that included roof repairs and replacement and major foundation repairs on the manure shed.

Shaker Heritage Society and its partner, Albany County (which owns the historic site), recently secured one million dollars for building stabilization projects. Half of the funding came from the New York State REDC grant program and is matched through the Albany County capital improvement budget. Roof and foundation repairs for four of the Shaker buildings and installation of a bathroom to increase accessibility of the barn complex will begin in 2018 or 2019.

Other recent projects include the $405,000 stabilization of the 1915 Barn complex, which consists of a Dairy Barn, Hay Barn and Manure Shed. This project was completed in June of 2015 and was funded through grants from New York State, the Hunsdorfer Foundation, Bender Family Foundation, and the Preservation League of New York State.

The Society completed the rehabilitation of the 1856 Drying House roof in 2012.

The Society is also participating in numerous new partnerships and collaborations with regional cultural organizations and colleges. This includes an effort to create an interpretive plan for the city of Albany through Partners for Albany Stories (PASt) as well as exhibitions and teacher training projects in partnership with Hancock Shaker Village, the New York State Museum, Siena College and the Shaker Museum at Mt. Lebanon.