SARATOGA SPRINGS >> The Saratoga Springs Housing Authority task force created to determine the fate of the William H. Ford Neighborhood Center at 31 Fenlon St. has met twice, but still has not made a decision on the authority-owned facility’s future after it was shut down by the city due to black mold infestation.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, controls the housing authority and that agency’s approval would be required to demolish the center, if that’s what is decided.
SSHA voted Thursday to submit a letter to the city and two additional agencies, to be determined, to inquire about potentially purchasing the building in order to exhaust all possible options before requesting demolition.
Regardless of what the task force decides, it will need to submit documentation to HUD for them to give final approval. This letter will be included in the package that goes to HUD.
Housing Authority Commissioner Joanne Foresta said she spoke with Mayor Yepsen, who indicated the city is not interested in purchasing the building, but Executive Director Ed Spychalski said that conversation wouldn’t suffice as proof for HUD. Foresta did not support the board submitting the letter and requested her name be removed.
“Who says the city is going out buying buildings?” she said. “They just had the fight of a lifetime for a piece of property that doesn’t even have a building on it.”
Repairs to the center are estimated at upwards of $400,000, but many board members feel repairing it once would mean ongoing repairs because of the building’s faulty placement and cracked foundation.
“If you spend the $300,000 or $400,000 to repair it, in 18 months you’re just going to have the same situation again,” Commissioner Albert Callucci said. “It doesn’t make sense to put that kind of money into a building that has a cracked slab.”
The option to demolish and rebuild is not necessarily supported by HUD either because an exclusive community center for housing authority residents is not encouraged.
“HUD has been urging us not to segregate facilities for housing authority residents,” authority Chairman Eric Weller said. “They encourage us to use community facilities as much as possible.”
The Ford Center, located at Jefferson Terrace, was closed on May 21 after a building inspector deemed the structure unsafe because of encroaching black mold. Black mold forms when water seeps into the walls of a building, creating fungal growth that is dangerous for human exposure. The building has experienced water and drainage issues in the past.
The structure was used for various resident events including the free lunch program and it also served as a polling place.
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