Press release March 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Historic
Building Celebrates 100 Years from Italian Immigrants to
Italian Americans
Albany, New York – March 2022
One-hundred years
ago, a church was built to accommodate a growing Roman
Catholic congregation. Albany architect Andrew Delehanty
designed the building, Our Lady of Mercy Roman Catholic
Church in Colonie; and Italian immigrants were among
those who helped build the church and then later
attended worship services there. Since 2009, it has been
the home of the American Italian Heritage Association
and Museum and Cultural Center.
The building is
unique, not only for its conversion from a church to a
museum and cultural center, but also for its
architecture. Crafted with the classic characteristics
of the mission churches built in the Southwest during
the 1700s, the building’s distinct features include
exterior stucco walls, a square bell tower, a covered
entry with an arched passage, and a quatrefoil window.
Toward the end of the nineteenth century, the
Mission Revival style had a resurgence in California,
and had worked its way across America. Although Mission
Revival was extremely popular in the west; the style was
not as widespread in the east, especially in the
northeastern states.
Our Lady of Mercy Roman
Catholic Church served as the local community’s place of
worship until the congregation outgrew the space, and a
larger church was built nearby. Sometime during the
mid-1970s, the building was sold and modified to
accommodate offices. The building was vacant for 11
years before being purchased in 2004 by the American
Italian Heritage Association.
Extensive
renovations to the first floor took five years to
complete, and the Museum opened on October 4, 2009, with
10 rooms of historic artifacts depicting the journey of
Italian immigrants as they transitioned to Italian
Americans. After additional renovations, in 2014, the
Cultural Center opened on the second floor, providing a
meeting room, research library, and chapel, among other
service areas. The entire complex includes three
buildings, with the Second Chance Thrift Shop located on
the first floor of the former rectory.
In 2015,
Historic Albany Foundation presented the Association
with a plaque signifying “its outstanding achievement of
the re-use of a religious building.”
We invite
you to join our Open House Celebration on Thursday,
April 14th, from 12:00 to 2:00 pm, to view the
architectural details of this historic building and
learn about the Italian American experience. If you have
photos of the building – exterior or interior – when it
was Our Lady of Mercy Church or a written story to share
about the church, please bring a copy with you.
The American Italian Heritage Association and Museum and
Cultural Center is a 501(c) non-profit organization. It
is operated entirely from its membership, through a
group of volunteers dedicated to preserving Italian
American history, heritage, and culture.