Local Assemblyman proposes bill to save SUNY buildings

POTSDAM, New York (WWNY) - A bill proposed in the state Assembly aims to get ahead of a problem one lawmaker says the state frequently runs into with older buildings. The legislation could help save buildings on SUNY campuses.

“We have excess structures, and not just on SUNY Potsdam, but on campuses SUNY-wide,” said Assemblyman Scott Gray (R. - 116th District).

It’s called the “Excess Building Asset Inventory and Repurposing Act.”

The bill, proposed in the state Assembly, would create a list of empty buildings across SUNY and establish a study to would find ways for communities to repurpose them, like creating a daycare or more housing.

It’s an idea Gray came up with in September as he watched SUNY Potsdam President Suzanne Smith announce a restructuring plan to dig the school out of a $9 million deficit.

“I had a discussion with President Smith at the time and I asked her, I said, ‘Would relief of some of these empty structures that you have help you?’ And the answer was overwhelmingly yes,” said Gray.

7 News reported Monday that SUNY Potsdam is set to demolish Dunn Hall in 2025. The building once housed the Crane School of Music until it moved in 1973.

While the building is used for other purposes, a state inspection found it is quickly deteriorating.

Gray says he hopes this bill will start the conversation with local communities and the state about finding other uses for empty buildings. He says demolition should be a last resort for buildings like Dunn Hall.

“This is the perfect opportunity. What it does, it really relieves the individual institutions of some of their O & M costs for some of these buildings that are essentially vacant.”

O and M means operation and maintenance costs like heating and lighting.

Gray says New York state has a history of ignoring empty buildings, referencing the abandoned psych center in Ogdensburg and north country prisons which have sat vacant for a couple of years now.

On SUNY campuses, he wants to be proactive.

“Understanding the fact that we’re going to have to take care of those properties sooner rather than later. So let’s get in front of that and see what it looks like,” said Gray.

A spokesperson for SUNY says it is reviewing the bill.

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