Demolition of school begins

Watervliet

The rear of the former St. Patrick's School gym has been ripped away as demolition resumed at the former church site.

The school is the next building to be razed to clear the 3.5-acre site of the former St. Patrick's Church complex for a Price Chopper supermarket and two smaller commercial buildings.

The demolition of the school by Dan's Hauling and Demo began Wednesday. Still visible were the basketball hoop supports still hanging in the gym and its pale green walls.

Recently, the only activity at the site at 19th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues has been the clearing of bricks and other debris left from the demolition of the church and rectory.

After the school is knocked down only six row houses will be left at the rear of the property.

Nigro Companies is developing the property for the 40,200-square-foot supermarket and commercial buildings.

The church was modeled after the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception at Lourdes, France. It had a 137-foot bell tower that resisted initials efforts to pull it down a project that spurred an emotional debate in the small city.

The bell was removed from the tower and donated by Nigro Companies and the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish to the Watervliet Historical Society. The bell is on display outside the society's museum at 1501 First Ave.

The four-ton bell was cast in 1906 by Meneely Bell Co. of West Troy, whose foundry was on the present Watervliet Public Library site.

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Demolition of school begins