Capital Region School Hopeful New Sports Dome Inflated by Winter

Back in May, it was announced that Christian Brothers Academy in Colonie was proposing to build a sports dome. This is the first for Capital Region schools. Now the plans are in motion and they are hoping to have it built and inflated by winter.

What Will be Enclosed in the Dome?

The dome will be two hundred fourteen by three hundred ten feet. It would be built right behind Christian Brothers Academy close to another sports dome that is Afrim's Sports near Watervliet Shaker Road.

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Christian Brothers Academy (CBA) plans on housing a four-lane, a two-hundred-meter track that will encompass a turf infield with space for wrestling, basketball, triple jump, pole vault, golf simulators, and a weightlifting area according to the Daily Gazette. There will also be an entry building that would be nearly forty-five hundred square feet and that would house restrooms as well. This would be attached and built after the dome is done.

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What Happens Next?

There is a meeting tonight (Tuesday, August 9th) where the town Planning Board will review a sketch plan. The budget for the dome is three million dollars and donations from parents, alumni, and others are how they are paying for it. CBA President James Schlegel said that once everything is approved, construction can begin and it should move at a fast pace. They are hoping to be using the dome by this winter.

CBA is hopeful that this project will get the green light soon. They were able to put in an artificial turf field during COVID-19 so they really want the dome to cover that new surface.

Abandoned 1800's Convent in Albany

Believed to have been built in the 1860's, this building is part of a vast complex that spans almost 75 acres off of Southern Boulevard in Albany. It was once a convent and then became part of the Doane Stuart School, which operated on the property until 2009.

Although abandoned for a long time, it's nice to see that graffiti artists and vandals hadn't hit the building as of these photos. According to the post, this video was taken in July of 2020. At the time there was clearly some work being done rehabbing the building. Strands of lights for construction crews were hung in the hallways and new steel beams were being put up.

Apparently the plan was to turn the property into a mix of townhomes, hotels, an amphitheater and art gallery. In 2019, the banks foreclosed on the property and those plans were stopped.

The Times Union reports that the buildings were about to be sold at auction in 2022, but the current owner declared bankruptcy and its future is now in the hands of the courts.

Hopefully someone can breathe new life into the property before nature takes over.

WARNING: Under no circumstances should you enter this property. By doing so you risk bodily harm and/or prosecution for trespassing on private property.