Troy Building

Introduction

Located on the north side of the '86 field between Russel Sage Laboratory and the Ricketts Building, this five story building contains many of RPIs administrative offices, including the office of the president.

Address: 110 Eighth St, Troy, NY 12180

History

The Troy Building was originally built in 1925 using funds raised by the citizens of Troy to commemorate RPIs centennial in 1924. The five story brick and limestone building was designed by RPI alumni Frederick Marcus Cummings, Class of 1886. The building housed the civil engineering department from 1925 to 1977.

In February 1974, plans for a new engineering center were revealed to the public. [1] Two options were identified: a completely new center in another location, or renovating Sage and Ricketts, which would include demolishing the Troy Building to connect the two buildings. The renovation plan, deemed least expensive, was approved in the spring of 1974, with the Troy Building slated for demolition over the summer [2].

At the June 1974 meeting of the Board of Trustees, the options were reviewed again, and the Board decided in favor of a new engineering center and the renovating of Sage with the plan to move The School of Humanities and Social Sciences into the newly renovated building. [3]

There have been several protests in front of the Troy building as a result of the offices being located there, including Save the Union protests. Notably on Halloween in 2013, members of the Democracy, Insight and Practice class protested many personal issues with RPI including the mistreatment of graduate students and advocated for better stipends.

Modern Day

In August 1995, Kenneth and Thelma Lally, donated 15 million dollars to the school, 4.5 million of which were intended to enable the relocation of the School of Management and Technology from its current location in the Lally Management Center to larger quarters in the Pittsburgh Building. This relocation would displace several administrative offices from the Pittsburg building, some of which permanently moved to the Troy Building. An additional funding of 9.8 million dollars was requested from the Rensselaer County Industrial Development Agency.

As part of the relocation project, the Troy Building underwent extensive interior renovations, totaling $6.7 million, to update classroom and office space in 1997. The renovation included the addition of three classrooms designed for collaborative, computer-assisted learning. A tower added to accommodate an elevator, second stairway and space for mechanical equipment. After the renovations, the offices of the President, Provost and members of the cabinet were moved to this location.

This is the only academic building on campus with a sitting security guard during all operating hours. A student ID is required to reach upper floors. The first floor is the only one with classrooms with regularly scheduled classes. Originally, there was no women's restroom on the first floor of the building as it was built before women were allowed on campus. This was only recently changed in 2023 where both men's rooms were converted to single stall gender-neutral restrooms.

References

• [1] The Rensselaer Polytechnic, February 27, 1974. https://digitalassets.archives.rpi.edu/do/029b40cf-1d3d-4b59-aa35-45a1507f2217#mode/2up
• [2] The Rensselaer Polytechnic, March 13, 1974. https://digitalassets.archives.rpi.edu/do/f9b96df7-9444-4758-833e-a1ef25632292
• [3] The Rensselaer Polytechnic, September 5, 1974. https://digitalassets.archives.rpi.edu/do/fef3e061-e834-4895-b9de-4b1846cdb761
• https://archives.rpi.edu/institute-history/building-histories/troy-building
• https://archives.rpi.edu/institute-history/building-histories/jonsson-engineering-center
• https://afol.speredelozzi.net/my-lego-projects/rpi-troy-building
• https://web.archive.org/web/20020924063019/https://www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/1997/02/17/story7.html
• https://digitalassets.archives.rpi.edu/do/d1325f0c-3526-4124-a980-e3a869ca8df1