Doubling the size of a National Historic Site doesn't happen often, but there's a chance a foreclosure auction may help the Kate Mullany National Historic Site at 350 Eighth St. in Troy, N.Y., pull it off.
Mullany was an Irish immigrant who in 1864 organized 300 women to form the Collar Laundry Union, the country's first all-female labor union. She lived in 350 Eighth St. while making labor and women's history.
The Mullany family built the duplex at 350 and 352 Eighth St. in 1869. Title to the twin buildings separated sometime in the 20th century.
A foreclosure auction for 352 Eighth St. last week at the Rensselaer County Courthouse has inspired local historians to start the reunification of the two three-story brick buildings in the North Central neighborhood.
But it's going to take luck, generosity and money for the American Labor Studies Center to gain ownership of the vacant three-apartment building linking it back with the Kate Mullany House.
Without any money to jump into the brief foreclosure auction, P. Thomas Carroll, an American Labor Studies Center board member, watched as a representative of Nationstar Mortgage, which held the mortgage, placed the only bid at $62,800 and took title to the building.
The rental property was foreclosed on last year after absentee landlord Marilene Evans of North Hollywood, Calif., didn't pay the mortgage. She bought the building in 2005 for $106,000 and had a mortgage of $84,800, according to records filed in the Rensselaer County clerk's office.
"This may be a moment when there's an opportunity for this situation to move on to the next level," Carroll said.
"It would be wonderful if it could be arranged for the American Labor Studies Center to own it," said Carroll, who previously was the Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway's director and is a historian of the Capital Region's industrial and scientific past.
The federal law establishing the Kate Mullany National Historic Site at 350 Eighth St. has a provision to automatically add 352 Eighth St. to the site if ALSC gains ownership.
"There are 91 National Historic Sites in the U.S. This is the only one that has extensive ties with labor, women and immigrants. This is a unique property in the National Parks system," said Paul Cole, the ALSC's executive director.
"The ultimate goal would be for us to purchase the property and restore the three apartments to what they were in 1869," Cole said.
The labor center learned of the auction last Monday. Board members have begun seeking ways to gain title to the 2,178-square-foot building.
Getting 352 Eighth St. would require raising money to buy the building, getting it donated or acquiring through another agency.
Carroll spoke with Joe Fama, executive director of the Troy Community Land Bank, after the auction. The land bank purchases and accepts donations of buildings in the North Central neighborhood in an effort to encourage redevelopment.
"It's something we're interested in. We have to figure out what level of help we can provide," Fama said.
Cole estimated it would take up to $750,000 to restore 352 Eighth St. to its 19th-century condition. He said about that much has been spent on restoring the Kate Mullany House.
The center is completing work on the Kate Mullany House restoration with a $239,000 state grant and $60,000 in matching funds that it's contributed with the help of local construction unions.
