Don't Mall Ingersoll Petition : [ powered by iPetitions.com ]

#	Name	Comments
101	Rick Valent	Stop Doing This To Our Past!!!!!
102	Ruth E. Bergeron	The Stanford estate/ now the Ingersoll Home property, is on a 12.5 acre site that is a lovely property - a stately mansion on a gentle knoll and set among mature trees. It is truly a visual oasis. But its history is even more important because it goes back to the earliest days of this Township and County. It would indeed be a travesty to reduce this property to "just another" commercial property , its trees removed and much of the ground leveled the better to support "development" complete with box stores of which we already have more than the local economy can support. I urge you to view this 12.5 acres as a Niskayuna/ Schenectady County jewel of historic and scenic value.
103	James Stewart	Maybe we need to understand what is happening in the US to destroy our history or is it that we just don’t care? If we look at the rest of the world we will see that they maintain buildings of historical precedence. Maybe we could all learn a little from the people of the world to treasure our roots.
104	Bruce C. Cobb	Preservation is of utmost importantance and we must do everything possible.
105	David Gutteridge
106	kevin franklin	I have seen the grounds and they are beautiful and quite historic being the only residence left in this area related to the historic Stanford Family along the Albany & Schenectady Turnpike Road during the early 19th. Century. Imagination is needed here, a restaurant, doctor or lawyer office, etc. Anything but tear the building down. It is in such nice condition. It is the last tangible link to the past relating to the Stanfords other than monuments in cemeteries.
107	Anonymous
108	Wayne Somers
109	frank paxton
110	Alex Brownstein	We have a dying mall sitting next door to Mohawk commons (where Radio Shack and Raymore & Flannigan barely break even). It is preposterous to think that another mall across the Balltown road will do much better. It would be far more prudent to work on redeveloping the EXISTING, failing mall. For reference, note that Crossgates Commons is FAILING; key anchor stores have abandoned the site. We do not need a repeat of that fiasco in Niskayuna.
111	Alex Brownstein	We have a dying mall sitting next door to Mohawk commons (where Radio Shack and Raymore & Flannigan barely break even). It is preposterous to think that another mall across the Balltown road will do much better. It would be far more prudent to work on redeveloping the EXISTING, failing mall. For reference, note that Crossgates Commons is FAILING; key anchor stores have abandoned the site. We do not need a repeat of that fiasco in Niskayuna.
112	Alex Brownstein
113	Doug Bullock	We have enough Malls. Don't Mall historical property that serves a vital need to our community
114	John W. Fenner	Sirs, Please reconsider. Don't we already have enough malls. Do we only consider the present, or should we consider not only the past but our future legacy to our children and their children. Think very carefully. You can never reverse this decision. John W. Fenner
115	Heidi Firstencel
116	Geri Reilly
117	Lucy Clark	I moved to Schenectady in 1981 and Niskayuna in 1986. In all those years the corner where the Ingersoll home stands has been an oasis of green; a calming element that always brought down stress and made me feel happy. We have enough empty retail space as it is, and the layout of Mohawk Commons is already a nightmare. I will be entirely ashamed to say I am from Niskayuna if my elected officials choose commercial interests over the irreplacable. As an active member of my community, many years with Rosendale and Iroquois PTOs and PTO Council, not to mention 10 years as a Girl Scout Leader and other volunteer pursuits, I intend to make my protest against developing this site in ANY WAY heard to all who will listen. Lucy Clark, Cayuga Road
118	Karen Malcolm	St James Square is a great space -- mostly empty -- and should be filled before Niskayuna adds more commercial/retail building. An empty St James Square makes our town look like a place people DON"T want to shop in, as well as showing poor planning. I'd rather shop in a fully occupied St James Square than see more building on Balltown Rd & State Street.
119	Grace Hilt Mack	NO NEW MALL! We have plenty of space needing tenants. Why not put the Walgreen's in St James Plaza. Don't destroy this beautiful property!
120	Robert B. Stewart
121	Stephen D. Jones	At a time when America is trying to reduce gas consumption and fight urban sprawl and increase the quality of life for residents both inside and outside of the city, the construction of yet-another mall -- and next door to a large mall area that could easily take on more stores -- is counterproductive in the extreme. To tear down a rare and beautiful historic house for a mall, in an area where historical tourism is the only sure-thing for revitalization, is close to brainless. Not brainless for the developer, perhaps -- he or she will get money out of it; but the community will lose, bigtime. Can the community board vote to please a handfull of developers and sell out the rest of their constituents?
122	Dr. S. E. Cregier
123	Ronald Tys	Utilize existing mall space before building new ones.
124	Anonymous	We do not need more stores. We have lost too many precious historical places. Do not add This beautiful landmark to that shameful list.
125	Bill Wilkerson
126	Barry Dusel	This home and it's history , the sites history are more valuable then any modern development will ever be worth. A fact that is lost on 21st century political leaders and the real estate minions is that somethings' worth can never be valued in dollars and cents alone. Save our history!
127	Allen McKnight
128	Stuart Steele	Only by saving, and knowing our past, do we know who we are today.
129	Carol Reynolds
130	Dushy Nirmalan	Yes, I agree that this space should not be used for commercial space. It is crowded enough as it is.
131	Patricia Persky
132	Anonymous
133	Cathleen Crown	As Chair of the Landmarks Commission of Trenton, New Jersey, I know the difficulty inherent in balancing immediate needs with long term benefits. The loss of a historic site, a potential greenway, a beautiful vista, cannot be balanced against the pressures of an insistent developer. Do not fall victim, as our city has, to developers who insist they know what is best for your town. Only you do. Nine times out of ten, what is best for your town is NOT what is best for the developer. We've learned that the hard way.
134	Joyce Henry
135	James K. Kettlewell	I am an architectural historian, and am thoroughly acquainted with the property in question. If destroyed, it would be a terrible loss to the community, and to the architectural heritage of the United States.
136	Ann and Dick Wyles
137	Elizabeth R. Murphy	This property is like an oasis in a concrete jungle. It would be a tragic loss for Schenectady/Niskayuna and all of us who often visit there. Once it is gone there will be so little left of our heritage and past.
138	Edward J. Murphy	A tragic loss in the making.
139	Elaine Santore
140	Marilyn L. Causey	I urge you to preserve this beautiful and historic building and property. Please let Niskayuna be a place where values are determined not by the pressure of outside dollars but by a strong sense of community and pride in preserving for the future what we have as a unique and beautiful part of the past. Thank you.
141	Anne LaGasse	Niskayuna already has a great shopping center in Mohawk Commons. Please do not tear down some of Niskayuna's history for more commercial business. This will erode Niskayuna's character.
142	Anonymous	Why don't we fill St. James Square before we build another strip mall!
143	Paula Pliss	As a resident of Niskayuna, I say we need the trees and green space not more ugly parking lots and stores. I'm sure that with a little creative thinking, we can devise a plan to use that space to benefit our beautiful town. Let's plan for the future...not just react to the ambitions and greed of developers.
144	laura angehr	Use commercial space that is sitting empty, one example-right next to Mohawk Commons ( by the way-- a mall instead of Mohawk Commons would have been much more suited to our climate in the winter!)
145	Anonymous	Balltown Road is already so congested - can you imagine the congestion with another shopping plaza? Have any traffic studies been conducted to determine the negative impact on additional retail space on that road? More effort needs to be focused on creative reuse of existing spaces and less attention focused on making Niskayuna just like any town in America with a drug store, movie store, and oversized box store on every corner. Let's step up to the plate and start protecting sites that give our town character.
146	Richard Tetreault
147	Michael Stahl	Commercialism should not outweight the historical significance involved in making this decision. When all the current storefronts in the town are occupied, then and only then should the proposal to add addtional commercial space be entertained.
148	Polly Stahl
149	Polly Stahl
150	Bernie LaGasse	Please save the Ingersoll facility. Adding a shopping center across from Mohawk Commons will only result in Mohawk Commons suffering the same fate as the Mohawk Mall and further burden the tax base of Niskayuna. Please do the right thing. Thank you. Bernie LaGasse