The Ames’ closing comes amid the Ames Corporation’s filing for bankruptcy on August 20 and the closing of all its stores nationwide in the next eight weeks. New York State has the highest number of Ames locations with 85 of the chain’s 327 stores.

On its website Ames announced, “Our associates and managers have worked long and hard, trying to restore the viability of Ames. But in the face of the continued slow economy, our efforts to reorganize and find a way to financial recovery have not been successful.”

In April, Troy Plaza lost its other anchor store, Price Chopper. The closing of Price Chopper has remained a controversial topic among area residents and the Price Chopper’s parent company, the Golub Corporation.

The decision to close the location known to many students as “ghetto-Chopper” came after the store was refurbished after a fire in November 2000.

Price Chopper initially made a commitment not to close the location but according to Mona Golub, manager of public relations and consumer services, the corporation later reversed its decision due to declining profits.

Community members and the Rosa House organization protested Price Chopper’s decision arguing the chain had a “community relations obligation” to keep the store open.

Golub disagreed with such an argument declaring Price Chopper’s loyalty towards inner-city locations.

“We have a commitment to continue operating urban stores as long as they remain viable ... but there does come a time when you have to look at reality.”

The loss of Price Chopper has left a void in shopping choices for residents of Troy, said community organizer Eric Daillie. “Because of this move, there will be no supermarket in a three square mile radius of a city with 50,000 residents. What are these people going to do? Where are the elderly, disabled, and college students going to shop?”

Some area residents have filled that void by shopping at Price Chopper location in Brunswick and near Hudson Valley Community College. The businesses remaining in the Plaza after the closing of Ames will occupy approximately 40 percent of the retail space available in the Plaza.

The current image of the Plaza with its 1970s façade and soon to be empty anchor stores is to some in the RPI community representative of the decaying urban center that some see as Troy.

“I think re-opening ‘ghetto chopper’ would be convenient, but I understand why they closed it—there is a bigger one up the street and people feel more comfortable [at that location],” said Djihar Bah-Traore ‘03.

The state of the Troy Plaza and the local business environment was the topic of a survey conducted by the Student Senate’s Community Relations Committee in 1999.

According to the abstract of the Senate report of the “761 students surveyed 83.2 percent did not like to shop at the Troy Plaza in its present condition.” The committee called this result the “most revealing part of the survey” and added that student attitudes towards the Plaza were “quite negative.”

A respondent that answered the open question on how to improve the Plaza called for a cleaner, safer environment that contained better stores. Fifty-one and six-tenths percent called for a video store because “the closest video store is out of walking distance of RPI.”

New restaurants, including the re-establishment of a coffeehouse near campus, was also another high priority of respondents

Another major concern expressed by students were the “absence of night life with the exception of bars” in Troy. They pointed to the lack of a movie theater in the city as a prime example.

According to the report, the purpose of the survey and the committee’s work was to address the stereotypes and complaints that students held towards Troy.

The report concluded that the Plaza on Hoosick Street has the potential to generate greater profit, due to its prime location, if it were modernized and attracted new businesses.

“According to students themselves, they would shop in the plaza if certain key stores came to the area … students would appreciate any effort made in improving the shopping experience of the town,” the report stated.

Jennifer Hill of the Rensselaer Development Corporation, an affiliate of the local Chamber of Commerce, believes that the community is faced with a unique opportunity in the face of the closing of Price Chopper and Ames.

“This is an opportunity to look at getting people into the plaza. The type of businesses that are brought [to the plaza] are the type of people that will be attracted.”

The chamber is currently working with Troy in creating the Hoosick Parkway and is currently in conversations with the plaza’s owner to release information found in a study commissioned by the body. The plaza as a large prime retail space along the proposed Parkway figures heavily into the Parkway’s plans.

“The chances of the space being filled are hard to say. The plaza was developed in a different time—new businesses may want a new facade. Challenges in filling the space are marketing—getting the word out—and keeping the costs low,” said Hill.

City Councilman Dan Doran, recently proposed turning the plaza into an outlet mall, a move that has gained traction amongst local residents.

“You have only so many chances in your life to transform things—this is one of those chances. If the owners are receptive to the idea we could have a concept in place by the end of the year,” said Doran.

Doran suggested outlet stores like LL Bean and GAP as potential tenants and feels that the city could help in making the case to retailers and lead the way in publicizing the opportunity.

Others feel the Plaza needs to refocus itself and businesses to the immediate surrounding community.

“The area desperately needs a supermarket. The Plaza needs to be rebuilt and opened up to the Hillside, Beman Park community [currently behind the plaza],” said Daillie

Over the past two semesters, the Institute in conjunction with the School of Architecture, course has sponsored a series of community design forums for the Hillside and Beman Park neighborhoods which lie between the campus and Troy Plaza.

While the goals of the community design program are numerous, Frances Bronet, associate professor of architecture, and Barbara Nelson, project manager in Campus Planning and Facilities Design, who also taught the class last fall, hope to educate community members and students so that they can articulate a plan that will provide the foundation for professional development and implementation.

Nine students enrolled in the course led by Nelson and Bronet. “The class [was] excellent—it’s been everything we hoped. We could have hired outside consultants to do this work, but they wouldn’t have had the pulse of the community,” said Nelson.

A great deal of the discussion at the forums focused on opening the plaza to the neighborhoods and greater pedestrian traffic. The idea of a pedestrian bridge across the eight-lane-wide Route 7 from Troy Plaza to St. Mary’s Hospital also generated significant feedback.

Both Daillie and Doran agree that Troy Plaza is a crucial development site in Troy, and especially central to the vitality of the surrounding neighborhoods.

Daillie believes that the city should apply more pressure to Price Chopper to release its lease on the vacant store and thereby aid development.

According to a Times Union report, Mayor Pattison is currently in talks with Price Chopper on releasing its hold the lease, which has two years left.

“It’s criminal that the Golub Corporation is holding the lease,” said Daillie

The county’s recent proposal to create an Empire Zone along 15th street from Peoples Avenue to Hoosick could also bolster the viability of the Troy Plaza’s prospects. New York State’s 62 Empire Zones are designated areas throughout the state that offer special incentives to encourage economic development, business investment, and job creation.

According to Daillie, RPI has been at work, behind the scenes, working with members of the city’s administration in pushing for the proposed zone.

While several businesses are located on 15th Street, one immediate limiting factor to the establishment of new businesses along 15th street is the overwhelming residential nature of the lots.