It's fun to stay at the....

Y...M...C...A

Yes, I'll admit it, The Village People are one of my guilty pleasures. Their July concert was the most fun I've had at Alive @ Five in a long time.

And I'll admit that I only recently realized this gorgeous building on Pearl Street was the original location of Albany's Y.M.C.A.. I've passed it many, many times, but always knew of it as the now-defunct Steuben Club and now the home of the new Pearl Street Pub.

The building was built in the 1880s and designed by the architectural firm of Fuller & Wheeler. The turret on the southeast corner was topped with a conical roof, now lost. The side entrance on Steuben Place is especially handsome with its imposing Romanesque sandstone arch.

Sign says...

Sometimes, when you look up at the sides of older buildings downtown, you'll see the ghosts of old painted signs painted on the exterior walls. Most are faded, but just legible enough to see what they once touted.

Most of the ones I've come across are for businesses long gone - like Keeler's, once a popular restaurant.

But this one, on the side of a building on Pearl Street near Lodge Street, advertised a still-active business, the Times Union newspaper.