The Union College men's hockey team, shown celebrating its recent win in the Mayors Cup, would play in a new arena planned for Mohawk Harbor in Schenectady.
SCHENECTADY — A few days ago, the Schenectady County Legislature voted to give a hockey arena and conference center planned for Mohawk Harbor $5 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, a vote that came soon after the Schenectady City Council decided to give the project $2.5 million from the same source.
Math has never been my strong suit, but I believe that adds up to $7.5 million to support a $50 million project that would be built and owned by the owned Galesi Group and cited next to the Rivers Casino & Resort.
Here's a question: What about miSci?
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That would be the Museum of Innovation and Science, which says it will disappear if a new home isn't found soon. The issue, mostly, is irreparable structural and hydraulic issues in the basement of the Nott Terrace museum that are threatening its valuable archives.
American Rescue Plan funding, designed to boost the economy after the COVID-10 pandemic, would seem a perfect way to, you know, rescue the region's only science museum, particularly since the pandemic walloped miSci's finances. But Director Gina Gould told me miSci's attempts to access the money have been repeatedly rejected.
Most recently, miSci even requested the very $2.5 million given by the city to the hockey arena. That November inquiry came after the money, originally awarded to the proposed Capital Region Aquatic Center, was retrieved by the city when the swim-center proposal was moved from Mohawk Harbor to Rotterdam.
That request was turned down by the city, Gould said.
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I asked Mayor Gary McCarthy for an explanation but didn't get a particularly good one. He told me that I should to ask members of the city council for specifics on decisions about the money and said he wasn't sure if miSci had formally applied for a piece of the city's roughly $50 million in Rescue Act funding.
The mayor labeled much of how the money was spent "a complete disgrace" and said the city's residents will one day "look back and see missed opportunities."
To be clear, McCarthy wasn't including the arena among the completely disgraceful spending. He supports the project, as he should. I wouldn't argue with claims that it will enhance Mohawk Harbor and benefit the city.
For one thing, the development will include a 3,500-seat rink where Union College's men and women's hockey teams will play. Go Dutch..., err, I mean Garnet Chargers! The project also includes event space that will somewhat serve the city as a miniature convention center. Very nice. All good. Clap, clap
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But there's no escaping that the arena is being awarded public money while miSci, at its current home since 1968, could leave the city for Albany or disappear altogether. Hockey and athletics is, once again, being chosen over science and innovation. An arena that will primarily benefit a college is benefiting while a museum that gets children excited about learning withers.
A missed opportunity, indeed.
Couldn't there be a place for miSci at Mohawk Harbor? Maybe even within the arena? Wouldn't it be a nice addition to a neighborhood, if we can be generous enough to call it that, already touted as the city's top tourist attraction?
McCarthy told me he wants miSci to stay in Schenectady and thrive. Other elected officials have said the same. And certainly, given that the museum's archives and exhibits often celebrate Schenectady's history of innovation, particularly the discoveries of General Electric, it would be a blow if miSci were to move elsewhere.
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Alas, the museum is unlikely to stay in Schenectady unless there's a concerted effort to save it with the public support it needs to survive. Maybe that money comes from the state, which has supported other museums, including the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester. Maybe it comes from the city and county.
But if local governments won't use the once-in-a-lifetime windfall of American Rescue Plan money to help miSci, it's fair to wonder if the city deserves the museum. What hope is there, really? Gould, for one, doesn't think solution can be found in the museum's hometown.
"There's really no place in Schenectady where we can go that we can afford," she said. "So I don't know what's going to happen."
Meanwhile, Gould said she will ask the museum's board to turn over miSci's archives to the New York State Library. Moving the archives would be the first step toward dissolving the museum we've known. It could be the beginning of the end.
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