In 1883 New York State appropriated $125,000 to build a new home
for the New York State Normal School, in 1890 renamed the State
Normal College. The Willett Street Building was constructed of
sandstone from the recently demolished State Capital Building. It
was located at 82-96 Willett Street facing Washington Park. The
building’s architect was Frank J. Wright of the Albany firm
of Ogden & Wright. A notable feature of the new building was
the Alumni Memorial Window in the Assembly Room on the third
floor. The $5,000 needed to design, fabricate and install the
window, at the time the largest stained glass window in the
country, was raised in the first Alumni Association fund-raising
campaign. Donations of $2 to $10 were solicited from Alumni, the
great majority of whom were teachers. The window was design and
executed by Ezra Prentice Treadwell, Esq. of Boston. Like the
Lodge and Howard Street Buildings, the Willett Street Building
contained separate entrances for male and female students and a
principal’s apartment. The Willett Street Building, like
its predecessor, lacked a number of facilities including any room
for athletics. When the Willett Street Building burned to the
ground on January 6, 1906, Commissioner of Education Andrew S.
Draper took the opportunity to insist on a greatly expanded
physical plant for the Normal College. He supervised the
acquisition and design of the Western Avenue Campus, completed
and occupied in September 1909. Between 1906 and 1909 classes
were held at a number of temporary facilities including Trinity
Methodist Episcopal Church(below).
