Troy

A crane lifted drywall into the historic Quackenbush building on Tuesday, as workers were busy transforming the four-story structure into a high-tech workshop and office space.

Construction crews are working toward a June ribbon-cutting at the Third Street building, which will house the Tech Valley Center of Gravity and several other private tenants, building owner David Bryce said during a tour.

The 55,000-square-foot building, which had been vacant for more than a dozen years, is about 80 percent leased, Bryce said, pointing out the 1850s-era cast-iron columns from the building's beginning as Quackenbush Department Store.

Bryce said workers found a portrait of store founder Gerrit Van Schaick Quackenbush tucked inside a wall of a 1930s addition to the building, likely done as the store was being changed over to W.T. Grant. He said he has had the portrait restored at Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass.

Another oddity surfaced during the renovation, Bryce said — a U.S. flag with 39 stars, a version that never became an official flag. The banner was created by some flag makers in 1889 who gambled that the Dakota territory — now the states of North and South Dakota — would be admitted to the U.S. as a single state. That gamble failed: The territory was divided in two, and Montana, Washington and Idaho were granted statehood at the same time. Such flags are now collectors' items.

For all its history, the venerable building — which Bryce said was the first steel-framed structure in the state north of Manhattan at the time — is being reborn from its Victorian heyday as a 21st-century technology hub.

The building became, after it was a W.T. Grant store, a Rite Aid drugstore. But it has been vacant since 2001.

As workers put up framing for interior walls, Bryce showed off floors being rewired to carry high-speed Internet connections.

Views from the upper floors, which now have insulated 10-foot glass windows, are dramatic and look out on downtown, the Hudson River and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

The building also carries personal memories for Bryce. The Grant's toy department used to be in the basement. "This is where I used to come to buy my model airplanes when I was 6," he said.

Now, the anchor tenant will be the Center of Gravity — the region's only "makerspace," a kind of modern version of a rental garage, where budding entrepreneurs and artists can use common workshops and tools on individual projects.

Currently located in the Uncle Sam Parking Garage, the center will move shortly to occupy about 20,000 square feet in the basement and first floors of the Quackenbush building from the 5,000 square feet in its current home.

Center Chairman Laban Coblentz said the expanded space is attracting new members.

Currently, there are about 275, up from about 180 last spring. "We keep adding companies, and added another five or so in the last few months," he said.

The membership-driven organization allows participants to pool resources to acquire and use sophisticated or expensive equipment — such as lathes, drill presses and other machine tools — that individually might be difficult to afford. Other gear includes digital fabrication machines, 3-D printers, laser and plasma cutters, welders and even several sewing machines.

Members pay $60 a month; students pay $30. Day passes are available, and there's also a category called "superusers" — for $100 a month they receive 24-hour/seven-day access.

More Information Down-to-earth details Learn more about the Tech Valley Center of Gravity www.techvalleycenterofgravity.com. See More Collapse

Coblentz said the center's growth attracted a recent visit from officials of the National Institute for Standards and Technology, a federal agency within the Department of Commerce that promotes innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards and technology.

"They were here looking for ideas on how to create more makerspaces in the U.S.," Coblentz said.

bnearing@timesunion.com • 518-454-5094 • @Bnearing10