TROY – From a humble stoop in North Central to the soaring grandeur of the Rice Building at River and First streets, TAP, Inc., has shaped the Collar City’s appearance in small and big ways since it was founded 50 years ago.

The firm was part of the community design-centered movement that sprang out of architecture schools across the country.

“We run the gamut. Eighty percent of TAP’s clients are small and in need of an architect. The majority of our clients are other non-profits,” said Barb Nelson, TAP executive director.

TAP, best known by its acronym, was formed in 1969 as the Troy Architectural Project. It sprang into existence as an effort by architects at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as well as students, residents and lawyers who wanted to improve life in poor neighborhoods.

It has helped individual homeowners and organizations behind major projects.

“Persistent and effective,” is how Joe Fama, who led TAP for 43 years, describes the efforts to guide communities around the Capital Region in good planning and design.

While TAP’s work is not always high-profile, projects such as rescuing and restoring the historic Rice Building at the corner of First and River streets stand out.

“When things were absolutely dire, we stepped in,” said Nelson, who is only the second executive director in the organization's existence.

TAP worked in partnership with RPI and Troy Savings Bank to win $2.1 million in state funding that led to the renovations of the Rice Building.

Most of TAP’s projects are spread across the city. Over five decades, they helped thousands of individuals, non-profits and companies deal with site plans, architectural drawings and assessments of construction needs.

The Friends of Washington Park has turned to TAP for assistance on 81 projects over the years. TAP is affordable, skilled and works with people, Lynn Kopka, president of the neighborhood group, said.

“Our projects were complex. They included multiple levels of financing and the engineering was complex,” Kopka said.

TAP stepped in to assist with the work to restore the cobblestones on Washington Place, rescued and rehabilitated the row of 1840s town homes along Washington Place and improved various buildings in the surrounding neighborhood.

TAP has worked on 25 projects with the Troy Community Lank Bank, which tries to transform abandoned buildings mainly in the North Central, the city’s poorest neighborhood.

“They do architectural services and site plans,” said Heather King, chairwoman of the land bank board of directors. TAP goes through the properties the land bank acquires, assesses them and reports back on what can be done to save the buildings, King said.

A drive up Congress Street shows another field of preservation that TAP has invested in – converting closed churches to other uses. The former St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic church and rectory at 320 Congress St. has been the home to the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute since 2014.

“TAP did a great job for us. Based on our success, TAP has a great reputation in converting churches to fraternities,” Paul Marano, president of the Phi Sigma Kappa Alumni Association, said.

TAP has handled 39 projects for fraternities.

“They were our architect. They managed the whole conversion for us. They helped us with the site plans. They did the building specifications for the construction,” Marano said. TAP also later oversaw a bathroom project and the commercial kitchen work.

Looking to its future, TAP still emphasizes urban design, but now it will work more directly with RPI students in an urban design build studio program. TAP also is working with the Troy Community Lank Bank and Capital Region Habitat for Humanity.

“It’s good, contemporary urban design,” Nelson said about the effort to be energy efficient and use effective construction practices.