New York State Capitol Eastern Approach Rehabilitation, Albany

Water has been getting into the New York State Capitol through its own front steps for decades. The state’s Office of General Services awarded a $72 million contract to Louis C. Allegrone, Inc. to rebuild the Eastern Approach, the monumental staircase and terrace system that climbs from East Capitol Park to the 1899 building’s east portico.

Project Scope

The stairs and their retaining walls are coming apart and going back together. Underneath them the job is really a drainage and waterproofing project: new storm systems, new weatherproofing, and the removal of failed assemblies that have been shedding water into the structure rather than away from it. Above grade, scope covers new window and door assemblies and renovation of the Capitol’s north and south promenades, the executive drive and the east portico itself.

Work started in early summer 2025 and the contract runs through May 2029. East Capitol Park stays closed for the duration, with public reopening targeted for summer 2029.

Why It Matters

Monumental exterior stairs are one of the most consistently underestimated assemblies in historic public buildings. They read as masonry, so they get budgeted as masonry. They’re actually a roof: a horizontal, occupied, salt-loaded roof over occupied space, and when the membrane under the treads fails, everything below it starts to go.

Four construction seasons and $72 million for a staircase sounds absurd until you price the alternative, which is repointing the same stone every eight years while the structure behind it keeps taking water. New York is doing the expensive version once. Public-building owners with the same problem, and there are many, will be reading the change orders on this one closely.

Project Team & Details