page_title: Downtown Schenectady
section_title: Education
hierarchical_section_title: Downtown Schenectady / Education
caption_attribution_description: English: Hotel Van Curler, now Elston Hall of Schenectady County Community College, Schenectady, NY, USA
context_page_description: Downtown Schenectady is the central business district for the city of Schenectady, New York. It originated in the 1820s with the moving of the commercial and industrial interests east from the original 17th and 18th century settlement, spurred on by the development of the Erie Canal. Home to the headquarters and major manufacturing plants of two large corporations, General Electric and American Locomotive Company, Downtown Schenectady catered to tens of thousands of workers in its heyday. Typical of the post-industrial Northeastern United States and Upstate New York in particular, Downtown Schenectady saw a decline in manufacturing and population starting in the 1970s. Recent construction and renovation has caused the downtown area to become an entertainment mecca for New York's Capital District anchored by Proctor's Theatre.
context_section_description: Downtown Schenectady is home to the Schenectady County Community College, a two-year community college and Union College a private four-year college. In 2003 Union Graduate College (originally as the Graduate College of Union University) became an independent college in association with Union College and the other colleges of Union University. In 2009 the college opened its own location on the corner of Liberty and Nott Terrace in Downtown a block from Union College. That location was once the home to Schenectady High School from 1903 to 1974 (known as Nott Terrace High from 1931).
  The main branch of the Schenectady County Public Library is located downtown and is undergoing in 2010 a $2.6 million expansion that will add 6,700 square feet (620 m²) with a new children's room and up-to-date technology.
caption: Hotel Van Curler, today Elston Hall, the first building occupied by the Schenectady County Community College.
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