The Approach | Institute Archives and Special Collections

Granite staircase between Rensselaer and downtown Troy

The Approach is a massive granite staircase between Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and downtown Troy. It was completed in 1907 on the former site of Rensselaer's Main Building after the latter was destroyed by fire in 1904.

The staircase was constructed by the City of Troy to emphasize the interdependence of this industrial city and the polytechnic school for which it is known. For many years the Approach remained an important link between the city and the college. As the city's fortunes gradually declined, the once elegant structure fell into disrepair, and by the 1970s the Approach was closed due to its precarious condition.

In 1994, the Approach was given a new lease on life when the Louis and Hortense Rubin Foundation raised funds to rebuild the staircase. After extensive renovation and landscaping, the Approach was officially reopened in 1999.

For additional information, see The Approach online exhibit.

Photograph showing Rensselaer's Class of 1910 sitting at the bottom of the Approach steps, with instructors shown standing to left in photo as well as behind the students

Photograph showing Rensselaer's Class of 1911 sitting at the bottom of the Approach steps, with instructors shown standing to left in photo as well as behind the students

Photograph showing Rensselaer students cleaning up Approach steps (circa April 1959)

Newspaper clippings regarding the state and/or location of The Approach (first clipping from the Troy Record dated November 11, 1972; second clipping from Times Union dated June 13, 1985)

Photograph of the Approach in serious disrepair, with stone steps out of place and much plant overgrowth (view looking uphill toward Eighth Street, date likely circa 1970s

Photograph showing several students walking down the bottom of The Approach steps, with the old gymnasium building, located at the intersection of Broadway and Sixth Street, visible to the left (date unknown, possibly circa 1950s)

Early color-tinted photograph of The Approach, looking up the hill toward Eighth Street. People standing near the top of the steps, with what is believed to be the Main Building in distance (date unknown)

Early color-tinted photo/postcard showing two people walking up the Approach steps (view looking uphil, facing east-southeast; date unknown)

Photograph/postcard of new Approach staircase (low-level aerial view looking up hill toward Eighth Street, circa 1907)

Early black-and-white of The Approach, showing one gentleman standing at its base in the foreground, and three others standing about halfway up the steps (looking eastward uphill toward Eighth Street; date unknown)

Early black-and-white of The Approach steps, looking eastward uphill toward Eighth Street, with the Main Building visible at top of steps. Portion of the campus' original University Building visible at right (date unknown)

Front of a color-tinted photo postcard depicting the top of The Approach, looking west over the city of Troy

The back of the same color-tinted postcard of the Approach (stamped/dated October 12, 1910)

Recent photograph of The renovated Approach, looking eastward up the hill toward Eigth Street and with the staircase's signature Ionic columns in the foreground

Recent photograph of the renovated Approach, looking east-southeast uphill toward Eighth Street

Photograph of students making their way down the snow-covered Approach steps (looking west-northwest downhill toward Troy, date unknown)

Photograph looking westward, with the city of Troy in the foreground (view believed to be looking down Broadway, at top of what is now The Approach)

Black-and-white postcard of an artisit's rendering of Rensselaer's original Main Building along Eight Street, at the top of the hill where The Approach is now located (date unknown)

Clipping from The Poly student newspaper regarding Approach's closure, also photos showing staircase's disrepair (date unknown, likely late 1970s)

Highlighted portion of a Poly student newspaper entry, detailing proposed work to be done on the staircase (date unknown)

Photograph of a letter from Palmer C. Ricketts which mentions the proposed construction of "granite steps up from the head of Broadway up to Eighth Street." (dated February 8, 1905)

Photograph showing fire damage to Winslow Laboratory, including gutted top floors and broken windows (east-northeast elevation, circa 1904)