POTSDAM -- A bill supporting creation of a center for advanced environmental technology in river research at Clarkson University’s historic Old Main building downtown has received final legislative approval in Albany.

The bill, sponsored by Assemblywoman Addie Russell (D-Theresa) and Sen. Joe Griffo (R-Rome) in the Senate has passed in the Assembly and Senate.

It would allow the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries to access funding through the state Dormitory Authority to renovate Clarkson’s 116-year-old Old Main for research.

Old Main, like much of Clarkson’s downtown campus, has sat idle since the university moved most of its operations to the hill more than a decade ago.

In partnership with Clarkson and Beacon, the River and Estuary Observatory Network (REON), the first technology-based monitoring and forecasting network of its kind, will provide minute-to-minute monitoring of data from the Hudson and St. Lawrence Rivers. Researchers say such monitoring systems allow scientists to better understand and predict how large river and estuary ecosystems work. That knowledge, in turn, will translate into better public policy and management of the Hudson and St. Lawrence Rivers, and rivers and estuaries worldwide.

The bill will be sent to the Governor for his consideration.