By Susan Elise Campbell
The Horseshoe Inn Bar & Grill at 9 Gridley St. in Saratoga Springs, near Saratoga Race Course, has long been a favorite place to be after track for drinks, meals, and entertainment outside.
Owner Daniel Drellos said recent changes, along with some plans in the works, will make the outdoor service larger and easier to get around—critical in the era of social distancing.
“We have always had a good following,” said Drellos, whose two business partners, Brandon Drellos and Charlie Hoertkorn, also co-own Caroline Street Pub with him. Even with the racetrack closed to spectators, “it can get congested at happy hour in the summer.”
The team has secured approval for plans to expand the entire bar area and to increase the size of the bar itself to 70 or 80 feet long “so that people can get around it and to it,” he said. “We will put in a new tent and new outdoor coolers and change the look of the bar.”

Universal Preservation Hall opened the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame exhibit Part of the Machine: Rock & Pinball on July 26 for a two-month run.
The interactive exhibit showcases rock-themed, playable pinball machines and combines them with merchandise and artifacts to explore the artistic portrayal of artists and bands.
Part of the Machine: Rock & Pinball is presented at UPH by Adirondack Trust Co. UPH, a partner in the Proctors Collaborative, is selling tickets for 90-minute blocks throughout the run.
Tickets will be available for admittance at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. each day and hours are extended to include 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. admittance on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
The event concludes on Saturday, Sept. 26. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students and are available at universalpreservationhall.org.

By Lisa Balschunat
When Atrium Properties of Clifton Park was awarded two town contracts, the company began working on the projects by incorporating new design techniques and technology that creates an efficient transfer of information,said Jacqueline Phillips Murray, a member of the Plank Road Centre LLC.
Rob Holbrook, president of V&H Construction, of Fort Edward, which built the new Common Roots Brewing Co. in South Glens Falls, agrees that new digital design techniques provide a field crew at the site with real-time changes they can pull up on a tablet, instead of waiting for a hard copy blueprint change as in earlier years.
“The change can be emailed to the project manager and the information can be given quickly to the guys at the site,” he said. “They can blow up a drawing or sketch and see the details on a tablet or smart phone easily … that was not possible years ago with just a print.”

By Christine Graf
Rochester-based Flaum Management Co. Inc has purchased the former State Farm Operations Center located off Northway Exit 12 in Saratoga County.
The building sat empty for approximately two years before being auctioned off in March by Ten-X Commercial, an online real estate platform.
The two-story, 124,171-square-foot building was purchased by John Senese, owner of Calco Construction in Farmington, Con., for $1.36 million, according to the Flaum.
After purchasing the property, Senese sold it to Flaum Management Co. for $2 million.

By Andrea Harwood Palmer
The Village of Ballston Spa has closed down a main commercial street during the coronavirus pandemic to make more space for outdoor dining for restaurants.
A section of Front Street is closed to vehicles from 4-10 p.m. those specified days every Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
“The Village of Ballston Spa is open for business,” said Mayor Larry Woolbright.
“It’s been going great. People are coming out. The restaurants are doing good business. People really appreciate being able to get out again. We have a nice 15-foot-wide pedestrian path blocked off down the middle of the street so everyone has plenty of space to get where they’re going,” he said.