The Lull Before and After the Storm in Saratoga Springs…
I’m driving back from the Saratoga Spa State Park near midnight, after an early evening downpour and storm had drenched the city and knocked down trees and power lines in nearby towns. That didn’t seem to have mattered to the Avenue of Pines, which stood unaffected, and there was no visible damage in the Park itself… and the springs… they keep flowing no matter what the weather. I saw only one other car as I cruised silently down the main artery of the Sacred Park, a late Wednesday night in early July.
My goal was to fill a few cases of H2O at the fresh water pavilion and I had picked a great time to go. No one else had the same idea, or timetable. I was able to fill my dozen glass quart jars, a couple of 2-liter bottles, a Poland Spring water jug, and a bunch of 12-oz iced tea containers I’d cleaned and recycled for use in the car during the days travelling. Supply and demand pertains to the springs as well, not in terms of the source, but often other spring visitors in the way— but on this late June Wednesday night, there was in fact NO competition, no line to wait through, no sense of rush or hustle, as during the day. These springs are flowing 24/7 and they don’t care if anyone is there or not, they flow. I thanked them for some unimpeded time alone with the various spouting fountains. Just as I was about done, another guy and his wife show up to fill their 5-gallon containers, and the springs gladly continued to spout forth their primal, clean life force. I love living in Saratoga Springs proper once again, but will not cop to drinking the treated reservoir water delivered thru city pipes, sorry. It is good to have a ready and willing source available to replenish my studio’s supply. I was used to Greenfield well water, the best. Some people I’ve heard say they come from 40-50 miles away to replenish their jugs and bottles at the Saratoga Spa Park, quite the pilgrimage. And other than the often useful FREE AIR hoses at the ubiquitous Stewart’s Shops in the area, what other elemental sources do you truly get for free? This water is a blessing.
I drive back down the darkened Avenue of the Pines slowly, a few lamp lights glowing but not obnoxious—a fragrant pineal treat for my nostrils as I breathe in deeply. Go as slow as you can on that serene stretch, and thank Teddy Rooselvelt when he was governor in the early 19-aughts, because he bequeathed these amazing few thousand acres to the State of New York, instead of letting the large and valuable parcel get developed to death like any other suburbia. This whole park would be loaded with condos and high-end single-fams to the max if the State hadn’t held out and made sure we could all enjoy it, scores of years later. New York has done a lot of weird things as a bureaucratic state, over time, for sure, but the quality of the State Park System is reason enough to live here. Clean air, clean water, clean surroundings– let’s always start with, and hope to keep, all of those.
South Broadway is largely silent as I exit the flowered border of this exquisite park, and I think again how this is the last lull before Jazz Fest Weekend, then 2 each of Phish concerts, and Dave Matthews Band, the very next week. Jackson Browne one night, and Luke Bryan squeezed in as well. Then The Tedeski Trucks Band’s annual appearance, and the NYC Ballet, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and all the hubbub associated with the Saratoga Racetrack. These quiet moments are sacred to us as locals, enjoying the quiet before all the excitement and crowds, for better or worse.
I compel my Impala proceed slowly north on Broadway, wishing I could videotape how peaceful and placid a place the main boulevard can be, mid-week, before the tourists arrive in full force, as they will, any day now.
On my long nocturnal walks all winter and spring in the north end of town, up near and around Skidmore College, I’ve noted the same thing, even on boisterous weekends– there are silent pockets of civility and tranquility, not far from the madding crowds downtown. Saratoga still presents both extremes on the sound and excitement spectrum.
But that is NOT to say that there isn’t a lot going on, there is plenty… even the casual visitor will notice construction sites in the heart of downtown, work underway in fenced off zones, in various stages of demolition or new creation.
AN HISTORIC LINK TO THE GOLDEN ERAS…
Until this past year, I used to think the building splurge in the early 2000’s was second only to the 1870’s as the most robust and busiest time in Broadway’s architectural history. Much of what is admired downtown as vintage architecture– City Hall, The Collamer Building, The Algonquin, The Post Office– was erected during that boom decade after recovery from The Civil War. While many other great buildings downtown have been lost to fire or demolition, those great brick and stone buildings have held up well, along with the 3 old churches in the first block of Washington Street, one of which is detailed below…
The point is, there was a spurt of creativity in the 1840’s when Franklin Square was built up as the core off-shoot of Broadway, and then again in the 1870’s when the main drag was at its peak of catering to pre-automobile tourists, who typically arrived via train, on what is now aptly called Railroad Place.
The next great era was kicked off, in my opinion, when Bob Israel first built the first batch of downtown condos on that very section of Railroad Place which parallels Franklin Square. Few people remember that whole west side of that block was a broken-glass littered open parking lot, like a no man’s land that had been bulldozed and scraped clean after Urban Renewal swept away whatever rail-related tenements and buildings had been there till World War II. The year 2000 was thus a millenial boon, and harbinger of what was to come. Sonny Bonacio saw the signs and continued what had been begun, and thus from Division Street to Washington Street we now have our own mini-Manhattan canyon, which not many upstate cities can boast.
What Changed the Entry to The City, shortly after that…
AYCO is moving to Latham, but this fine building will remain where it is, lol…
The Year 2004 was also important to downtown’s evolution, as is engraved on the cornerstone ofThe Brause Building. aka Congress Park Centre— which has had AYCO as long term anchor tenant in the office space above its first floor retail, on the site of a once-hideous 1950’s style Woolworth’s Plaza. That suburban sprawl had been plunked down and set back from the main street with a huge pitted pavement parking lot in front when I first rolled into town, over 4 decades ago. But for years earlier that whole block– from Congress Street across from the entry to Congress Park up to Washington Street, where The Gap and Starbucks straddle the corner there– most famously featured the world’s physically largest Inn or Hotel (no lie, at the time!): THE GRAND UNION HOTEL (google the famous George Bolster‘s historic photos of that place. There are depictions of its former glory, then in a series showing its slow decline and collapse, till torn down around 1953, after bad-ass reformer Gov. Thomas Dewey and the infamous Kefauver investigations rendered gambling illegal and took down the powerhouses behind the racing & casino industries in such a way as a mill-town has its financial plug pulled when the major industry shut down. So, roughly 50 years after the wreckage of this City’s most iconic symbols, there grew a worthy successor as an upgrade to the Grand Union grocery store and Sneaky Pete’s Disco, each of which thrived there awhile. The Brause Building was a revelation in terms of facade and scale, and became a hugely inspirational upgrade at the actual entrance to the core of town. It restored dignity to one of the seminal spots in Saratoga, and, a block away, once the Red Barn/Pope’s Pizza glass-front A-frame was demolished in favor of The short-lived Border’s Bookshop (where Fingerpaint is now), then the last remnants of the bad 50’s to 70’s architectural fill was eradicated.
Then again, the first truly newer brick construction occurred in 1995, when The Wise building was erected on the corner of Division & Railroad, before Bonacio’s legacy of condo creation after Bob Israel’s initial foray had begun to fill in the areas alongside and behind that block. Suddenly there was a mini-canyon feel to the western side of Broadway, fleshing out the town, and moving the skyline upward as much as allowed (6 stories being the imposed limit on downtown structures).
During the latter part of the 80’s and the early 90’s, Bruce Levinsky had been innovative in his own way, converting old churches (on Spring Street, and the corner where Caroline meets Circular) and old Skidmore Buildings into condos… and yet before the turn of the century, that market hadn’t exactly caught on fire — it was just a way to re-purpose classic older buildings and make them viable again. Meanwhile a young Sonny Bonacio had begun to establish his legacy with a salvage project at the old Van Raalte Mill at the far end of High Rock Park, below The Old Bryan Inn. That derelict monster abandoned factory had ceilings caving in and vagrants living inside, and was an asbestos-laden nightmare that in most northeast cities would have festered like an urban sore for decades– but turning that into a classic rebuild of the former garment business which had been the largest employee-owned business in America at one time. It was amazing seeing that come back to life– and people forget all these transitional years and movements and stages which helped turn Saratoga into the success it has now become.
But now we are seeing that the current surge involves more than just one prominent builder, and money pouring in from several other directions. Somewhere between $30 and $60 million was pumped into the nearly-decrepit Adelphi Hotel a few years ago, after the selling price of $4.5 million had been paid, making it the record “fixer-upper” price paid so far in this town. The result was well worth it; that part of Broadway now gives a look of mni-Manhattan, with pull-up valet parking, broad piazza like steps from the street to the central entrance, flanked by two classy restaurants. Next door is the updated Salt & Char, featuring grand porch dining that really seems redolent of the Gold Era of Saratoga’s past, elevated above the outdoor patio seating of many other eateries on the boulevard that rins through the heart of this town. After two seasons of either being glumly boarded-up or then under construction the New ADELPHI HOTEL is a serious centerpiece to downtown’s glamour now. And having anchored the western side of mid-Broadway it ultimately seemed to encourage other major projects to follow, as detailed below.
SARATOGA’S ONGOING TOP PROJECTS AND KNOCKDOWNS—
(A Blog-In-Progress, Summer 2019)
I’ve said this before but if you’re just reading me for the first time that won’t matter will it?
As a normal 3-sport-fanatic youth, I used to grab The Daily News—(a 20th century informational device, created and printed upon paper, produced and delivered fresh from NYC everyday!)– from my old man as soon as he was done with it each morning in Ravena, NY. Since NOTHING of architectural note ever happened in my hometown, and certainly nothing new was being built or even contemplated there, l’d read with fascination, along with the phenomenal sports pages, a pictoral history column that was a weekly if not daily feature called THE CHANGING FACE OF NEW YORK… which detailed the tearing down of older, smaller buildings in favor of new skyscrapers and landmarks on the horizon of Manhattan, and its surrounding boroughs.
Saratoga Springs, Queen city of upstate NY, now needs a page like that, things are happening so fast. I used to think it was my job on this blog, and its original version before this in the early 2000’s, to recap such yearly changes for visitors returning to town like swallows to Capistrano each summer, so they would get their bearings— “Wait a minute—what used to BE there? “ (I should read Wayne’s blog to find out, lol.)
Presumptuous of me, yes, and a non-paying job to boot. Local writer Thomas Dimopoulos in working for the local weekly Saratoga Today has done an enviable job of monitoring most of these changes and giving the journalist reporting on stories behind them, so if you search any of the addresses noted below you will likely come up with more full portrayals of the plans and players who are involved in each case. I am interested in the historical comparisons, and anecdotal real estate perspective of a local observer, as WaynesWord2 connotes.
Even as a longtime Realtor who walks and drives and explores these streets of Saratoga Springs daily, it can be hard to keep up with the changes—they are numerous and seem to happen quickly.
Here are some recent WaynesWord examples:
55 Putnam Street has been, or WAS, one of the biggest eyesores left in Saratoga’s downtown zone, right in front of the Putnam Place music venue, and across from the Saratoga Springs Public Library. It was a graffiti-strewn concrete block building that used to house C & B Sanitation trucks long before the grand library was built on what was an open gravel and mud parking lot thru the late 70s and entire decade of the 80’s. Even before it housed garbage trucks, it apparently had been a dry cleaning business, so between the chemicals and the oil spills it was a toxic site that resisted clean-up even though numerous studies were done there in the first wave of downtown’s resurgence in the early 2000’s. I recall hearing that the bore samples 20-30’ beneath ground level still showed significant contamination that would make the clean up and re-construction there prohibitively expensive… but that was before the really big money of late started pouring into town. The area is cleared now of debris and that entire block seems brighter as a result. Even as a blight on that block between the two most active drinking and partying zones— connecting Caroline and Phila Streets—some of the locals bemoaned the fact that it would soon turn into a five-story structure, with first floor retail and either condos or apartments above. There are some slums that are not worth nostalgia!
Just to prove that Bonacio Construction does NOT get every downtown building contract, there are SANO RUBIN Construction banners on the fence of that now vacant lot now.
383-385 BROADWAY, Saratoga Springs… back in early June during NBA playoffs, my son Miles and I were jockeying between a few favorite sports bars… I’m living without a TV, deliberately, and he didn’t get the right cable station. Among our multi-game choices we sampled The Westside Stadium on Congress Street (a renovation story from a few years back that figures into my Saratoga novel), Bailey’s Café, downtown on Putnam and Phila, 9 Maple Ave (where I could find a combination of jazz and hoop on weekend nights, though the TV was smallish), Dango’s inside at 38 Caroline, and the original STADIUM Café, at 389 Broadway. Well it was either game 5 or 6 and suddenly a long section of Broadway was cordoned off and one of Billy Morris’s big excavators was resting for its next bout of digging up one lane of the street from the FingerPaint Building (formerly Borders) and the ever-popular Druthers Brew Pub at 381 Broadway. I had to use evasive measures to get around the fence then it occurred to me these brick one-story buildings in front of me at late dusk were on Death Row, and soon to be demolished. On Broadway in the heart of the district, once the deed of demotion is approved and underway, the sword is swift, in most cases. Billy Morris and his equipment don’t mess around.
So before going in to see if Miles had gotten there ahead of me I took some pix, thinking it was almost too late in terms of darkness, but it could be my one and only chance. The sky actually came out bluer than it really was at almost 9p.m. but that just made the shot more poignant.
{This is an M.C.Escher-esque view of a fused brick building which is no longer there…}
Now my hoop fervor was momentarily delayed as I got thinking about these two adjoining buildings, which had served as complementary clothing businesses, The National for men and golfers, Frivolous trending to the female buyer. For a far longer stretch of recent history, locals will note, the address had belonged to The Shoe Depot when the famous Joe Panza owned it for a good couple of decades. You could park in the back off Division Street and come in through the back doors, which sloped down to the sweet-smelling show room, redolent of fresh leather and suade. I also remember the dim past of the late 70’s when there was still an old bowling alley out back and the front part of the left side was where you paid your Niagara Mohawk bill in person, and the other section held the unemployment office, don’t ask me how I know this, but I was young and bohemian when I first arrived.
But we are seeing the end of the phase of single-floor buildings in Saratoga’s core, which is only natural as its growth spreads skyward, as cities are wont to do, if popular enough that more and more people want to squeeze into the cool zones. At today’s prices to build, first-floor retail alone cannot support the load, and the demand for downtown housing—whether rentals or condos—seems to still be continuing. Parking will be incorporated somehow out back, for those who think of that as the main problem with every project, such as the one on Putnam Street..
Glad I caught those pix when I did, because that short brick edifice did not last much into the next day. The site was cleared and smooth and the fencing gone in no time, a support wall of bare block left erect on either side. Druthers and The Stadium remained un-touched. The new building will no doubt be underway before long, and the good news is, both retail businesses that were there most recently will be re-born into the same virtual space they occupied before… ground level retail on Broadway.
Five story frame-work to be expected soon. Bring on the iron workers—most upstate towns would welcome 1/10th of what Saratoga has underway right now… but they aren’t Saratoga, sorry, where the money in flowing into town at this point… and every square foot on Broadway is precious and valuable.
269 Broadway… Speaking of swift demises—I’d always thought of this 1982-built brick structure as a bland aberration– a duplex business set-up on a highly visible Broadway lot, presumably on the site of something that must’ve been grand here before… across from and south a bit from what was once the Convention Center, then the old YMCA which I still dearly miss. It had the most open space around it of any other building on the otherwise tightly packed streetscape—between the Spa Catholic school building and the Drink Hall at the corner of Congress. I always thought of it as the Offices of Perkins a& Perkins Attorneys, but it had been owned by Dr. Isenberg for years, and an insurance company had their State Farm sign there till recently.
So one day I’m cutting behind there on Federal St down toward Hamilton, and noticed– a recurring theme– a yellow piece of heavy equipment, perhaps owned by Morris Excavation, I oculdn’t tell. But it was an ominoous sign, and I didn’t have time to swing around and take one final shot on the inocuous brick and frame building that was about to become history, extinct, finito. The lot would be more lucractive as bare ground than the value thatt outmoded 1958 structure could garner. In this case there was no new building to follow immediately– the lot is for sale, and this town abhors a vacuum.
Universal Preservation Hall on Washington Street…. UPH comes back to life!
Out of towners will NOT notice a gap in the landscape here, but instead a total rejuvenation of a Saratoga Classic is nearing completion. and can be followed online for those so inclined. This large lot was fenced off while the whole place was ensconced with scaffolding that would’ve made Michaelangelo proud… but the current shot is in its improved condition, with only the rear of the building still featuring scaffolds.
,
Not much to say here except that Bonacio has devoted a small army of restoration experts to this project since the dead of winter, and it looks real sharp and must be close to completion… check the progress online. This former church dominates the skyline in Washington Ave section close to Broadway….so it deserves its prominent makeover. Soon another 6 story hotel is due to commence on the parking lot site to its right… behind the old Rip Van Dam, where our Saratoga real estate office is for Keller Williams Capital District. Parking is already a chore, and restricted, so I will be getting more exercise in the near future by parking further and further away, as if we are in downtown NYC, on a smaller scale basis….but with similar competiton for open spots on the downtown streets.
79 HENRY Street– pictures taken from the rear of the deep lot, on Pavillion Street, looking toward Saratoga Botanials Organic Spa
In the short block behind The Parting Glass Pub, across from the Henry Street Taproom and its recent neighbor Flatbread Social, where the Merry Monk used to be… now is a gaping hole in the streetscape. The site now sports the requisite fence around it has seen some foundational concrete pouring going on in recent weeks… This was indeed the former site of a monstrously large 2+story red barn relic from Saratoga’s late 1800’s…. known as Nemec’s Feed Store, which was in service there up till a decade ago. Hay was on the floor, and the smell of a barn and animal products was old school rustic America. Consider the history here, and how 120 years can change things: it used to be the stable for the carriage horses that served the Grand Union Hotel, across from Congress Park–now Congress Park Centre– back in the day. The lot extends back to Pavilion Row behind it, and you will see another multi-storied mixed-use structure arise there as the summer of 2019 continues…. but here is a daguerreotype (lol) of what it used to be…
Starks Muffler & Brake Shop, 64 Excelsior Street… well here we had a bit of a false alarm– I personally got a bit sentimental when I saw a big front end loader parked in front of this place back in June– I thought another cncrete block icon of Saratoga’s past was going to be levelled soon. After all, the swampy lot to its left at the corner of East is now boasting a three story condo building and it seemed a further development of that concept would be moving in here. I thought of all the times those of us who showed up here in the 70’s and 80’s with less-than-stellar vehicles would inevitably end up at “Starkie’s” because he was in a central location and charged reasonable prices to keep our used cars and trucks running. Many of us had automotive fluids leak onto that concrete floor, I’m sure.
But when I took pix of the recently closed-down business, thinking demo was imminent, I saw a week later that it had been painted and was being resurrected! Pix to follow, before and after, but as of mid-July, Starkie’s is still standing, though Mr. Stark has cashed out and works there no more, the landmark, for now, remains… and has been nicely painted since these pix were taken.
Pocket Park at Red Spring…confluence of Excelsior and High Rock Aves…right across the street from the defunct STARK’S Mufflers….
“Don’t worry, no condos going up behind this fence!”
For those swinging through the dip where High Rock Ave and Excelsior fork, you will notice the short cut up to The Olde Bryan Inn and the Marriott Courtyard hotel has been blocked off for a while, and the famous skin-remedy spring at the foot of that intersection have been cordoned off for months now. In this case, the renovations are and have been underground… and the Red Spring will be open again soon. The fencing here, across from Stark’s has been to keep traffic and pedestrians from accessing a torn-up site which now looks to be nearing completionn. Pic above was late June 2019…
Saratoga Diner, South Broadway…
This site has been fenced off for a long time, and every time I go past it, I wonder how much longer it will defy execution, having been on Death Row seemingly for years. While the building is long past its useful lifespan– the Diner there having closed in 2011– it used to also house the local Bus station in years when some of us arrived in town via that antiquated method. The rear of the building served as the ticket kiosk and waiting room in the 70’s and 80’s as I recall and then I lost track of whether it was still used in that fashion up until the restaurant, run by a classic Greek proprietor, shut its well-worn doors. That front light post looks like something from, an amusement park, a relic of an era when motels and eateries had them planted in front of their businesses along Route 9, north and south of Saratoga before the I-87 (aka The Northeway) came through, to attract “motorists” to their food or lodging. A classic carnival-style remnant of mid-century America, about to come down anyday now; take your own picture of it soon.
MORGAN STREET SOON TO CHANGE… (despite what local residents would want…)
While this site is neither downtown, nor the site of a prior building or business…it is an alarming change to those residents in the immediate area of a large new institutional building to be built by Saratoga Hospital. Morgan Street is a short connecting roadway between Seward Street and Myrtle Street, alongside the Emergency Room Entry on the west side of the Hospital complex itself.
*****
PS–…. more pix and more anecdotes to follow, so check back.
Also have a aparallel story ready to go about what residential building embellishments are occurring on a grand scale locally– all unique to Saratoga– no where else in upstate NY can possibly have as much going on, especially in such a concentrated small urban area. Tune in again,I have a handful of belated blogs I plan to pop live in the coming months, thanks!
Copyright Wayne Perras 2019, and subject to constant revision!
******
For purposes of disclosure and disclaimer–Wayne Perras is a NYS Licensed Associate Broker for Keller Williams Capital District, based in Saratoga Springs but working over a 50 mile swath of the Great Capital Region. Any opinions herein are his and his alone, and he is not compensated by or affiliated with any of the builders or individuals mentioned in this blog. Any real estate-related observations are his own and not the shared opinion of his brokerage or others in the business. He makes up his own mind what to think, thanks!
Reactions, or factual corrections, can be emailed to: wperras3@gmail.com
Phone or text: 518-316-6420 anytime