Displaying items by tag: Skip Scirocco
Mother & Son Light Up Congress Park
Photos provided.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Spirit of Life Sculpture of the Trask Memorial in Congress Park may look a little different to park- goers at night thanks to a mother and son, and their strong bond.
The Spencer Trask Memorial in Congress Park, that features the Spirit of Life sculpture, is certainly a site to see especially since it is now lit at night. It was something that members of the Spirit of Life and Spencer Trask Memorial Restoration Committee had wanted to do as well as the Commissioner of Public Works Skip Scirocco. Unfortunately after fundraising efforts and an extensive four-year restoration ending in 2015, the funds were not available.
In 2015 Saratoga Springs resident, Andrea DeAngelis, was also going through a particularly hard time in her own life; a breast cancer diagnosis. She and her son, Anthony Potter, would frequent Congress Park for a nightly walk. On these walks DeAngelis would always remark on how unfortunate it was that the sculpture couldn’t be seen at night.
Flash-forward to January 2018 Potter was getting married and had the perfect idea for a wedding gift for his mother. Potter called Samantha Bosshart, Executive Director of the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation and asked if it was possible to make a contribution to have the Spirit of Life lit with spotlights.
“This was something I have wanted to do since we completed the restoration so I definitely was on board with making it happen,” shared Commissioner Scirocco.
With the challenging weather, there was some doubt as to whether or not it would be done by Potter’s wedding on May 5. Luckily the project was completed by May 3. That night while DeAngelis was entertaining family and friends two days before her son’s wedding, Potter asked his mother if they could sneak off for a few minutes so he could unveil the now lit sculpture.
“I was so shocked... It was so perfect and beautiful,” said DeAngelis. “The Spirit of Life has always had meaning for me, especially during particularly difficult times,” she added.
“She [DeAngelis] has lit up my life and so I wanted to light something up for her,” Potter said.
“After spending four years and raising nearly $450,000 on the behalf of the Foundation to benefit the restoration project, it was an incredibly special moment to see it for the first time. I know many others in the community will feel the same way when they see her for the first time lit at night. We are so grateful for this gift that will benefit the residents of Saratoga Springs and its many visitors for many years to come,” said Bosshart.
In 1913, Katrina Trask, philanthropist, founder of artist colony Yaddo, and Saratoga resident, along with Spencer Trask’s business partner George Foster Peabody, commissioned the Memorial to honor her late husband Spencer Trask’s efforts to preserve the springs and establish the State Reservation at Saratoga Springs, known today as Saratoga Spa State Park.
The memorial was created by noted American sculptor Daniel Chester French, architect Henry Bacon, and landscape architect, Charles Leavitt, Jr. French and Bacon are best known for their collaboration on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. French created the bronze Spirit of Life sculpture; Bacon designed the masonry architectural surround; and Leavitt, who was responsible for significant changes to the Saratoga Race Course at the turn of the century, planned the landscape setting.
DPW Garage Debacle
[Photos by Lori Mahan]
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The city’s Department of Public Works (DPW) garage at 19 Van Rensselaer Street has been there since before Division Street Elementary School, which was built back in the 1960’s. Last January there was a fire in the middle of the night at the garage, called in by a neighbor. Kathy Wilson, a concerned citizen who lives on Central Avenue, about four streets away from the garage, worked with newly elected Commissioner of Public Safety Peter Martin on his campaign this fall.
In an email, Wilson said that Martin “shares our concern and will work with the City Council to help remove this danger from our midst.”
Since the fire last January provided the city with insurance money, Wilson said she hopes that “the city council would look at the insurance money and sell that land off. That land could become all residential.”
Anthony “Skip” Scirocco, Commissioner of Public Works, said “we have done everything to limit the activity over there. We have no plans to move the garage because there is nowhere to move it.” The city owns the building, but National Grid rents it for $16,000 per month.
“If National Grid would move out tomorrow, I’d move the garage over there, but at $16,000 a month, we want to keep that revenue for the city,” Scirocco explained.
Wilson and her neighbors are concerned about the amount of fuel kept in that garage and the chemicals stored there.
“What if there was a chemical released into the air? The school isn’t air-conditioned and the windows are open in the summer. The garage is just an overall hazard now,” Wilson said.
“I went to Division Street Elementary School and the DPW garage was there. It was there before the school was. Saratoga Springs Central School District didn’t feel the garage was an issue before it built there,” Scirocco said.
Wilson countered, saying that back then it was a less residential area.
“It’s a lot of older homes, the area wasn’t built up like it is now. The kids on my street all walk to school. The garage has been there, out of sight out of mind, but after the fire it was really brought to the forefront. The chemicals, the fuel, the heavy equipment, traffic. They’re exiting all day long. It’s just an overall dangerous situation. There are no sidewalks at the school and you’re forced to walk by the garage. The whole area is just really more residential than it was back then,” Wilson elaborated.
“Safety is a concern and I get that,” Scirocco said, “but we are always working to improve our safety measures.”
Wilson says that the crews who work at the garage are all nice people. She added, “the noise is annoying but not more so than a siren in the night, and sometimes the new blacktop is smelly.”
To her, it’s about safety concerns with the elementary school across the street.
Maura Manny, Director of Communications for Saratoga Springs Central School District, released a statement on the DPW garage concern.
“All Saratoga Springs City School buildings have multiple plans in place for emergency situations. Specific information cannot be provided publicly as it compromises the safety of our staff and students,” Manny said.
“I trust that this is going to be an important enough issue for the council to work together on. I’m hoping this is something all of us can agree on, that this is an issue that needs to be looked at carefully and addressing the risks to the surrounding neighborhood and the school,” Wilson said.
“The school has used the garage as a safe haven before in times of need. They used it just last week when they had to evacuate the students. We work with the school and they work with us. It’s a great partnership,” Scirocco countered.
As of now, no plans to move the DPW garage are in place.
