That era was a great time for high school athletics. Many Division I athletes came out of the Capital District from the early part of the decade and many were bona fide DI basketball players. To name a few: Pat Riley and Barry Kramer from Linton High School, Larry Sheffield from LaSalle Institute of Troy, Joe Gieger and Armond Reo of Troy Catholic and the whole first five of the 1963–64 Troy High School team.
A title for a future article: The 1960’s: a Decade of Section II Superstar Basketball Players.
This is a story about a facility that many of the area’s former hoopsters can remember, the great hall, Convention Hall.
Presently, it would have been across the street from Spa Catholic where the old YMCA and current condos are now standing. What was the mystique of this place? Built for concerts, conventions and sporting events, it had a 5,000-seat auditorium which was constructed in the late 19th century and destroyed by a fire in 1965. Imagine this, practically everything was made of wood, from the rafters, like the current older structure of the flat track, to the stadium seats. There wasn’t a bad seat in the house. It was a work of architecture from a time period that grew out of the Industrial Revolution.
There was a time from one of Saratoga’s heydays, where a series of changes developed that brought Saratoga Springs into the forefront of tourism, with over 200 known natural mineral springs with claims of health and healing properties.
The racetrack and gambling wasn’t only what brought people into the Saratoga community. Built in 1893, and overlooking Congress Park, Saratoga Springs was known as the “Queen of the Spas,” and along with that title came the reputation of being a gambling center for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. A history that, during my youth, I had no knowledge of.
As a youngster, Convention Hall was known as a basketball arena.
To this day I know many former Blue Streak basketball players; and the Hall was the ultimate experience for them. They were so fortunate to be able to practice and play at such an historical place. An environment that, at times, hosted the New York Knicks in some exhibition games with teams like the Boston Celtics and the Syracuse Nationals. Of course that was during the prehistoric period of the National Basketball Association, a time of growing pains and legitimacy as a league. Also, the many sectional games of local high school teams played at the Hall.
There was insurance money placed into a bank account, as a result of the tragic end of Convention Hall. The plan, that was never developed, was to build a similar convention center, but the construction of the Glens Falls Civic Center beat Saratoga to the punch. By the way, after all these years, the Glens Falls facility has a plan for demolition.
Historically, many Saratogians feel the ball was dropped by the city for the construction of a modern Convention Hall, which would have had options for basketball and hockey. That insurance money went into the City Center, a part of the adjoining hotel on the north end of Broadway. Various hotels, over the years, have attracted many conventions that have been good for the community, but it doesn’t have the auditorium or arena environment that many Saratoga residents were hoping to see.
Sadly, times change and so do priorities and a time from yesteryear is lost forever. In this community, there may never be another facility like the Saratoga Springs Convention Hall.
I feel so lucky to have been able to play at a facility that was part of Saratoga’s historical past. It served the city as well as the area athletes. Some of us will never forget its story.
