MALTA — Plans for a 700-unit development that would replace the Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta were derailed on Monday night when the Town Board decided not to move forward with a public workshop that would include further discussion of the project. The board held a vote on the matter, with two members voting “yes,” two voting “no,” and one abstaining.

“I’m concerned we’re missing out on an opportunity but that’s the rule of the board,” said Town Supervisor Cynthia Young, who voted “yes.”

Members of the board, along with a number of residents who spoke during the public comment period, were skeptical of the project due to its size and potential impact on traffic along Route 9. Some, both at the meeting and in local Facebook groups, have also lamented the loss of the speedway, which will celebrate its 60th anniversary next year.

The speedway’s current owner, Howard Commander, said via a real estate agent who spoke at the December 2 town board meeting on his behalf, that he “fully” supported the proposed project. Commander decided to sell the speedway due, in part, to the financial challenges of maintaining and operating the track.

Sumeet Gupta of Five Corners Development laid out the broad strokes of his proposed development, Camber Ridge Malta, in a ten-minute presentation. He said he was approached by a broker hired by Commander, who had been trying to sell the land for years. 

“Over the last four or five months, we’ve spent a considerable amount of time going out to the community and getting feedback from as many people as possible,” Gupta said. “We’re not done with being in front of the community and making sure their feedback is heard, which is a critical part of our process.”

Gupta said the development would incorporate the need for a strict workforce housing program, senior housing, retail amenities, and community benefits (which could include things like a pool and splash pad, a year-round community center for seniors, walking trails, and a daycare center). Proposed rents for the development would range from $1,326/month for a 1-bedroom unit to $1,838/month for 3 bedrooms; prices which are below current market rates.

The Albany-Saratoga Speedway sits on a 50-acre parcel along Route 9 North in Malta. The track originally opened in 1965 and features racing on Friday nights from April through September. Racing is still set to occur at the track in 2025, though the speedway’s future is uncertain after that.

A prior, unplanned presentation outlining the proposed Camber Ridge development at a Malta Town Board meeting in June was met with resistance, prompting meeting attendees to call the presentation “totally inappropriate” and “absolutely ridiculous.” The presentation had interrupted many Malta residents who wanted to speak about a proposed State Police barracks in the town’s Luther Forest neighborhood.

MALTA — The Saratoga Battlefields are a popular destination for tourists and locals alike, commemorating the famed “turning point” of the American Revolution. The Saratoga Race Course draws about one million fans each year, carrying on a tradition that began during the Civil War. But one local historic site, arguably just as important as the previous two, remains inaccessible, even to those curious enough to seek it out.

The Malta Rocket Test Station was the beginning of America’s journey to the moon. The 165-acre property — populated by large gantries, dozens of buildings, and underground bunkers — was once home to hundreds of scientists and staffers who worked tirelessly to develop the technology needed to send humanity to another heavenly body. From 1945 until the mid-1960s, it was where rockets roared, causing what felt like small earthquakes in nearby homes.

The site is currently owned by GlobalFoundires, a semiconductor manufacturing company headquartered in Malta. Thus far, the company hasn’t announced any plans to allow visitors onto the site, though some remain hopeful that could change.

“The people who work for GlobalFoundries are on the cutting edge of technology today,” said Paul Perreault, Malta’s town historian, at a presentation delivered at the Brookside Museum on November 12. “You would think of all the people engaged in business, they would respect the people who were on the cutting edge of technology back in the 1940s.”

Perreault said he believes there are safe ways for GlobalFoundries to allow visitors to have a better understanding of the groundbreaking work once done on the site.

During the Cold War, General Electric employees from Schenectady were searching for a test site where rocket research could be performed. They found the Luther Forest Preserve, a 7,000-acre preserve that, at one time, was the largest privately owned preserve in the entire country. 

GE claimed 165 acres of Luther Forrest and surrounded it with a one-mile security zone. In 1945, GE built their rocket test station. They used the location to assemble rocket engines and conduct stationary ground tests. After five years, thousands of firings had been conducted.

Although the Malta site has been somewhat forgotten in favor of more glamorous Space Age locales such as the Kennedy Space Center and the NASA Johnson Space Center, that may soon change. Perreault said that a British TV production company interviewed him for a special about the test station, due to be released sometime early next year (additional details will be posted to the Brookside Museum website when available).

“To me, that is how the Malta Rocket Test Station is going to get the recognition it deserves,” Perreault said. “Not by us talking about it, but by it being on television. So today, that’s the most exciting part of the story.”

But for now, the facilities on the site remain largely dormant, continuing their slow decay.