Click Here: Saratoga Springs American Red Cross Blood Drive

SARATOGA SPRINGS —Sarah Craig stood on Phila Street flanked by Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner and Saratoga Springs city Mayor John Safford. 

“Sixty-four years ago on this day, Bill and Lena Spencer were still working day and night to convert an abandoned woodworking business on the second floor of this building right here into Saratoga’s first coffeehouse – a cool, trendy, artsy coffeehouse such as you’d find in Greenwich Village,” said Craig, the recently created iron gated entryway to the cafe framing the trio. 

“They planned to fill it with espresso, folk singers, poets and actors along with the young women of Skidmore College – which was just about a block away then – and anyone who craved some smart company and culture.” 

The Spencers had been working on the building since fall of 1959 and would open in June 1960. 

Bill and Lena Spencer have a burning belief in the supreme importance of the arts and the great thrills the arts offer humanity (and) both feel that the Saratoga-Albany area is rich in tradition, beautiful to behold, and a fine place for culture to flourish in. Next week, Lena Spencer will make her debut as an actress, her husband directing. Scheduled for presentation are Tennessee Williams’ “Auto-Da-Fe” and Vincent Ferrini’s “Sea Root,” in its first stage production. Since their arrival about a year ago, a great deal has happened, most of it due to backbreaking work on the part of both Spencers. Go on and have a cup of coffee and see the next show — July 1961, The Knickerbocker News. 

“Some things went as planned,” Craig continued. “The crowds came, and musicians traveled in from all corners of the world to play a venue well-situated between the east coast urban hubs and points west and north. Some things didn’t go as planned – opening night was delayed by a plumbing snafu, Bill left his wife after a couple of years, and in the age of disco folk fell out of favor, and Lena died unexpectedly in October 1989.” 

Through it all, the café not only survived, but flourished, and it was this that Assemblywoman Woerner and Mayor Safford celebrated in a ceremony they attended earlier this month that recognized the 110-seat coffeehouse for its naming to the New York State Historic Business Preservation Registry. Administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the program spotlights businesses that have operated for at least 50 years and have contributed significantly to their community’s history.

“Caffè Lena’s new designation underscores the profound impact on the history, heritage, and identity of Saratoga Springs,” Woerner, who nominated Caffe Lena to the Registry, said during the honoring ceremony, which included a pop-up concert by Joe Jencks. For his role, the Chicago-based musician strapped a capo across the fretboard of his acoustic guitar and serenaded with strings being strummed and in a rich baritone voice a song he wrote about the welcoming spirit projected by Lady iberty in the New York harbor. 

Going to the Gallery Theater is a pleasant experience not quite like anything else locally. Bill Spencer’s Siamese cat whose name seems to be Pie or Pasha—he answers to both—is likely ‘to skitter on stage any minute and upstage everybody; when the show’s over and Bill is telling folks what’s on next week, you can hear the actors going over what they’ve just done and allocating praise or blame. – September 1961, Times Union. 

Lena booked afternoon hootenannies and hosted weekend residencies with musicians who performed three sets a night and often stayed over at her apartment in the Collamer Building on Broadway. She also made frequent trips to New York City and made connections with key figures in the thriving Greenwich Village folk scene of the early 1960s. The café’s reputation grew among musicians and theater groups traveling around the Northeast.

Bob Dylan first visited the club in 1961 and played a full weekend of shows for which he was paid a total of $50. Appearances by Rosalie Sorrels brought admirers like Hunter S. Thompson and William Kennedy to the venue, and in the fall of 1965, Don McLean made his first of his many appearances at the café.

{loadmoduleid 268}

“During the 29 years she operated what became the longest running folk music coffeehouse in the country, Lena established and approached the business that they don’t teach you in MBA programs,” Craig said. “This is how she described it: Don’t do it like you’re in it to make money, just do it with a whole lot of love like you’re in it to serve.”

The state Historic Business Preservation Registry program was established by legislation in 2020 and currently lists 160 diverse historic businesses on the registry – from restaurants and barber shops to farms. Caffe Lena marks its place on the registry as only the fourth live music venue on the state registry – the Tarrytown Music Hall, the Capitol Theater in Portchester and the Village Vanguard in lower Manhattan are the others.

It takes a certain amount of intestinal fortitude, or an awful lot of money, to venture into this type of business. Most coffee houses last about as long as a will-o-the-wisp. They spring up, go for broke-and usually make it—to the bankruptcy courts. Cafe Lena is the exception. One of the prime reasons the place has prospered is due to the proprietor herself. An eager listener and a quiet talker, Lena Spencer makes friends rapidly. She is part of Saratoga now and though her brand of entertainment is on the opposite end of the spectrum of the world of music, the cafe has made its place in the area’s culture.  October 1966, Times Union.   

Lena ran the café for nearly 30 years. In 1989, she was severely injured after a fall down the café’s steep staircase and died a few weeks later. Executive Director Sarah Craig joined the Caffè Lena staff in 1995 and three years later an all-volunteer board raised $400,000 to purchase the café. Later faced with structural challenges that would require major renovation, a $1.5 million capital campaign was launched in 2013, and a collaboration struck with local developer Sonny Bonacio which provided the café a 21st century remodeling. 

Subsequent to Lena’s passing there was no certainty about how long the café would last, Craig explained. “But it did. Why? Because of people coming together in the spirit of love and service; it’s sustained by all the people who bring their art to the stage, the people who buy tickets, by members and by those who volunteer on the hospitality crew, and by people like (Assemblywoman) Woerner and Mayor Safford who know that history is one of the three pillars of Saratoga’s identity.”       

In an age of millionaire entrepreneurs. Lena Spencer still books unknowns and struggles to break even at her small but famous coffeehouse in this historic resort. ‘I mean I just barely break even and sometimes I’m lucky if I do,’ she said. ‘But I can’t imagine myself ever doing anything else.’ – December 1978, Rockland County Journal News. 

MILTON— Hailed as a gateway to the Capital Region for tech companies, performing artists, horse owners and business and leisure travelers alike, area officials gathered at Saratoga County Airport this week where a $35.2 million construction project is underway. 

“The uniqueness of this area, driving the innovations of the world, whether you’re coming to the Nanotech facility in Albany or Global Foundries, we want to make sure we have the infrastructure in place and that it’s state-of-the-art for anyone coming to do business in the Capital Region,” said New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez. 

“Anytime you leverage a transportation investment there’s a direct economic benefit; not only do you create jobs, but there’s also a ripple effect,” Dominguez said, crediting Gov. Kathy Hochul ‘s office for launching the Upstate Airport Economic Development and Revitalization competition. The contest  awarded $230 million to nine upstate airports for revitalization projects that reimagine and further modernize their airports. 

Saratoga County was awarded $27 million by the state, with an additional $2 million coming via federal funds, and the balance of the $35.2 million project provided by Saratoga County. 

“The overall economic impact of the airport to Saratoga Count exceeds $10 million,” said Saratoga County Board of Supervisors Chairman Phil Barrett, standing atop a landscape framed by concrete blocks, mounds of dirt and new metal gleaming in the midday sun. The gentle rumble of work trucks sounded in the distance, accompanied by the occasional streaming of a Cessna 172 across the sky. 

“Our timeline is very tight: two years,” Barrett said. “We entered into a contract with DOT to get this project underway in February 2023, and demolition of the old building that was on this site began in the fall-winter 2023. The entirety of the project will be completed by 2025.” 

The project is anticipated to be ready prior to Saratoga Springs’ hosting of the Belmont Festival in June 2025. 

{loadmoduleid 268}

Matt Veitch, who represents Saratoga Springs at the county level, recalled when the potential of an airport revitalization project was first initiated.   

“We had an old terminal building here built way back that wasn’t really meeting the needs of our modern traveler,” said Veitch, who had chaired the Saratoga County Buildings & Ground Committee, when the initial discussions took place. 

“We had a meeting right here at the airport with a lot of our economic development agencies to think about what we could do better here at Saratoga County Airport,” Veitch said. 

“This is a huge shot in the arm for us,” added Scott Ostrander, the supervisor representing the county airport’s host town of Milton. 

Plans indicate the new building’s first floor will provide two spacious passenger waiting areas, a multi-media conference room, new hangar space, with a courtyard opening to outdoor access. The lobby will feature a display area of classic automobiles, and the building’s second floor will make available space for pilots as well as a restaurant, conference and office space and feature an exhibit area showcasing the work of local artists. 

The hangar portion of the building will be finished with aged, reclaimed wood to mirror the look of the many Saratoga County horse and agricultural barns, with a solar array atop the hangar roof, helping reduce the airport’s collective carbon footprint.