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SARATOGA SPRINGS — The official opening of The Pines@SPAC was staged at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center this week.
The $9.5 million renovation project “is going to be a game-changer for this facility,” said Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who spoke during the event.
The $9.5 million project was funded primarily by pop concert promoter Live Nation and by New York State – the latter of which provided $1.5 million in grants from Empire State Development and State Parks, awarded through the Governor’s Regional Economic Development Council initiative.
“What began in 2017 as a conversation about how best to upgrade aging concessions and bathroom facilities and address safety and security issues quickly expanded into a much bigger discussion about how to create a campus to align with SPAC’s broader evolving mission,” said SPAC President and CEO Elizabeth Sobol. “In short what you see is a world-class center for the arts; a major international destination for tourists poised to enrich the region both economically and culturally, for decades to come.”
The Pines – a new multi-story building – offers sightlines from the Route 50 gate to the Victoria Pool, and features a second-story year-round event space, called the Nancy DiCresce Education Room, to accommodate education programming.
The exterior facade of the upper level includes a glass and aluminum storefront design, allowing guests to walk out onto a rooftop terrace facing the amphitheater during outdoor performances. There are also new and expanded restrooms and concessions areas, and spaces for gathering outside of the amphitheater at the new Julie Bonacio Family Pavilion. Upgraded pedestrian walkways improve access between the amphitheater lawn and the main plaza and provide easier paths for travel throughout the venue.
Under NY Parks 2020, more than $18 million has been invested in Saratoga Spa State Park, including modernizing the Peerless Pool bathhouse, a one-mile paved accessible walking trail loop, a new disc golf course, a sensory pollinator garden and accessible, colorful and engaging playground. Other projects include opening the new Creekside Classroom environmental education facility, preserving the park’s historic campus buildings and adding new pavilions, trails and playgrounds.
