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SARATOGA SPRINGS — After serving as a temporary emergency center where officials conducted the city’s business, the gleaming floors inside the Saratoga Springs Recreational Center once again reflect the passion of childhood games, and the Vanderbilt Avenue center itself will soon be granted a name.
Following up on a city Recreation Commission recommendation made last year, city Finance Commissioner Michele Madigan last week brought a resolution to the council table, which was unanimously approved, to name the southside facility the Scott T. Johnson Recreation Center.
Johnson, who served three two-year terms as Saratoga Springs mayor from 2007-2013, is largely credited for helping make the long-talked-about recreation facility a reality.
“After 16 years of feasibility studies, it’s finally built,” then-Mayor Johnson announced on a July 2010 day when the near-34,000 square foot building opened. It boasted a court capable of four simultaneous full-court basketball games, and separate rooms reserved for meetings as well as games of racquetball and squash.
The $6.5 million facility had been more than a decade in the making. It faced legal hurdles, City Council debates, outspoken community protests and a series of legal challenges prior to its public unveiling in the summer of 2010. The entire project had been bonded for $6.5 million by previous administrations and was completed for about $6 million. Shortly after he was elected to office in January 2008, Johnson advocated moving the project from the city’s east side to the south side - a location that would provide city youth with easier walking access to the facility, Johnson said at the time.
Madigan read a communication from Johnson that reported he was humbled and honored by the recognition, and thanked members of his former staff, the recreation department and former city council members for helping get the job done. “You all shared in the achievement of finally making it happen and obviously, it was the right thing to do.”
Current Accounts Commissioner John Franck, who also held a seat at the council table during Johnson’s administration, said the location of the center has been beneficial to city businesses in funneling people downtown.
“Scott and I are from different parties, but I give him a lot of credit for his vision, for putting it (in a place) where kids can ride their bikes and go to, because the big push was to put it out on Weibel, next to the ice-skating rink,” Franck said. “Being the third vote (in favor), I took a lot of pounding from my own party on this. I was the only Democrat to vote for this, it was a 3-2 vote and there were a lot of lawsuits,” Franck said.
The city turned to the center as an emergency location to site operations in 2018, after City Hall had been rendered inoperable due to a lightning strike and flood damage.
“That building was a real life-saver for the city,” said current Mayor Meg Kelly. “It allowed the city to function and was a great emergency center for us as a City Hall.”
