Thursday, July 19, 2012
3rd meeting to Save the New York City Ballet at SPAC, monday,7/30@6:30pm. Community Room, 1st floor saratoga springs public library.
If you care about the continued residency of the classical arts in saratoga and at spac come join this grass-roots effort to save the new york city ballet in saratoga. We need everyone's help and ideas. Our Saratoga City Council passed a resolution this week 5-0 supporting at least a 2wk. residency of the new york city ballet at spac.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
saratoga city council resolution to support continued at least 2 week residency of new york city ballet at spac.
City Council urges SPAC to maintain at least a two-week NYC Ballet seasonPublished: Wednesday, July 18, 2012
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By LUCIAN McCARTYlmccarty@saratogian.comTwitter.com/SaratogianCDeskSARATOGA SPRINGS — The City Council unanimously voted Tuesday night on a resolution expressing its love for the ballet.Saratoga Performing Arts Center announced earlier this month that next year’s New York City Ballet residency in Saratoga Springs would be cut in half, to one week. That is the second shearing of a week from the NYC Ballet’s summer schedule in three years.The council voted Tuesday on a motion urging SPAC to maintain the two-week stay of the ballet.“I have great concern that we’re in danger of losing the ballet at SPAC,” said Michele Madigan who proposed the motion. “I think it’s very important. It’s part of the culture of Saratoga; the arts of Saratoga.”The motion emphasizes the city’s support of the arts, SPAC and the NYC Ballet and endorses a “two week minimum summer residency for the New York City Ballet Company at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.”The NYC Ballet as well as the Philadelphia Orchestra have been staples in the SPAC season since 1966.“It’s certainly an issue worth fighting for,” said Public Works Commissioner Anthony “Skip” Scirocco. “It would really be a detriment to not have either one of those entities at SPAC.”Several members of the public also spoke on behalf of the ballet, including a former dancer with the NYC Ballet and a SPAC board member.Leslie Kettlewell said she has been working at SPAC in one capacity or another since she was a teenager. “I’m still an usher,” she said. She warned that the NYC Ballet seems to have its season whittled further and further down each year. “Soon the orchestra will be gone,” she said. “These problems are not insurmountable. I think this is a great opportunity for the community to pull together to help save the ballet.”Reached by phone Tuesday, SPAC President and CEO Marcia White said she, too, supports the NYC Ballet but said the financial structure of the organizations’ relationship is unsustainable. Continued...12See Full Story“The NYC Ballet and SPAC are in the same position and want the same thing,” she said. “The question is about the economics.”White said SPAC and the NYC Ballet will be working together to address the issue of money, which she said they both lose with the current arrangement and she hopes to bring the NYC Ballet back for two weeks in 2014. “That’s the goal,” she said.“Time are difficult,” Madigan said during the meeting, “but the arts are something that should be supported.” 12See Full Story 123See Full Story1234See Full Story
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By LUCIAN McCARTYlmccarty@saratogian.comTwitter.com/SaratogianCDeskSARATOGA SPRINGS — The City Council unanimously voted Tuesday night on a resolution expressing its love for the ballet.Saratoga Performing Arts Center announced earlier this month that next year’s New York City Ballet residency in Saratoga Springs would be cut in half, to one week. That is the second shearing of a week from the NYC Ballet’s summer schedule in three years.The council voted Tuesday on a motion urging SPAC to maintain the two-week stay of the ballet.“I have great concern that we’re in danger of losing the ballet at SPAC,” said Michele Madigan who proposed the motion. “I think it’s very important. It’s part of the culture of Saratoga; the arts of Saratoga.”The motion emphasizes the city’s support of the arts, SPAC and the NYC Ballet and endorses a “two week minimum summer residency for the New York City Ballet Company at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.”The NYC Ballet as well as the Philadelphia Orchestra have been staples in the SPAC season since 1966.“It’s certainly an issue worth fighting for,” said Public Works Commissioner Anthony “Skip” Scirocco. “It would really be a detriment to not have either one of those entities at SPAC.”Several members of the public also spoke on behalf of the ballet, including a former dancer with the NYC Ballet and a SPAC board member.Leslie Kettlewell said she has been working at SPAC in one capacity or another since she was a teenager. “I’m still an usher,” she said. She warned that the NYC Ballet seems to have its season whittled further and further down each year. “Soon the orchestra will be gone,” she said. “These problems are not insurmountable. I think this is a great opportunity for the community to pull together to help save the ballet.”Reached by phone Tuesday, SPAC President and CEO Marcia White said she, too, supports the NYC Ballet but said the financial structure of the organizations’ relationship is unsustainable. Continued...12See Full Story“The NYC Ballet and SPAC are in the same position and want the same thing,” she said. “The question is about the economics.”White said SPAC and the NYC Ballet will be working together to address the issue of money, which she said they both lose with the current arrangement and she hopes to bring the NYC Ballet back for two weeks in 2014. “That’s the goal,” she said.“Time are difficult,” Madigan said during the meeting, “but the arts are something that should be supported.” 12See Full Story 123See Full Story1234See Full Story
Sunday, July 15, 2012
we are thrilled to have our lion's heads fountains working again thanks to Mark, the master.
Look for the beautiful Lion's heads fountains at the Victoria Pool restored to their natural beauty.
Thursday, July 05, 2012
stop the nycballet being cut to one wk., library mtg. 7/9@6:30.
NYC Ballet's SPAC residency cut to one week in 2013Published: Thursday, July 05, 2012
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More PhotosClick thumbnails to enlargeJoaquin de Luz and Tiler Peckpictured in this Saratogian file photo. By BARBARA LOMBARDO and PAUL POSTnews@saratogian.comTwitter.com/@SaratogianNewsClick to enlargeNew York City Ballet dancers Ana Sophia Scheller, left, Tiler Peck and Sterling Hyltin are pictured in this Saratogian file photo. SARATOGA SPRINGS — The New York City Ballet’s residency at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center will be cut to one week in 2013, with other visiting ballet companies filling the gap for week two.The reason: Both SPAC and the NYCB say they can’t afford a longer stay.Each performance costs $180,000, said Marcia White, SPAC president and executive director. It costs SPAC about $2 million to bring the ballet to Saratoga, and SPAC loses about $1.1 million in the process, she said.“At the end of the day we want the New York City Ballet to come here for two weeks, or for as long as they can,” White told The Saratogian in an interview Thursday.She hopes that a two-week residency could resume in 2014. “We want to do that, but it has to come back at a cost that’s sustainable,” she said.Thursday’s announcement of a shortened 2013 season comes days before the July 10 start of the ballet’s two-week residency at SPAC. Full details on the 2012 season are available here. In May, in stepping down after five years as SPAC board chairman, Bill Dake issued a dire warning that the future of the ballet’s residency, as well as the Philadelphia Orchestra’s three-week residency, were in jeopardy.A group of citizens unaffiliated with SPAC have scheduled a meeting for 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Saratoga Springs Public Library for people interested in developing a strategy to save the New York City Ballet’s summer residency. That meeting was arranged prior to the announcement of the residency cutback.The ballet’s schedule was reduced from three to two weeks in 2009 and average attendance went up considerably, but obviously not enough to offset rising production costs.The New York City Ballet and Philadelphia Orchestra have been mainstays of SPAC since its inception in 1966. Continued...1234See Full StoryNext year’s NYCB residency will run for five days beginning Tuesday, July 9, and consist of five evening and two matinee performances.SPAC, according to a press release, “is in serious conversations with the National Ballet of Canada and Aspen Santa Fe Ballet about potential short-term engagements at SPAC in 2013, as an adjunct to NYCB’s one-week program.”Despite financial losses, White noted value in the prestige and legacy of the New York City Ballet’s residency.“We treasure our historic partnership with New York City Ballet, which dates back to our earliest days as an organization,” White said in a press statement. “In recent years, NYCB and SPAC, like arts organizations nationwide, have had to confront new financial realities. We are all operating in an environment where funding from both public and private sources is more scarce, while the costs of doing business have continued to rise.”Susan Phillips Read, the new chairwoman of SPAC’s board of directors, echoed those comments in the press statement: “Our goal is to maintain City Ballet’s historic residency at SPAC at an affordable, sustainable cost. SPAC and its audience value the partnership with City Ballet tremendously and are ready to try virtually any alternative that will allow us to reach this goal.”The ballet has seen its production expenses rise $300,000 in 2011 and 2012. The estimated loss for SPAC of $1.1 million, White said, “is more than we lost when the ballet was here three weeks. We can’t absorb the New York City Ballet’s losses.”Ballet tickets cover only one-third of the expense, leaving SPAC’s individual donors and corporate sponsors to make up the difference.“We’re pushing fundraising to the limits,” White said at SPAC’s annual membership meeting in May.HSBC was a major corporate sponsor in 2010 and 2011, but is not back this year following its withdrawal of retail operations from the region.“The orchestra and ballet are less than 10 percent of our attendance and cost over 40 percent each, of our expenses,” former SPAC Chairman Bill Dake said at this year’s annual membership meeting in May. Continued...1234See Full StoryDake has said the ballet should experiment with less expensive productions and that Saratoga, which has very supportive crowds, would be the place to do it.After seven years of operating in the black, SPAC is facing a possible $250,000 deficit in 2012. Dake, in May, also gave a bleak report on SPAC’s slightly more than $4.5 million endowment: “$2.5 million of that is restricted, so it’s really only $2 million, which can erode very quickly.”The ballet has been on shaky ground at SPAC for almost a decade. In February 2004, former SPAC President Herb Chesbrough announced that SPAC could no longer afford to host the ballet, setting off a firestorm of protest that led to a state investigation of SPAC’s business operations and the eventual mass replacement of board members, including Chesbrough.Following a brief resurgence, the nation’s 2008 economic decline hit the entire arts world deeply and the ballet hasn’t been spared.“We’re all war-weary veterans from the last go-around,” said George Neary, an avid ballet fan who is one of a handful expected to lead Monday’s meeting at the library. “People feel like they’re helpless about this. I want to give them some hope that we can save the ballet and SPAC.”White said she will attend that meeting, if invited. She noted that she has been talking to members of that group.Neary said SPAC could create new generations of ballet fans by lowering young people’s ticket prices. Children under 12 already get free lawn seats and students through college age can buy lawn tickets $10 and get a 25 percent discount in the amphitheater.Neary also said that SPAC’s contract with LiveNation, for pop and rock concerts, drains money away from classical programming. “SPAC used to run their own concerts,” he said. “That money is out the door.”But White said SPAC gets $1 million per year from LiveNation, which underwrites classical programs. Most LiveNation ticket revenue goes to performers, whose prices have escalated greatly, she said.Most of LiveNation’s revenues comes from concessions, she said. Continued...1234See Full StorySPAC gets no funding from Saratoga Springs or Saratoga County and only a small amount each year from the New York State Council on the Arts, White said.1234See Full Story
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More PhotosClick thumbnails to enlargeJoaquin de Luz and Tiler Peckpictured in this Saratogian file photo. By BARBARA LOMBARDO and PAUL POSTnews@saratogian.comTwitter.com/@SaratogianNewsClick to enlargeNew York City Ballet dancers Ana Sophia Scheller, left, Tiler Peck and Sterling Hyltin are pictured in this Saratogian file photo. SARATOGA SPRINGS — The New York City Ballet’s residency at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center will be cut to one week in 2013, with other visiting ballet companies filling the gap for week two.The reason: Both SPAC and the NYCB say they can’t afford a longer stay.Each performance costs $180,000, said Marcia White, SPAC president and executive director. It costs SPAC about $2 million to bring the ballet to Saratoga, and SPAC loses about $1.1 million in the process, she said.“At the end of the day we want the New York City Ballet to come here for two weeks, or for as long as they can,” White told The Saratogian in an interview Thursday.She hopes that a two-week residency could resume in 2014. “We want to do that, but it has to come back at a cost that’s sustainable,” she said.Thursday’s announcement of a shortened 2013 season comes days before the July 10 start of the ballet’s two-week residency at SPAC. Full details on the 2012 season are available here. In May, in stepping down after five years as SPAC board chairman, Bill Dake issued a dire warning that the future of the ballet’s residency, as well as the Philadelphia Orchestra’s three-week residency, were in jeopardy.A group of citizens unaffiliated with SPAC have scheduled a meeting for 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Saratoga Springs Public Library for people interested in developing a strategy to save the New York City Ballet’s summer residency. That meeting was arranged prior to the announcement of the residency cutback.The ballet’s schedule was reduced from three to two weeks in 2009 and average attendance went up considerably, but obviously not enough to offset rising production costs.The New York City Ballet and Philadelphia Orchestra have been mainstays of SPAC since its inception in 1966. Continued...1234See Full StoryNext year’s NYCB residency will run for five days beginning Tuesday, July 9, and consist of five evening and two matinee performances.SPAC, according to a press release, “is in serious conversations with the National Ballet of Canada and Aspen Santa Fe Ballet about potential short-term engagements at SPAC in 2013, as an adjunct to NYCB’s one-week program.”Despite financial losses, White noted value in the prestige and legacy of the New York City Ballet’s residency.“We treasure our historic partnership with New York City Ballet, which dates back to our earliest days as an organization,” White said in a press statement. “In recent years, NYCB and SPAC, like arts organizations nationwide, have had to confront new financial realities. We are all operating in an environment where funding from both public and private sources is more scarce, while the costs of doing business have continued to rise.”Susan Phillips Read, the new chairwoman of SPAC’s board of directors, echoed those comments in the press statement: “Our goal is to maintain City Ballet’s historic residency at SPAC at an affordable, sustainable cost. SPAC and its audience value the partnership with City Ballet tremendously and are ready to try virtually any alternative that will allow us to reach this goal.”The ballet has seen its production expenses rise $300,000 in 2011 and 2012. The estimated loss for SPAC of $1.1 million, White said, “is more than we lost when the ballet was here three weeks. We can’t absorb the New York City Ballet’s losses.”Ballet tickets cover only one-third of the expense, leaving SPAC’s individual donors and corporate sponsors to make up the difference.“We’re pushing fundraising to the limits,” White said at SPAC’s annual membership meeting in May.HSBC was a major corporate sponsor in 2010 and 2011, but is not back this year following its withdrawal of retail operations from the region.“The orchestra and ballet are less than 10 percent of our attendance and cost over 40 percent each, of our expenses,” former SPAC Chairman Bill Dake said at this year’s annual membership meeting in May. Continued...1234See Full StoryDake has said the ballet should experiment with less expensive productions and that Saratoga, which has very supportive crowds, would be the place to do it.After seven years of operating in the black, SPAC is facing a possible $250,000 deficit in 2012. Dake, in May, also gave a bleak report on SPAC’s slightly more than $4.5 million endowment: “$2.5 million of that is restricted, so it’s really only $2 million, which can erode very quickly.”The ballet has been on shaky ground at SPAC for almost a decade. In February 2004, former SPAC President Herb Chesbrough announced that SPAC could no longer afford to host the ballet, setting off a firestorm of protest that led to a state investigation of SPAC’s business operations and the eventual mass replacement of board members, including Chesbrough.Following a brief resurgence, the nation’s 2008 economic decline hit the entire arts world deeply and the ballet hasn’t been spared.“We’re all war-weary veterans from the last go-around,” said George Neary, an avid ballet fan who is one of a handful expected to lead Monday’s meeting at the library. “People feel like they’re helpless about this. I want to give them some hope that we can save the ballet and SPAC.”White said she will attend that meeting, if invited. She noted that she has been talking to members of that group.Neary said SPAC could create new generations of ballet fans by lowering young people’s ticket prices. Children under 12 already get free lawn seats and students through college age can buy lawn tickets $10 and get a 25 percent discount in the amphitheater.Neary also said that SPAC’s contract with LiveNation, for pop and rock concerts, drains money away from classical programming. “SPAC used to run their own concerts,” he said. “That money is out the door.”But White said SPAC gets $1 million per year from LiveNation, which underwrites classical programs. Most LiveNation ticket revenue goes to performers, whose prices have escalated greatly, she said.Most of LiveNation’s revenues comes from concessions, she said. Continued...1234See Full StorySPAC gets no funding from Saratoga Springs or Saratoga County and only a small amount each year from the New York State Council on the Arts, White said.1234See Full Story
Tuesday, July 03, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Time to Save the New York City Ballet again at SPAC.
Ballet’s future at SPAC still uncertainThursday, June 28, 2012By Lee Coleman (Contact) , Tatiana Zarnowski (Contact) Gazette ReporterText Size: A A AAdvertisement
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Officials at Saratoga Performing Arts Center expect to announce in about two weeks the fate of the 2013 New York City Ballet season.Until then, they’re tight-lipped as negotiations continue with the ballet, which is scheduled to start its two-week 2012 season July 10.SPAC President and Executive Director Marcia White said the ballet will be back next year, but she is not sure “to what extent.”Rumors that the season might be cut to just one week have disheartened fans who fought for the ballet to stay when its season was threatened in 2005.“I just can’t believe it,” said Louise Goldstein, who was involved with Save the Ballet in 2004 and 2005.She said that the ballet helped build SPAC, and SPAC now boosts the entire area by bringing people who fill hotels, eat at restaurants, buy fuel and shop at stores. “It’s a whole industry now here. It’s not just one company.”Ballet fan Lisa Mehigan of Saratoga Springs said she is willing to set up a charity organization to raise more money to keep the ballet at SPAC if need be.“I’m willing to do almost anything to help,” said Mehigan, who also was involved with the original grass-roots Save the Ballet group, which raised $40,000 and was instrumental in keeping the 2005 season intact.Mehigan, Goldstein and several other people are sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what happens. If future ballet seasons are threatened, they plan to connect with other ballet fans during this year’s season and get an effort going, Goldstein said.“It’s been very informal on Facebook so far,” she said.SPAC was built in part to be a summer home for the ballet, back when it was under the direction of the legendary George Balanchine. The performing arts center hosted its first ballet summer season in 1966, the year it opened.“This is our resident company,” White said.For many years the season was three weeks long, but in 2009 it was shortened to two weeks for financial reasons.Growing costs make it difficult to bring the ballet back each summer, White said, noting it now costs SPAC $180,000 per performance. Ticket sales cover about a third of that, and the organization’s independent fundraising makes up the rest.But with the ballet fees rising, White said it’s difficult to raise more money from donors in the struggling economy or to hike ticket prices and still attract patrons.“You can’t expect the public to cover the cost,” she said.At SPAC’s annual membership meeting in May, outgoing board chairman William Dake hinted that the ballet’s future at SPAC might be in jeopardy.The ballet raised its fee by about $100,000 this year and is proposing a $200,000 hike next year as it negotiates with SPAC, he said then.This week, White wouldn’t disclose numbers that are currently being negotiated.Dake said last month that SPAC officials considered cutting next year’s ballet season from two weeks to one, but the ballet company said that would lower the cost by only one-quarter.SPAC paid the ballet $1.57 million in fees in 2011, compared with $1.43 million in 2010 and $1.54 million in 2009, the first year the ballet switched to a two-week stand at SPAC. In 2008, SPAC paid the ballet $1.84 million for the last of its three-week seasons.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Officials at Saratoga Performing Arts Center expect to announce in about two weeks the fate of the 2013 New York City Ballet season.Until then, they’re tight-lipped as negotiations continue with the ballet, which is scheduled to start its two-week 2012 season July 10.SPAC President and Executive Director Marcia White said the ballet will be back next year, but she is not sure “to what extent.”Rumors that the season might be cut to just one week have disheartened fans who fought for the ballet to stay when its season was threatened in 2005.“I just can’t believe it,” said Louise Goldstein, who was involved with Save the Ballet in 2004 and 2005.She said that the ballet helped build SPAC, and SPAC now boosts the entire area by bringing people who fill hotels, eat at restaurants, buy fuel and shop at stores. “It’s a whole industry now here. It’s not just one company.”Ballet fan Lisa Mehigan of Saratoga Springs said she is willing to set up a charity organization to raise more money to keep the ballet at SPAC if need be.“I’m willing to do almost anything to help,” said Mehigan, who also was involved with the original grass-roots Save the Ballet group, which raised $40,000 and was instrumental in keeping the 2005 season intact.Mehigan, Goldstein and several other people are sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what happens. If future ballet seasons are threatened, they plan to connect with other ballet fans during this year’s season and get an effort going, Goldstein said.“It’s been very informal on Facebook so far,” she said.SPAC was built in part to be a summer home for the ballet, back when it was under the direction of the legendary George Balanchine. The performing arts center hosted its first ballet summer season in 1966, the year it opened.“This is our resident company,” White said.For many years the season was three weeks long, but in 2009 it was shortened to two weeks for financial reasons.Growing costs make it difficult to bring the ballet back each summer, White said, noting it now costs SPAC $180,000 per performance. Ticket sales cover about a third of that, and the organization’s independent fundraising makes up the rest.But with the ballet fees rising, White said it’s difficult to raise more money from donors in the struggling economy or to hike ticket prices and still attract patrons.“You can’t expect the public to cover the cost,” she said.At SPAC’s annual membership meeting in May, outgoing board chairman William Dake hinted that the ballet’s future at SPAC might be in jeopardy.The ballet raised its fee by about $100,000 this year and is proposing a $200,000 hike next year as it negotiates with SPAC, he said then.This week, White wouldn’t disclose numbers that are currently being negotiated.Dake said last month that SPAC officials considered cutting next year’s ballet season from two weeks to one, but the ballet company said that would lower the cost by only one-quarter.SPAC paid the ballet $1.57 million in fees in 2011, compared with $1.43 million in 2010 and $1.54 million in 2009, the first year the ballet switched to a two-week stand at SPAC. In 2008, SPAC paid the ballet $1.84 million for the last of its three-week seasons.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
joyous crowd, young and old bask in opening day of victoria pool 2012.
Perfect day for Victoria Pool season opener (with photo gallery)Adults like its calmer ambience, but kids fine too in classic styleSunday, June 17, 2012By David Lombardo (Contact) Gazette ReporterText Size: A A A Photographer: Patrick DodsonJennifer Oliver-Goodwin and her 1-year-old son Malcolm, both of Malta, at the Victoria Pool on opening day at Saratoga Spa State Park on Saturday, June 16, 2012.SARATOGA SPRINGS — Liam Oliver-Goodwin, 5, celebrated his graduation from pre-school by getting wet at the opening day of the Victoria Pool in the Saratoga Spa State Park.The pool is a big hit with Liam and his two siblings, said their mother, Jennifer Oliver-Goodwin of Malta.“They love it here,” she said from one of the coveted beach chairs surrounding the pool, with two of her sons in chairs nearby. Her husband, Richard, was slowly leading their youngest child in a loop around nearby chairs.Photo GalleryVictoria Pool opensEnlarge photos View thumbnails
The three children were among a small group of young patrons at the pool, which was mostly surrounded by adults lounging in chairs, eating at small tables in a cordoned-off area or enjoying drinks by an outdoor bar. The scene is utter serenity compared to the hectic goings on that characterize the spa park’s Peerless Pool, a haven for families with energetic and active children.Acknowledging that a different demeanor is required for the 77-year-old Victoria Pool — which has a couple signs leading up to its entrance reminding people that children are more than welcome at Peerless Pool — Jennifer reminded her children to be on their best behavior on Saturday.“I said to them, ‘We have to be gentlemen in here.”And they were all very relaxed, which Richard said is part of the reason why they like the Victoria Pool. “Our Saturdays are pretty crazy, so this was a nice opportunity to chill out after a busy morning.”That sort of relaxation has been enjoyed by Louise Goldstein for more than seven decades.“I have been coming here since 1940, when I was born,” said Goldstein, a co-founder of the Save the Victoria Pool Society. “It was open July 26, 1935, so I didn’t miss too many years.”She described the pool and surroundings as a “heaven.” Lamenting the fact that the pool wasn’t opened last month for the Memorial Day holiday, she said it was nice to finally kick off the summer. The pool was opened earlier than planned, though, with warm weather pushing up the start date of the season by a week for the second year.A lot of people had similar visions because the pool area was packed with people, including a lot of familiar faces. Goldstein joked that every summer the “usual suspects” can be found at some point before it closes in September. She added that the spot is also a great place to meet new people, as the pool and surrounding park attract interesting people from all over the world.For Goldstein, the attraction is the physical beauty of the park, which has been restored in recent years to reflect the charm of when it was first opened. The most striking features of the pool area are the columns and arches that surround it.There’s nothing else like it,” Goldstein said. “If you Google all the pools in the world you’ll never see anything quite like it.”She noted that while not exactly a secret in the city, the pool is still a “special place” for the people who frequent it. “There is some kind of magic.”The Victoria Pool is also open today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and will begin its regular summer schedule on June 23.
The three children were among a small group of young patrons at the pool, which was mostly surrounded by adults lounging in chairs, eating at small tables in a cordoned-off area or enjoying drinks by an outdoor bar. The scene is utter serenity compared to the hectic goings on that characterize the spa park’s Peerless Pool, a haven for families with energetic and active children.Acknowledging that a different demeanor is required for the 77-year-old Victoria Pool — which has a couple signs leading up to its entrance reminding people that children are more than welcome at Peerless Pool — Jennifer reminded her children to be on their best behavior on Saturday.“I said to them, ‘We have to be gentlemen in here.”And they were all very relaxed, which Richard said is part of the reason why they like the Victoria Pool. “Our Saturdays are pretty crazy, so this was a nice opportunity to chill out after a busy morning.”That sort of relaxation has been enjoyed by Louise Goldstein for more than seven decades.“I have been coming here since 1940, when I was born,” said Goldstein, a co-founder of the Save the Victoria Pool Society. “It was open July 26, 1935, so I didn’t miss too many years.”She described the pool and surroundings as a “heaven.” Lamenting the fact that the pool wasn’t opened last month for the Memorial Day holiday, she said it was nice to finally kick off the summer. The pool was opened earlier than planned, though, with warm weather pushing up the start date of the season by a week for the second year.A lot of people had similar visions because the pool area was packed with people, including a lot of familiar faces. Goldstein joked that every summer the “usual suspects” can be found at some point before it closes in September. She added that the spot is also a great place to meet new people, as the pool and surrounding park attract interesting people from all over the world.For Goldstein, the attraction is the physical beauty of the park, which has been restored in recent years to reflect the charm of when it was first opened. The most striking features of the pool area are the columns and arches that surround it.There’s nothing else like it,” Goldstein said. “If you Google all the pools in the world you’ll never see anything quite like it.”She noted that while not exactly a secret in the city, the pool is still a “special place” for the people who frequent it. “There is some kind of magic.”The Victoria Pool is also open today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and will begin its regular summer schedule on June 23.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Friday, June 15, 2012
save the victoria pool society pushes for an early pool opening again this year.
Saratoga Spa State Park pool dipping toe into seasonFacility to open for preview daysFriday, June 15, 2012By Tatiana Zarnowski (Contact) Gazette ReporterText Size: A A AAdvertisement
SARATOGA SPRINGS — If you want to go swimming in Saratoga Springs this weekend, you’d better get there early and be patient.The Victoria Pool will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday for a season preview. It will close next week, then open for the season June 23. With a capacity of 350, the pool is known for long lines almost as much as for picturesque columns and arches.This year is the second straight that Saratoga Spa State Park officials have opened Victoria Pool for an extra weekend before its official opening, once schools let out for the summer. Peerless Pool also opens June 23.Things were in place to open a little early again this year, said park manager Mike Greenslade.“We have the [life]guards; we have the weather forecast,” he said. “This weekend is supposed to be beautiful.”The National Weather Service in Albany agrees, predicting Saturday’s high at 81 degrees under sunny skies and Sunday’s high at 83 with mostly sunny skies.With weather like that, Greenslade predicts the pool will hit capacity by noon, after which people have to wait for others to leave before they can join the crowd of swimmers.John Rudd, manager of Catherine’s in the Park, is gearing up for a busy weekend, too.The restaurant serves the pool and the state park’s golf course, offering pool patrons drinks and food outside on the terrace.“With the golf course and the Victoria Pool, it’s going to be pretty busy,” Rudd said.He knows people have been itching to take a dip.“They want to go to the pool and the pool hasn’t been open,” he said. “If it’s going to be sunny and 80, it’s going to be packed all day.”Business at the restaurant has been steady since it opened in mid-March along with the golf course, a month earlier than the usual April 15 opening, Rudd said.A busy weekend at the pool can help out the state’s coffers, too — last year’s first weekend at Victoria Pool brought in just shy of $2,000 in receipts, Greenslade said.The watchdog group Save the Victoria Pool Society often pushes for an earlier opening date, but park officials say staffing issues keep them from opening earlier. Most of the lifeguards are in high school or college, so the state park must wait until they get out of school.Greenslade said most of the staffers at the Victoria Pool are college-age or recent college graduates, so they are available this weekend, whereas the high-schoolers who staff Peerless can’t start work until the following weekend.“It’s a lot more labor-intensive, that one, and requires a lot more people,” he said of the Peerless Pool. “We just don’t have the bodies, basically.”The Victoria Pool will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and then every day at the same times starting June 23. The admission cost is $8 for adults and $4 for children.Starting June 23, Peerless Pool will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. six days a week. It is closed Tuesdays. To get to the Peerless Pool, people must first pay $8 per car to get into that area of the state park. Admission is then $2 for adults and $1 for children.At both pools, children younger than 5 enter for free and senior citizens living in New York get in at the children’s price on non-holiday weekdays.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — If you want to go swimming in Saratoga Springs this weekend, you’d better get there early and be patient.The Victoria Pool will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday for a season preview. It will close next week, then open for the season June 23. With a capacity of 350, the pool is known for long lines almost as much as for picturesque columns and arches.This year is the second straight that Saratoga Spa State Park officials have opened Victoria Pool for an extra weekend before its official opening, once schools let out for the summer. Peerless Pool also opens June 23.Things were in place to open a little early again this year, said park manager Mike Greenslade.“We have the [life]guards; we have the weather forecast,” he said. “This weekend is supposed to be beautiful.”The National Weather Service in Albany agrees, predicting Saturday’s high at 81 degrees under sunny skies and Sunday’s high at 83 with mostly sunny skies.With weather like that, Greenslade predicts the pool will hit capacity by noon, after which people have to wait for others to leave before they can join the crowd of swimmers.John Rudd, manager of Catherine’s in the Park, is gearing up for a busy weekend, too.The restaurant serves the pool and the state park’s golf course, offering pool patrons drinks and food outside on the terrace.“With the golf course and the Victoria Pool, it’s going to be pretty busy,” Rudd said.He knows people have been itching to take a dip.“They want to go to the pool and the pool hasn’t been open,” he said. “If it’s going to be sunny and 80, it’s going to be packed all day.”Business at the restaurant has been steady since it opened in mid-March along with the golf course, a month earlier than the usual April 15 opening, Rudd said.A busy weekend at the pool can help out the state’s coffers, too — last year’s first weekend at Victoria Pool brought in just shy of $2,000 in receipts, Greenslade said.The watchdog group Save the Victoria Pool Society often pushes for an earlier opening date, but park officials say staffing issues keep them from opening earlier. Most of the lifeguards are in high school or college, so the state park must wait until they get out of school.Greenslade said most of the staffers at the Victoria Pool are college-age or recent college graduates, so they are available this weekend, whereas the high-schoolers who staff Peerless can’t start work until the following weekend.“It’s a lot more labor-intensive, that one, and requires a lot more people,” he said of the Peerless Pool. “We just don’t have the bodies, basically.”The Victoria Pool will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and then every day at the same times starting June 23. The admission cost is $8 for adults and $4 for children.Starting June 23, Peerless Pool will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. six days a week. It is closed Tuesdays. To get to the Peerless Pool, people must first pay $8 per car to get into that area of the state park. Admission is then $2 for adults and $1 for children.At both pools, children younger than 5 enter for free and senior citizens living in New York get in at the children’s price on non-holiday weekdays.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Save the Victoria Pool Society: The Blog started, March 27th, 2006 after a record year of attendance in 2005
Save The Victoria Pool Society’s Blog: the blog has had to date:
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First published March 27th, 2006.
It has many followers from all over the globe.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
new nature center opened at moreau state park.
Park officials celebrate new nature center space
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SCOTT DONNELLY - sdonnelly@poststar.com | Posted: Tuesday, April 24, 2012 12:21 am | (0) Comments
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Jason McKibben
Moreau Lake State Park naturalist Gary Hill talks with fourth-graders from Harrison Avenue Elementary School about the many wild animals found in the area at the park's newly expanded nature center Monday, April 23, 2012. The addition, which officially opened Monday, features dozens of mounted and stuffed birds, bears and other creatures. (Jason McKibben - jmckibben@poststar.com)
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Moreau Lake State Park Nature Center (7) Photos .
MOREAU -- Local elementary school students were the first to enjoy an 810-square-foot addition to Moreau Lake State Park’s nature center Monday.
The new space, featuring displays of stuffed wildlife and educational posters, opened to the public for the first time, as Park Naturalist Gary Hill gave a talk to revolving groups of children from the South Glens Falls Central School District before each class went on a hike around the park.
Hill explained the characteristics and habitats of the many animals on display in the new space. A highlight of each group’s session was Hill’s demonstration of turkey and owl
calls.
In the early afternoon, dignitaries from around the region and state were in the new space to announce its grand opening.
The addition cost about $130,000 and effectively doubled the size of the nature center, according to Alane Ball Chinian, director of the Saratoga-Capital region for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
The money came from a fund created with payments made to the park by Saratoga County to offset the impacts of a new waterline that crosses a portion of the
park.
“It’s beautiful. It’s open. It’s wide. It’s the beginning and the end,” said New York State Parks Commissioner Rose Harvey during Monday’s celebration. “The real nature center is right out there, with 4,000 acres. But then everybody gets to come back and cluster and think about what they saw and learned, so it’s a really great platform for the living laboratory that we have in this magnificent park.”
The nature center is the launching point for about 250 educational programs each year. It sees about 6,000 visitors and hosts 30 trips by school groups annually, as well.
Harvey said the park as a whole has become one of the state’s more popular parks because of the various programs and offerings.
She also said there’s a lot more at stake than supplementing educational programs for schools.
“Environmental education is not just an add-on to our parks, but it’s essential, particularly for our children, to get out and touch and feel — to explore, to experience firsthand — nature,” Harvey said. “Our children are the next stewards. They will pass the next legislation to protect our environment. They will pass the next bond act to fund our parks, and there are many social scientists who talk about what is the extinction of the condor to a child who’s never seen a wren?”
Also on hand for Monday’s opening were state Sen. Elizabeth Little, R-Queensbury, and representatives of state Sen. Roy McDonald, R-Saratoga, and U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook.
Dave Matteson, a member of the Friends of Moreau Lake State Park group, was also on hand, as each speaker mentioned the important role groups like his play in the success of the state’s parks and historic sites.
After the event, he explained how the latest addition is the second for the park’s nature center, which began as a shed-sized structure.
About nine years ago, the original structure was expanded for the first time.
“It’s a fantastic resource for adults and children to get exposure to all the animals that live in this area but that they may never see,” Matteson said.
Friends group volunteers help host nature programs at the park and also work to clear trails and staff park facilities each year.
Read more: http://poststar.com/news/local/park-officials-celebrate-new-nature-center-space/article_201363ec-8dc5-11e1-b47a-001a4bcf887a.html#ixzz1t529aqIi
Friday, April 13, 2012
let the good times roll at saratoga spa state park and hope for an earlier victoria pool opening.
State parks get a boost
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SCOTT DONNELLY -- sdonnelly@poststar.com | Posted: Thursday, April 12, 2012 11:07 pm | (0) Comments
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Jason McKibben - jmckibben@poststar.com
A duck takes flight at Moreau Lake State Park Wednesday April 11, 2012. Wildlife seems to outnumber people at the park right now, but camping reservations are up over last year, and officials are pleased with an allocation of cash from the state budget following two years of austerity. The park opens for camping May 4. (Jason McKibben - jmckibben@poststar.com)
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If you go
What: The Friends of Saratoga Spa State Park will celebrate I Love My Park Day with a day of spring cleaning.
When: 9 a.m. to noon, May 5
Where: Saratoga Spa State Park, in the SPAC parking lot and at the dog park
Details: The spring cleaning that starts in the SPAC parking lot is open to residents of all ages. The dog park effort, which happens at the same time, is open for adults 18 and older. Participants are asked to bring gardening gloves, garden rakes, water, snacks, lunch, bug repellent and sunscreen.
To register: Visit ptny.org or call 434-1583 to register a group of more than 10 volunteers.
What about Moreau Lake State Park?: The I Love My Park Day program isn’t happening there this year, though Robin Dropkin, executive director of Parks and Trails New York, said it may next year. To contact the Friends of Moreau Lake State Park, visit its Facebook page, or email LJKeating2002@yahoo.com.
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State parks in the region are looking forward to a strong season, thanks to a fresh infusion of cash and a warm-weather boost.
Camping reservations at Moreau Lake State Park are up 3 to 5 percent, according to Bob Kuhn, assistant regional director of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation’s Saratoga/Capital District region.
“We feel pretty good about the season,” Kuhn said. “We’ve had a mild winter and a mild spring, and I think that may be one of the reasons we’re ahead of last year. People are already thinking about the summer season because it’s already nice.”
It’s a similar story at the rest of the state’s parks, where camping reservations are up more than 3,000 stays, or 5 percent, from the same time last year, Kuhn said.
At the Moreau park last year, attendance fell by about 1 percent from the year before, though Kuhn attributed most of that decrease to Hurricane Irene, which raked the East Coast over Labor Day weekend.
Campers and visitors to the park will also see some improvements under way this year, thanks to a major funding boost from the state’s New York Works program. The $6.8 million package is being used to fund infrastructure improvements across all regions of the state parks system.
At Moreau Lake, more than $1.27 million will be used to repave the beach parking lot and all the camping loop roads, said Kurt Kress, capital facilities manager for the Saratoga/Capital District region. That work is expected to start in June, but it will be done in such a way as to minimize the impact on park visitors and campers, Kress said.
The money will also be used to demolish the last of the park’s 1960s-era bathrooms. In 2009, all but one of the park’s old comfort stations were replaced; the bathroom in Loop A was not done, due to financing, Kuhn said. That work will happen after the coming camping season, he said.
Also new for Moreau Lake State Park this year is a new lakefront cabin, which was rehabilitated from an old pumping station as part of a project that began in 2010.
“This is the first year that’s available for reservation, and that’s right on the lake,” Kress said, adding the cabin is already booked for much of the coming season.
It’s that kind of demand that has the state planning to add more cabins in the future.
“We don’t have any immediate plans to build cabins this year, but certainly, that’s on our radar screen,” Kuhn said. “It’s something that’s called for in the master plan for the park, and Moreau books up virtually every weekend, so we know that there’s demand.”
Saratoga Spa State Park in Saratoga Springs will also get some infrastructure work, as $1.5 million will be spent from the New York Works program to resurface the Geyser Loop Road and the Columbia parking area.
There are also improvements being made now to the park’s Route 50 trail.
Kress said the bike and pedestrian trail will eventually connect with the Spa City’s Railroad Run Trail and will provide a bike/pedestrian route to the YMCA on the city’s west side.
The Saratoga Spa State Park will also get a new playground, and some aged natural gas lines will be replaced, Kress said.
The New York Works funding is over and above the normal capital budget each region gets every year for improvements, Kuhn said. That funding figure wasn’t available this week, and Kuhn said how much they receive will guide plans for other improvements at the area’s state parks and historic sites.
The funding improvements follow more than two years of austerity for the parks system. In 2010, the parks department threatened to close more than 50 parks and historic sites, as well as cutting resources to 24 other parks, to meet an $11 million state funding cut.
Public outcry resulted in funding restoration to keep the parks open, but capital projects and staffing were still impacted during the downturn.
Kuhn said his region is in the process of hiring four new employees now.
“We went basically two years with no hiring here and a lot of attrition,” he said. “So I think we also feel very good that we’ve sort of turned that corner and are moving in the right direction.”
The new hires will fall far short of bringing the region back to its pre-recession staffing level, Kuhn said.
The developments are encouraging also to Robin Dropkin, executive director of the advocacy group Parks and Trails New York.
“Of course we’re thrilled,” said Dropkin, whose organization issued a report in 2009 that outlined infrastructure deterioration in the state’s parks. Her group has also been active in lobbying the state for improved support of the parks system.
“To have a governor come in in these still pretty bad economic times and say, ‘This is important enough to put some money toward it,’ is very gratifying,” she said. “This is something that people really love and cherish, and it’s part of their New York lifestyle, part of the New York legacy.”
Read more: http://poststar.com/news/local/state-parks-get-a-boost/article_f83b0fee-8515-11e1-a1f1-001a4bcf887a.html#ixzz1rvfrLjtO
Friday, April 06, 2012
will the victoria pool open memorial day with the $1.5 million parks is giving to saratoga spa state park?
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Local state parks will get nearly $7 million worth of improvements, including $1.5 million at Saratoga Spa State Park, under a capital plan announced this week.
Plans call for resurfacing Geyser Loop Road and the Columbia parking area, improve the Route 50 trailway and repairing park infrastructure.
Elsewhere in the Saratoga-Capital District region, upgrades will also be made to Moreau Lake, Peebles Island, Grafton Lakes and John Boyd Thacher state parks.
“That’s fabulous, I’m absolutely thrilled,” Saratoga-Capital Region Parks Commission chair Heather Mabee said. “That much infusion to the Capital Region is amazing considering the funds that are needed across the state.”
Statewide, almost $90 million has been allocated to parks and historic sites under Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “New York Works” initiative.
In Saratoga County, Peebles Island State Park in Waterford will get the largest share — $3 million — that will be used to rehabilitate and improve facilities and infrastructure such as the historic Bleachery building.
“This funding will help to keep history alive and enhance educational opportunities of this historic state park,” Assemblyman Ron Canestrari, D-Cohoes, said.
Moreau Lake State Park will get $1,275,000 to resurface campground roads and the beach parking area, along with restroom rehabilitation.
At Grafton Lakes in Rensselaer County, $625,000 will be used to resurface the park entrance road and rehabilitate restrooms.
Thacher park in the Helderbergs is slated to get $350,000 for improvements to picnic shelters and parking areas. Continued...
Friday, March 23, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
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