By Jill Nagy
When the Night Owl, a cocktail lounge and night club in Saratoga Springs, opened Oct. 5, people were lined up in front of its 17 Maple Ave. location, waiting to get inside, recalled owner Matt Pedersen.
“It was a wonderful party, an amazing turnout,” he said.
He described Night Owl as a “cozy cool cocktail lounge,” serving carefully crafted mixed drinks from 7-10 p.m. Then, the DJs arrive and the dancing begins.
by Andrea Palmer
CRAFT on 9, a brew pub and restaurant has moved from South Glens Falls to 7 South St. in downtown Glens Falls and has expanded its business..
The building was purchased about a year or so ago by Chris Patten, and completely renovated. There are about 18 new apartments upstairs. The building is also home to Hometown Cigars & Lounge at 278 Glen St.
Rob Murphy, owner of CRAFT on 9, and Bill Dingman, general manager, met when they worked together for many years at Bistro Tallulah in Glens Falls.
“When we were designing the place, we wanted to separate sections for dining and for the bar. So we designed the whole front area with the purpose of being a bar and lounge,” Murphy said. “We put the big windows in to keep the place open. Then we invested in a lot for the dining room in the back, apart from the bar area. We think it will be super beneficial to people who just want a drink. We’ll have a smaller, condensed menu with less entrees and more bar fare,” said Murphy.
The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, known for its innovative interdisciplinary exhibitions and art programs, has received two gifts totaling $1 million: $500,000 from the Ellsworth Kelly Foundation to support the Tang collection’s endowment, and a $500,000 challenge grant from photographer, curator and collector Jack Shear to support the museum’s award-winning publications program.
The Ellsworth Kelly Foundation gift will allow the museum to expand research, scholarship and digital access to the more than 16,700 objects in the Tang collection, officials said.
The Saratoga Economic Development Corp. (SEDC) and MJ Properties of Clifton Park Inc. held a ground-breaking celebration on Sept. 26 marking the beginning of a 155,000-square-foot facility that will become the site of a U-Haul Co. facility.
It is expected to be complete in the third quarter of 2020.
It marks the first project contained within an $18 million investment—a combined acquisition, design, infrastructure and building investment in Synergy Tech Park.
Officials said the private investment will strategically activate the commercial business park infrastructure, opening up a total of 1.2 million square feet of permitted, shovel-ready sites at its prominent Clifton Park location—one mile fronting the Northway, between exits 9 and 10, and Route 9.
Working with SEDC, the Clifton Park IDA previously froze property taxes to help enable MJ Properties’ investment into opening Synergy Tech Park.
The Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership will work with the Town of Malta to create a customized, town-wide economic development plan designed to broaden the town’s economic base and ensure its long-term prosperity.
The collaboration is part of the Saratoga Partnership’s Next Wave Communities initiative, which assists towns within Saratoga County in developing economic development plans tailored to their particular strengths, needs and aspirations.
Officials said the effort will build on initial work done by the Malta Economic Development Committee, which prepared a plan for the long-term economic future of the town outside the Luther Forest Technology Campus.
That concept will be incorporated with opportunities driven by activities on the campus – highlighted by the presence of GlobalFoundries, which employs more than 3,000 high-tech workers – to develop a comprehensive economic blueprint for Malta.
The Ballston Spa Business & Professional Association (BSBPA) announces additional vendors and entertainment for the 17th annual “The Way We Were” Car Show to be held 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13, on Front Street in Ballston Spa.
Rain date for the event is the following Sunday, Oct. 20.
Front Street in the village will be blocked off from Milton Avenue past the Old Iron Spring to accommodate car exhibits and vendors. In addition to the classic and specialty cars on display, there will be live music from Betsy & The ByeGons, a Kids’ Zone with bounce house and children’s activities including balloon artist and face painting, plus car related and other vendors.
Food will be available throughout the show route from several restaurants, food trucks and community organization vendors, including The Brickyard, Fantastic Four’s Fish Fry, Coffee Planet, Given to Fry, Ballston Spa Rotary and Ballston Spa Lions Club, among others.
First New York Federal Credit Union in September opened its 2,100-square-foot, full-service branch at 1533 Route 9 in Halfmoon.
A ribbon cutting ceremony took place on Sept. 18.
Bank officials said the new location is designed to better accommodate First New York’s growing membership in Saratoga County.
Six Flags Great Escape Resort in Queensbury announced its newest attraction for 2020, Adirondack Outlaw.
The ride “will have guests catching maximum airtime and experiencing 360-degree rotations of heart-pounding excitement,” the company said in a news release. “The head over heels exhilaration of Adirondack Outlaw whips riders through the air at speeds of 50 miles per hour, as it swings 16 stories high over The Great Escape theme park.”
By Rachel Phillips
Inspired by the cosmopolitan atmosphere and economic growth in the Saratoga area, Corinth native Michael Siska recently opened a barber shop in the Saratoga area to cater to businessmen and professionals.
Siska’s Barber Shop, at 148 South Broadway in Saratoga Springs, has already begun to attract clients looking for an upscale experience, he said. Siska, along with two other barbers, offer services such as general men’s cuts, gentlemen’s cuts, business cuts, eyebrow trims and hot towel shaves. Clients are also offered complimentary espresso and coffee, beer, red and white wine and even hand-rolled cigars.
Saratoga Hospital and Hudson Headwaters Health Network are expanding their working relationship to include collaboration on a new urgent care center, located within the hospital’s proposed medical office building that will be constructed at Exit 18 of the Adirondack Northway.
The project is on the site of the former Carl R’s Restaurant, located at 124 Main St. in Queensbury. The hospital purchased the property in 2017.
The new building has been approved by the Queensbury planning board. The timeline for breaking ground and moving into the new facility is being finalized, projected to be ready mid to late 2020.
The new building will include urgent care, lab services and medical imaging, in addition to office and clinical space for Saratoga Hospital Medical Group specialists.