“Elizabeth Sobol strolled the grounds of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in the springtime thaw of 2017, a few months after taking the reins as SPAC’s president and CEO,” writes Thomas Dimopoulos in Monday’s (10/28) Saratoga Today (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.). “ ‘Crumbling limestone, rusting metal, broken windows,’ she says.… This week, SPAC announced a $9.5 million renovation project that will see a complete replacement and upgrade of the existing concessions and restroom facilities…. A new open-air covered pavilion will establish a more park-like aesthetic and restore the original sight lines … ‘All the old buildings are … being replaced with all new buildings,’ Sobol says…. ‘There will be … on the second floor a 4,000 square foot indoor-outdoor gathering space that will be multi-use: for education, community gathering, VIP experience. And it will be year-round—which is game-changing for us.’ SPAC has expanded its year-round programs as well as its education programming in recent years—from serving 5,000 kids to nearly 10 times that number…. ‘It’s a 53-year-old facility with hundreds of thousands visiting every year. You have to be renovating and upgrading.’ ” The Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and Opera Saratoga are among organizations that regularly perform at SPAC.
Posted October 30, 2019
