PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE
GBJ 9 Broad Street #7 Glens Falls, NY 12801
VOL. 34 NO. 10
PAID
GLENS FALLS, NY 12801 PERMIT #600
HH The Business Newspaper of Warren and Washington Counties HH
www.glensfallsbusinessjournal.com
DECEMBER 2022
Restaurant, Deli, Market At Park & Elm Add West Mountain And Gore Ski Centers To Growing Appeal Of Downtown Glens Falls Anticipate Strong Season Based on Early Sales
Park & Elm celebrated its grand opening Friday, December 9. The restaurant is open WednesdaySaturday, 5-9 p.m. The new deli and marketplace are open Tuesday-Saturday, 7 a.m.-9 p.m. BY PAUL POST Glens Falls was a shadow of the proud, prosperous community people called “Hometown USA” when Ben Miller left home to pursue a music career. Vacant storefronts lined Glen Street, attractions were far and few between, and dysfunctional traffic patterns made trips downtown a nightmare. When visiting home, however, Miller saw a steady resurgence that has blossomed, making Glens Falls one of upstate New York’s more vibrant small cities. “It was really within the last five years that things really started to explode and more and more, every time I came home I saw Glens Falls as a place where I could see myself some day,” he said. “There’s been a huge amount of work done by the business community to
Courtesy of Park Street Hospitality
make Glens Falls a place where people want to live and have the amenities they’re looking for.” Building on this positive momentum, Miller has opened a fine dining restaurant, deli and grocery mart called Park & Elm, which fills a void while revitalizing an historic building that turns 100 years old in 2023. His mother, business owner and preservationist Elizabeth Mille, purchased 126 Glen St. for $845,000. A former Saratoga Springs teacher, she is the owner of Doty Machine Works in Fort Edward and Miller Mechanical in Glens Falls. She has invested millions of dollars to renovate several historic properties in the city including Park Theater and 15 Park St. Her son is seizing on the opportunities the Continued On Page 6
West Mountain installed a radio-frequency identification system that will help with the staffing shortages by reducing the need for ticket takers. The anticipated opening is Dec. 24. BY CHRISTINE GRAF With ski season officially underway, staffs at Gore Mountain and West Mountain are gearing up for what is likely to be another very busy winter. Last season, Gore had a recordbreaking year for both revenue and season pass sales. According to Gore’s general manager James “Bone” Bayse, pass sales for the 2022-2023 season have been strong. “I’m not sure that we will break last year’s record because it was so high, but we will be very close. At the moment, we are tracking that way.” Meanwhile at West Mountain in Queensbury, “Last winter was a good, solid, profitable year,” said co-owner Spencer Montgomery. “Coming into this year, revenue-wise which includes season passes, we are up about 20 percent over
last year. We pre-sell school programs, and that has been really strong this year. We’re on a fiscal year that starts May 1 and we’re probably pushing a 30 percent increase in sales for the same period last year.” During the off season at Gore, an additional 230 snow guns were added to the snowmaking fleet. Some of these guns will be used on the new trail that was cut into Burnt Ridge Mountain. This 60-foot-wide, intermediate-rated trail with grooming and snowmaking capabilities is called Backwoods. It will enter near the top of the Burnt Ridge Quad and run alongside the Barkeater Glades, ending just uphill of the Roaring Brook Bridge at the bottom of the Pipeline. Others snow guns will be used on the interContinued On Page 15
World University Games In Lake Placid Will Queensbury Hotel Lobby Has Life-Sized Have Major Economic Impact On The Region Gingerbread House On Display For Holidays BY PAUL POST The largest athletic competition in Lake Placid history has been a dramatic game-changer for a fledgling Glens Falls firm that produced colorful graphics for the event. It’s one small example of the estimated $4.6 million economic impact the Jan. 12-22 World University Games will have on the North Country, from Clarkson University where some hockey games will be played, to Gore Mountain in North Creek, which is hosting free-style skiing and snowboarding competition. About 2,500 athletes and coaches from 50 countries will take part, much more than the 1,072 competitors from 37 countries at the 1980 Winter Olympics. In 2020, Glens Falls-based Sidekick Creative won the contract to produce the Games’ logo. “That was my custom illustration,” said Will Fowler, co-owner with Kara Greenslade of the five-year-old business. “After that we had a really good working relationship with Adirondack Sports Council and the Games’ organizing committee. They had a lot of marketing needs so we dove right into other stuff.” Now, every Olympic venue is adorned with big, splashy designs Sidekick Creative produced, which depict the sport taking place there such as hockey
The World University Games are coming to Lake Placid from January 12 to 22. Paul Post
and figure skating at the Olympic Center, and biathlon and Nordic skiing at Mt. Van Hoevenberg. Sidekick Creative created the graphics and Continued On Page 7
The Queensbury Hotel has added a new twist to its holiday decor. The hotel now has a life-sized gingerbread house standing 11 feet high and 14 feet wide in its lobby. The Queensbury is known for having decorations each holiday season. The hotel typically features decorative window boxes and wreaths on its exterior and festive trees, garland and poinsettias throughout their grand lobby. “This year, we set out to do even more,” said Tyler Herrick, general manager of the hotel and president of Spruce Hospitality Group. “We have more trees, more lights, more garland and even the addition of toy soldiers to greet you when you arrive. But the gingerbread display is definitely the largest addition and has been our biggest undertaking” Adam Savage, director of culinary for Spruce Hospitality, took the lead on designing the gingerbread house. He and his team have worked for months to plan and prepare for the display. “The house is made of over 987 pounds of homemade gingerbread, 223 pounds of icing and 152 pounds of assorted candy,” said
This gingerbread house can be seen in the lobby of the Queensbury Hotel. Savage. “The actual production and building of the display took well over 200 hours.” The candy for the display was sourced Continued On Page 16