Years of planning pay off as Saratoga Springs rec center opens at last

Not since the indoor ice rinks opened in the 1990s has the city seen a recreation development this big.

The new indoor recreation center opens to the public with a tour at 7 p.m. tonight — it has been open for Camp Saradac since July 6 — marking the end of years of planning and a few court challenges.

The city borrowed $6.5 million to build the 33,500-square-foot facility, a cost that some residents said was too much when the economy was struggling. But since the money was bonded in previous years, several officials said using it was a smarter option than paying the bonds back with a penalty without getting a building.

Some neighbors also opposed putting a building over green space that was used by city youth for unstructured play at 15 Vanderbilt Ave.

But many other parents, neighbors and taxpayers approve of the new facility now that it’s built, said Mayor Scott Johnson.

“I’ve had a lot of positive feedback from the community. The public is, I believe, overwhelmingly in favor of this, and now that they see it, they’re excited.”

Officials agree that children and teens are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries of the new center, which has basketball courts, a racquetball court, a game room, walking track and conference room.

“I would imagine that the majority of the use would be youth-oriented,” Johnson said.

The open gym hours and the game room, which will have a pool table, ping-pong table and Wii interactive video game, are geared toward children and teenagers.

The recreation department is going to work with the school district to offer tutors in the conference room, said Derrick Legall, chairman of the city’s Recreation Commission.

“It’s not only cool to hang out, but you can also learn,” Legall said. “I look at these young people as our future work force.”

All ages will enjoy the basketball courts in the main gym and the racquetball court.

“There are a lot of adult basketball leagues that have formed,” Johnson said.

The gym features two collegiate-size basketball courts and four junior high-sized ones, the mayor said. With the bleachers set up, the gym can hold 1,135 people.

Legall said the center is not just for basketball.

There’s one racquetball court, the only one in the city that is open to the public, Johnson said. Skidmore College has courts, but they’re only open to members of the college community.

And racquetball is popular, said Deputy Mayor Shauna Sutton.

“The demand is enormous,” she said.

When the YMCA built its new home on West Avenue, it came under criticism for not including racquetball courts.

The walking track was added with senior citizens in mind.

“Especially in the wintertime, things can be very dangerous,” Johnson said.

Not-for-profit organizations and other groups can rent the conference room, which is the same dimensions as the community room at the public library, Johnson said.

Outside, a playground and spray park have been open since summer started.

An open field outside will be seeded this fall and used for open play as well as junior soccer fields, replacing fields the city uses at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway.

“We needed more fields in the city,” Johnson said. “We certainly should be relying on ourselves more than the generosity of businesses in the community.”

The racino rents the fields to the city for $1 a year, he said.

The center could become an emergency shelter as well.

Johnson said the city is working with the Red Cross to have the rec center designated as a shelter site in the event of a massive power outage or storm, because it has a generator that could be used.

“In the past, we’ve used Maple Avenue Middle School,” he said. “The city should also have its own provisions.”