New paths, other upgrades under way at Saratoga Spa State Park

PHOTOGRAPHER: Erica Miller

Alane Ball Chinian, director of the state Parks and Recreation Department for the Saratoga-Capital Region, speaks at a ground-breaking ceremony at Saratoga Spa State Park on Tuesday.

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SARATOGA SPRINGS — Work on $4.2 million worth of upgrades to Saratoga Spa State Park to improve visitor safety will begin this fall and finish in the spring.

“The project will improve transportation safety within the park by adding pedestrian and bicycling pathways adjacent to the park’s busiest stretch of roadway [Roosevelt Drive], which connects the Avenue of the Pines with the golf course, pools, picnic areas, and the Roosevelt Baths and Spa,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a press release on Tuesday.

Also, a patio made of pavers will be constructed.

“This time of year you’re just reminded of how great New York’s outdoors are,” Erik Kulleseid, the commissioner of the state Department of Parks and Recreation, said during a groundbreaking at the park on Tuesday morning. “It’s crisp, the leaves are turning, it’s a fantastic time. It’s a fantastic time for us to be making improvements to this park and making it a better visitor experience.”

Kulleseid was joined by several elected officials at the event, including Elizabeth Sobol, CEO and president of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and Alane Ball Chinian, director of the state Parks and Recreation Department for the Saratoga-Capital Region.

The patio will be about 60 feet in diameter, according to Dan Keefe, a public information officer with the department.

Kulleseid said the improvements will make the park much safer for pedestrians and bikers. The paths will be 3,300 feet long, Keefe said.

More: All News | Everything Saratoga Springs-Ballston Spa

Other parts of the project include expanding parking for Spa Little Theater and other recreational activities that take place throughout the year on the Roosevelt campus and installing electric vehicle charging stations.

“Obviously as a state park we have to be on the front line of climate change,” Kulleseid said.

The scope of work will also include new storm water management features.

“These include installing underground storm water chambers and porous asphalt at the expanded parking lot to filter rainwater and allow it to slowly infiltrate back into the soil, reducing storm water runoff and sedimentation flowing into Geyser Creek,” Hochul’s press release said.

Kulleseid said Hochul visits the park often.

She was not in attendance at the groundbreaking.

Of the $4.2 million in funding for the project, $1.2 million is from the federal government.

“It is good to know that there’s this strong partnership with the federal government,” U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko said at the event. “That we see these places, these destinations as treasures. Not only outdoor activity but treasures of cultural and historic value and it’s certainly an economic tool in the kit for recovery.”

Saratoga Springs Mayor Ron Kim said the improvements will complement the work the city is doing to create more bike and pedestrian paths that will hopefully draw people to not only the city but the park.

“It builds community,” he said.