The third-floor Music Hall at Saratoga Springs City Hall is a place where visitors from miles around still gather for a night on the dance floor.
What was originally built as a theatre in the 19th Century was remodeled in the 1930s into the space recognizable today. The space was reopened in 1993 and dubbed Saratoga Music Hall.
Now, under an executive order by Governor Andrew Cuomo, Saratoga Springs, like cities across the state, are required to provide new court space. In May, the city approved a resolution in May allowing the city to propose a plan to transform the Music Hall.
Since then, an organized opposition has been speaking out. At a city council meeting earlier this month, David Wolf, dance instructor with Saratoga Savoy and coordinator of the popular Friday night Diamond Dances, said renovating the third floor into office space would be a huge mistake.
“I know dancers. Why? I run a dance studio. They care about wood floors. And wood floor are the one thing that you do not see within a hundred miles of this area. Find a hundred radius of a place that’s equivalent to a 7,000 square foot hall and I will give you money, because you will not find it. Only at Saratoga Music Hall,” said Wolf.
Paul Rosenberg, who brought the Dance Flurry Festival to Saratoga in 1994, says a team of well-known performers have voiced their opposition, including a well-known violinist from the Hudson Valley.
“We even got a wonderful email Jay Ungar wrote to the City. And the City answered ‘well, you guys can find another space.’ And he goes back saying ‘wait a minute, there’s no way to replace this beautiful, historic, unique facility.’”
Public Safety Commissioner Chris Mathiesen responded to comments at the June 6th meeting, saying while the building is historic space that he’s used for events many times, it is not idea.
“Access is a lot less than idea. To correct a lot of the deficiencies at the Music Hall and make it something that would be used on a more regular basis would be extremely costly. Basically, you’re looking at a hall in the middle of a municipal building that is mostly offices and courts and police stations. And the purpose of that venue is just not consistent with the rest of City Hall. It just doesn’t work,” said Mathiesen.
The city had presented a series of options to send to the New York State Office of Court Administration for consideration. One would put an annex onto City Hall to allow for more court space.
Public Works Commissioner Anthony “Skip” Scirocco said the city has been put under pressure, and it was determined that transforming the music hall would be the best option.
“The reason why we did what we did was because OCA but the city on notice. They said ‘you have to have a plan to us by May 31st’. So we had to act really quick because the other plans weren’t acceptable. We got our consultant, our consultant came up with the idea of the Music Hall, and it’s just the best fit for the City and the Music Hall,” said Scirocco.
Scirocco said there would be “a lot more discussion” on the proposal through public hearings and city meetings.
At press time, the Save the Music Hall online petition had 350 signatures.
