Courtesy Silver Bay YMCA
Silver Bay YMCA on the shores of Lake George is planning to build a new inn that will be a year-round dining, lodging and conference facility.
Silver Bay CEO Steve Tamm said construction of the two-story, 42,000-square-foot building is expected to start in September. It will be the first significant addition to the inn at Silver Bay since the 1920s.
It will be funded, in part, through a $4 million gift from Virginia (Rowan) and Manning Smith, long-time supporters of Silver Bay YMCA.
The building is to be named in honor of Virginia Rowan Smith’s great-grandfather, William Boyd, an early leader of Silver Bay. The William Boyd Center will “bring Silver Bay’s campus into the 21st century,” said Tamm.
According to Tamm, the entire project is expected to cost $13 million.
He said it will be “a real game-changer for Silver Bay. Historically, Silver Bay has been primarily focused on its summer programs. This can no longer be the case. Our customer demands, coupled with rising costs and other challenges, require us to look beyond the 10 weeks of summer. We can now look forward to hosting large conference groups throughout the year.”
The Smiths’ $4 million gift is one of the largest in the conference center’s 114 year history, said Mike D’Attilio, chairman of Silver Bay’s board of trustees.
“We are extremely grateful to the Smiths for their dedication to Silver Bay and their commitment to this project,” said D’Attilio. “We know their generous gift will serve as an example and an inspiration to the entire Silver Bay community.”
In addition to a dining room, kitchen and 22 guest rooms with private baths, the William Boyd Center will include flexible conference and meeting space.
“Although air-conditioned, heated and wired for the latest audio-visual technology, the building’s architecture will complement the landmarked campus and its natural, Adirondack setting,” said Tamm.
Phinney Design Group, a Saratoga Springs-based architect, is the designer.
“The project, which includes demolition of the existing dining hall, will provide new jobs for many contractors, sub-contractors and workers. Moreover, with more year-round business, Silver Bay will be able to create new full-time jobs for local residents,” said Tamm.
He noted that the William Boyd Center is the centerpiece of a master plan guiding the re-development of Silver Bay’s campus.
“The William Boyd Center will become the heart of Silver Bay’s 700 acre campus,” he said.
That plan includes a new wastewater treatment system and an advanced stormwater management system to protect Lake George’s water quality.
According to Tamm, naming the new building in honor of William Boyd was an eminently sensible decision.
“William Boyd led from the front. He challenged his fellow trustees to be generous, financially, and to make hard decisions about the future course of Silver Bay,” said Tamm.
Boyd served on Silver Bay’s board of trustees from 1917-1926, helping to steer the relatively new conference center through a difficult era.
His career with the YMCA included service as the secretary of the Kansas City YMCA. He also went on a trip to China, where he and his wife helped finance the construction of a women’s gymnasium at the first college for women there.
He was in the first of five generations of his family to serve Silver Bay, a family that included his daughters, Margaret Rowan, Miriam Parlin and Isabel Proudfit, along with their children, their grandchildren, their great- and great-great grandchildren.
Virginia Rowan Smith said she and her husband “are pleased to be able to provide a lead gift for this important center … And to think it all started over a hundred years ago, when he introduced his young daughters to Silver Bay in the summer of 1910.”
With the completion of the William Boyd Center, Silver Bay will be in a stronger position to fulfill its mission of renewing, refreshing and nurturing the mind, body and spirit, said Tamm.
“In an increasingly busy and troubled world, Silver Bay strives to be a place where individuals, families and conference groups of diverse backgrounds can come to relax, renew and refresh in a safe and wholesome environment,” Tamm said.
“While Silver Bay’s influence continues to grow globally and nationally as a result of the many conferences and gatherings it hosts, the center also has a strong local impact. Whether it be with our teen center in Ticonderoga, our free military R&R program, our youth and government program, or through our many other outreach programs, the positive impact we have on the local community is significant. As Silver Bay grows, we will seek to strengthen our partnerships with local communities, offering meaningful programs that will enhance the lives of our neighbors,” said Tamm.
Silver Bay YMCA was founded in 1902 and is located in Silver Bay, just minutes south of Hague. Its 700 acre campus along one mile of Lake George shoreline offers a breadth of programs for all ages. It employs 45 full-time staff members with a seasonal staff of 200.
Silver Bay YMCA was the first on Lake George to be awarded LID (Low Impact Development) certification in 2016 for its newly relocated parking area.
As a mission-based charity, Silver Bay YMCA offers outreach programs in addition to its core activities as a premier conference and family retreat center. Those activities include:
Open Pathways (access to Silver Bay YMCA for the underprivileged); youth and government program (covering Queensbury to Ticonderoga); CR Wood Cancer Center Program (free respite for local cancer patients); Military R&R program (free getaway for recently deployed veterans and families); Brookside Trinity Ministry (free respite and sabbatical getaways for clergy); and Vacations Made Possible (free getaways for local underprivileged families).
Its website is www.silverbay.org.