By Paul Post
Downtown Glens Falls’ slow, steady resurgence just got a boost with the July 21 grand opening of Queensbury Hotel’s $3.8 million new Adirondack Ballroom.
The 5,200-square-foot facility more than doubles the historic hotel’s capacity for hosting conferences and special events, which can further fuel the local economy.
“We’re already sold out now on Friday and Saturday nights, almost year round, hosting 300 people that need things to do. They want to go shopping, go to restaurants, events at Wood Theater or Cool Insuring Arena,” said Tyler Herrick, hotel general manager. “Before the expansion we were hosting 750 events a year. This is just going to help accelerate that by bringing midweek conventions to Glens Falls, which means more business for our property and all of downtown.”
The New York State Sheriff’s Association was the new facility’s first customer. Scores of law enforcement personnel attended the multi-day event that began Sunday, July 24. Several large weddings and another state conference have already been booked this fall.
“Honestly, the phone has been ringing off the hook,” Herrick said.
The ballroom is the latest project in an ongoing makeover of the landmark, 96-year-old hotel, which has helped make it a business incubator by encouraging other small businesses to locate downtown.
“I’m more excited about that than I am for The Queensbury itself because I love this community,” said Ed Moore, who purchased the hotel in March 2016. “I’m so proud of this place. We brought it (the ballroom) home and brought it in on time.”
“This is going to be enormous,” said Jim Siplon, EDC Warren County president and CEO. “Every time the surface area of a place like this expands it has a three to four times multiplier effect in town, at a minimum, whether that’s culinary business, retail, attractions like the Hyde Museum, or so many other things that make this community unique. Every one of them will get a shot in the arm from this.”
He described The Queensbury as a “quaint hotel you would pay an arm and a leg for in New York City, here in the heart of the North Country.”
The new ballroom can host up to 400 people for plated dinners and dancing for special events. Adjoining hallway space affords capacity for nearly 600 guests for cocktail parties and business-related networking functions.”
But breathing new life into the old building was no easy task. Saratoga Springs-based Phinney Design Group handled architectural work while V&H Construction Inc. of Fort Edward was the general contractor.
“Any time we do an historic building there’s always going to be things that pop up,” said Ed Anker, Phinney’s project manager. “We ran into a lot of that here. We found a lot of crumbling things and some of the past additions weren’t really done that well. We were very sensitive to match the building’s historic character, which was extremely critical, while also creating a little bit of flair for the new building. I think we nailed it spot-on with detailing, brick, cornices and baseboards.”
V&H owner and president Rob Holbrook said his firm’s biggest challenge was staying on schedule while dealing with a shortage of materials and supplies caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, temporary aluminum doors have been installed, leading to the hotel’s rear parking lot, as handsome glass French doors didn’t arrive in time for the grand opening reception, with about 250 well-wishers on hand.
“I’ve been doing this over 45 years and I’ve never seen a time like this one,” Holbrook said.
In addition to its anticipated future benefits, the ballroom expansion provided jobs to plenty of area people.
“We employ about 25 directly, plus we pulled in eight other laborers and we work with a lot of sub-contractors, too,” Holbrook said.
Precise Painting & Wallcovering (Hudson Falls) did all the finishes, Glens Falls Metal Fabricators (Fort Edward) handled heating, ventilation and air conditioning work, while Adirondack P&M (Queensbury) took care of plumbing.
Herrick said the ballroom addition has created 15 new jobs, adding to the hotel’s staff that has grown from 35 to 100 employees since Moore purchased the property.
“Six years ago, we were all standing in the hotel lobby,” Herrick said. “I’m always reminded of Ed’s comments that day. His goal was to be a good steward of this property that has stood strong in this community for close to 100 years. I think he’s hit a home run. But we have a lot more work to do.”
A multi-year master plan, developed by Phinney Design Group, calls for a roof-top bar that will give hotel guests a view of the surrounding southern Adirondack region.
Many sports, entertainment and political luminaries have stayed at or visited The Queensbury through the years. The list includes former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, musicians Bob Dylan, Louis Armstrong and Kenny Rogers, and Robert F. Kennedy who visited both prior to and immediately after his 1964 election to the U.S. Senate.
Moore also owns Fairfield Inn & Suites at Northway Exit 18 in Queensbury, a large outlet store complex on Route 9 in Queensbury, and the Sawyer building directly across from Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls. In addition, he’s on the board of a coalition of business leaders that operate the arena and Adirondack Thunder hockey team.
Moore said he’s hopeful that the hotel’s increased capacity will encourage Herrick and arena general manager Jeff Mead to collaborate on bringing more and bigger events to Glens Falls, which would greatly benefit downtown as well.
“I’m so thrilled,” he said. “This is going to bring more attention to our restaurants and shops. It’s up to us now to do a good job and make it all work.”