Courtesy Paul Post
By Paul Post
The wait is over!
Nine years ago, the City of Glens Falls applied for a potentially game-changing $10 million state grant to revitalize downtown.
Money came through a year later and in October 2023, following pandemic-related delays, workers broke ground on a new market center, part one of a huge multi-phase effort to transform South Street. On Friday, May 16, hundreds of people gathered to celebrate opening of the Events Downtown Center, nicknamed “The Ed” in honor of the late Ed Bartholomew, the Warren County Economic Development Corporation leader, whose driving force made the project possible.
“This property in 2016 was the definition of downtrodden,” Mayor Bill Collins said. “A jumble of rundown buildings, garbage in a parking lot, no residents. Hot Shots was closed, had been abandoned and stripped of all its copper plumbing by vandals. Sandy’s was on its last operating legs and, of course, the so-called incubator building had been closed for over two decades. Look at how far we’ve come.”
“Who would have ever believed we would ever have been here amidst all of this progress today? Ed Bartholomew that’s who,” Collins said. “He painted the vision with Mayor (Jack) Diamond, shared the vision with the community, worked with Mayor (Dan) Hall to build forward momentum. After his (Bartholomew’s) untimely death, a coalition of citizens was brought together to continue that progress. Thank God that they did.”
One of the center’s primary tenants, Glens Falls Farmers Market, will hold its first event there from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, June 7 with a variety of special activities.
“I’m really excited about it,” market President Tom Wells said. “It’s going to be a new experience for our customers and vendors. I’m excited about the way the building has turned out. It’s deceiving. When you get inside there’s a lot more room than it appears from the outside. It will be awesome when you can open the overhead doors, there’s a little breeze in there with music out back.”
The market is currently at Aviation Mall, with 38 vendors, but will have room for more at its new South Street home, creating business opportunities for the region’s growers and producers.
“I think it’s going to help out the South Street community, too, all those businesses and local restaurants,” Wells said. “A lot of them use our vendors for their fresh produce.”
Gregg Singer and Larissa Ovitt are especially pleased with “The Ed’s” completion. In October 2023, they opened the Golden Monkey Lounge directly across the street, and are counting on the center to generate South Street foot traffic.
“We put our stake in the ground a long time ago,” Singer said. “We’ve been waiting for this, it’s finally here and we’re excited.”
The center’s unique, leaf-shaped design is an attraction in and of itself. Outside, several large leaf-shaped patterns are found in the surrounding pavement, there’s a setting out front for people to sit and relax, and a performance space at the rear of the property for musicians to entertain crowds.
The $4.5 million, 6,000-square-foot structure was built by Latham-based Bunkoff General Contractors. Chief foreman Mike Cole said the distinctive architecture made it a special, challenging and rewarding project to work on. The handsome interior has huge white pine timbers and cedar ceilings.
The $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) grant has also funded a variety of other work including improved streetscapes, green infrastructure, a mile-long arts trail, SUNY Adirondack culinary program’s move to 14 Hudson Street, and renovation of three other buildings – the former Hot Shots tavern and Sandy’s Clam Bar on South Street, and a business incubator behind Hot Shots on Elm Street.
The Hot Shots and Sandy’s buildings will have first-floor commercial space with apartments overhead.
When completed, Saratoga Springs-based Bonacio Construction plans to start work on a large, six-story, multi-use building that will wrap around Sandy’s, which includes occupying the parking lot where the Farmer’s Market was previously held.
Separately, developer Chris Patten is currently renovating a large building directly across from Hot Shots at the corner of South and Elm streets, with first-floor commercial space and apartments on upper floors.
In addition, he’s begun work at the point of land previously occupied by a Rite-Aid store, where South and Broad streets meet. Plans there call for a first-floor parking garage with apartments above, for workforce housing.
“Now we have it all – office space, retail space and apartments,” said prominent Glens Falls businessman Ed Moore. “Apartments bring people. People make business.”
He described “The Ed” as a “foundational brick in the wall that we’re building on to make this town better and better.”
Deputy New York State Secretary of State Kisha Santiago applauded Glens Falls officials for ongoing efforts to improve the city.
“Glens Falls is really leveraging its community spaces like this market and events center,” she said. “It serves as a beautiful and shining example of why this DRI program is so essential. Communities need businesses and jobs to thrive.”
Empire State Development Regional Director Mike Yevoli said “The Ed” creates a sense of place that will “bring tourists, make people want to move here, make companies want to invest here.”
“This is phase one of many phases we’d like to see happen here at South Street,” he said.
“The Ed” is expected to host many different kinds of events, year-round, and would be the focal point of outdoor festival-type gatherings when South Street is temporarily closed off.
South Street long ago earned the nickname “street of dreams” because it was a place where people with hope, hard work and a little money could earn a slice of the American pie. More recently, it had fallen into a state of decline evidenced by many closed, boarded-up storefronts.
Now it’s come alive again, fulfilling Bartholomew’s dream of a revived center for economic vitality.
Bartholomew, who passed away in 2020, was mayor Glens Falls from 1978-85, and its director of economic development from 2010 to 2013 when he became president and chief executive officer of the Warren County EDC.
Collins unveiled a plaque bearing Bartholomew’s likeness and an image of large “The Ed” signs that will be placed on the building’s exterior.
“We’re confident that this center will be a significant energizer for our downtown,” he said. “We believe it will continue strong sales tax revenue. We believe it will draw more heads in beds at the Queensbury Hotel. It will be a gathering place that our city will be well known for throughout the state and we owe it all to Ed’s vision, his determination to make this city better.”
The plaque describes Bartholomew as “Mr. Glens Falls.”
“Ed epitomized that audacious spirit – the Glens Falls difference – that focused on making Glens Falls a better place to live and work each day,” it reads. “It was his vision and his ability to create partnerships that brought this building and the entire Downtown Revitalization Initiative to life, and his city will be forever grateful.”