Hundreds attended the ribbon cutting ceremony on July 21 unveiling the Queensbury Hotel’s new Adirondack Ballroom and newly renovated event spaces.

The $3.8-million renovation features 4,000 square feet of event space, combined with the transformation of over 4,000 square feet of existing event space.

The project included the expansion of the Adirondack Room, the renovation of the Warren Room and the addition of both an outdoor patio space and a brand-new banquet kitchen.

The Adirondack Ballroom was the biggest undertaking of the project.

“The Adirondack Ballroom addition not only continues our mission of returning our city’s Queen back to the top of our region’s hospitality offerings, but also gives us the ability to attract larger conferences, increase the size of social gatherings and continue to hold more and more community events,” said Tyler Herrick, general manager of The Queensbury Hotel and president of Spruce Hospitality Group.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) opened the new Lake George Visitor Interpretive Center on May 25.

The new facility at 75 Fort George Road will enhance the visitor experience at DEC’s Lake George Battlefield Park and also serve as the new headquarters for the Lake George Park Commission, officials said.

“DEC and our partners at the Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance are dedicated to preserving the beauty and history of Lake George through interpretive work and public education,” DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said. “The VIC will provide park visitors with a welcoming and inclusive space that guides them on a historical journey through artifacts and interpretive displays.

“Bringing DEC, the Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance, and the Lake George Park Commission under one roof demonstrates the close partnerships working together to improve visitor education, recreation, and conservation in this environmentally unique and historic region of New York.”

As the summer season gets into full swing, so does West Mountain and its array of outdoor activity offerings, including biking, an aerial treetop (high ropes) adventure, mountaintop yoga, scenic chairlift rides and hiking, mountaintop picnic packages, summer camps, birthday pizza parties, and weddings or events.

West has more than 25 cross-country and downhill mountain biking and hiking trails, as well as multiple mountaintop locations. New this summer is the Music on the Mountain with live music, vendors, activities and fireworks from 4-10 p.m. on Aug. 20, sponsored by DeCrescente and eight of its brand partners.

.“We look forward to the summer season at West just as much as the winter,” said Sara Montgomery, general manager of West Mountain. “We pride ourselves on being a year-round destination for local and out of town guests. It’s our goal to create memorable family or group adventures that people look forward to year after year.”

West Mountain is located at 59 West Mountain Road, just 3 miles off the  Northway Exit 18, in Queensbury.

It is open through Labor Day weekend, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce (ARCC) is brining back its Leadership Adirondack program after a two-year hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ARCC has partnered with Catamount Consulting to offer a program consisting of leadership training class time, paired with industry tours throughout the region.

“ARCC is thrilled to introduce the revamped and elevated Leadership Adirondack program for the fall of 2022, facilitated by our partners at Catamount Consulting. After putting the program on pause during the pandemic, we are excited to offer a full, in-person program for this year’s participants,” said Marc Monahan, ARCC board chair and regional executive vice president  of NBT Bank.

Catamount Leadership Training believes that “understanding human behaviors and valuing relationships are the pillars on which highly engaged cultures are built upon. With Gallup reporting that nearly $500 billion dollars is lost annually in the United States due to unengaged teams, it is Catamount’s mission to provide the young leaders of our community with not only the knowledge, but the tools necessary, to develop compassionate, emotionally agile and high performing teams within their organizations,” the company said in a statement.

The Queensbury Hotel’s brand-new Adirondack Ballroom expansion is set to open on July 21. 

Hotel officials said the space will be debuted at a ribbon cutting ceremony sponsored by the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce. 

 The 5,200-square-foot expansion project includes a complete renovation and enlargement of the Adirondack Ballroom, update of the Warren Room, the addition of a patio space and a new state-of-the-art kitchen. 

The addition, with state-of-the-art kitchen facilities, is located to the right of the building’s rear entrance,

The hotel is now booking weddings, conferences, meetings and events for the new spaces for later this year and beyond.