Sneak Peek: Saratoga YMCA's Stunning Expansion and the New Saratoga Senior Center
Inside the state-of-the-art addition to the Y. PLUS: Meteor shower viewing, another fashion show on the horizon and more.
Last spring, after spending a full day doing gentle yoga, learning about genealogy, and listening to a barbershop quartet, I left the Saratoga Senior Center wishing I was old enough to join. Now, one year closer to that magic age of entry (50), my desire has only increased, thanks to the nonprofit community center’s new digs.
The new senior center, which is part of a 39,000-square-foot addition on the back of the Saratoga YMCA that was made possible in part by a $3 million donation by Bill and Susan Dake, first started welcoming members back last Thursday, and has been slowly easing back into its full programming schedule. When I stopped by Wednesday, Executive Director Lois Celeste was meeting with the feisty rug-hooking group about scheduling; at their current time, there’s no room with natural light available, something that is quite important for optimum rug-hooking. “You can be mad at me all you want,” said Lois, who has been working overtime to get the new center up and running and who, after 13 years in her role, is an expert at working with sometimes-crotchety members. “Half of this building doesn’t have natural light.”
The rug-hookers are a clear minority when it comes to the appreciation of the building; it’s beautiful. “Thank you, Lois!” one woman yelled over the music when we stopped by a Zumba class. “How are the new chairs?” Lois asked a group of ladies. “The chairs are wonderful,” a man walking by piped in. “I’m going to enjoy the chairs before pool this afternoon.”
“He’s a character,” Lois said to me, laughing.
In addition to new chairs, the new center boasts an expansive art room, a fitness room with rubber floors, a full kitchen designed by Nancy Bambara of DZ Restaurants that Lois envisions renting out to a local cafe, a Saratoga-themed game room, a gorgeous fireplace donated by Granite and Marble Works (they also did the counters in the kitchen and bathrooms), an education room, a dining room, and space for an on-site physical therapist. In total, the new center is nearly double the size of the old one. “The senior population is growing so rapidly and the need for space was so evident,” Lois said. “This beautiful building that was put together by the community is going to be an amazing project to leave to our older population for generations to come.”
While it’ll be another couple of decades before I’m able to experience everything the new senior center has to offer, I’ll be cashing in on the other half of the renovation project much sooner. That half would be a massive expansion of the Saratoga YMCA that Y members will have access to come this September.
Downstairs, there’s what Lois and Saratoga Regional YMCA CEO Scott Clark call the inter-generational lobby, which serves as a buffer between senior center territory and Y territory. Across the lobby is a small gymnasium and a room with an indoor jungle gym called the Adventure Center; it’s like the ones they have at McDonald’s, only bigger, better, and Saratoga themed, with full-length murals of racehorses covering the walls. Those spaces will allow the Y to host birthday parties, increase before- and after-school programming and, according to Scott, accommodate “the need for pickleball.”
Upstairs, there’s space, space and more space. There’s a 6,500-square-foot fitness center, a cycling studio that can fit 46 bikes and has live-streaming capabilities, a group exercise studio and a functional training studio. “The new space will provide the infrastructure needed to create an inter-generational hub,” Scott told me later. “It will enhance the health and wellness experiences for members of all ages of our community.”
—Natalie
Quote of the Week
“You’re too young and beautiful to kill.”
—Overheard at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale
Photo of the Week
Save the Date
The brainchild of Saratoga Trunk owner Natalie Sillery, a Tribute to Transforming Lives is returning to the 1863 Club on Sunday, August 20. The second annual event is first and foremost a fashion show (you may see a familiar face walking the runway) that raises money for two worthy charities: Living Resources, an Albany-based nonprofit that provides supportive services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and Building on Love, an organization based in Cohoes that helps families facing life-altering medical conditions by way of financial support with essential living expenses such as mortgage and car payments. Brunch will be served, followed by a day of racing! Get your tickets here, and read more about the evolution of this fashion show here.
Party Pics
Speaking of fashion shows, photographer Morgan Campbell has posted more pics from Racing & Rosé at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of fame! Check Click on the Instagram post above or check them out here.
Shower Thoughts
Tonight’s Rite of Spring & Blessed Earth performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra at SPAC isn’t the only big show going on in Saratoga this weekend. Mother Nature herself will be putting on a spectacle as the Perseid Meteor Shower reaches peak viewing for upstate New York tonight into tomorrow morning. Go outside—preferably to a place without much light pollution—to witness more than 60 meteors an hour
From the Mag
The Plate Show: How One Homeowner Uses Fine China to Keep Her Home’s Look Seasonal and Fresh
Bocage Unveils Caviar Kits to Eat In-House or at the Track
ICYMI
On Thursday, we shared our Vibe Check recap of the second night of the posh, two-day Saratoga Sale at auction house Fasig-Tipton.
Great article!