“It’s great to emphasize the fact that, historically, the Ice Palace and the Winter Carnival itself was kind of created because of (tuberculosis) patients,” said Brian Draper of Cure Cottage Development. “It’s a great thing to bring it back and do (the film) and (the Auditorium opening) in conjunction with each other.”

The documentary by filmmaker Mark Burns follows the construction of the Ice Palace and the execution of the 2016 Winter Carnival. He will present his film Friday and Saturday, Feb. 8 and 9 at 5 p.m. in the Auditorium. He will host a Q&A after each screening. Tickets are $15.

The Auditorium was originally called the Recreation Pavilion and has big windows looking out to Mount Baker. Built in 1939, it is the newest of the existing buildings that were part of the functioning sanatorium, according to Historic Saranac Lake’s LocalWiki website.

Before selling the sanatorium property this past fall, the American Management Association used the Auditorium building as working space. It was filled with cubicles, tables and office chairs, and the floor was covered in orange carpet. Cure Cottage development removed the carpet and cleared the room to use it as event space, which was the building’s original purpose when it was part of the sanatorium. It now has hardwood flooring and plenty of space to host presentations.

The Auditorium at the former Trudeau Sanatorium, seen here in October 2019, was used as work space when the American Management Association owned the property. (Enterprise photo — Griffin Kelly)

Draper said his group wants the Auditorium to be a multi-use space.

“Bands, comedians, any kind of gatherings, weddings,” he said. “We’d like to use it in conjunction with the chapel.”

Cure Cottage Development is in the process of renovating many of the buildings on the 64-acre property on the shoulder of Mount Pisgah.

“We continued with cleaning up all the roofs and tidying stuff up for the winter while we make our plan,” Draper said. “We have worked on cleaning up the chapel and getting that ready for a wedding venue. That should be probably another month or so. We’re hoping by the spring for sure. We already have interest in weddings in it.”

Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau founded the Adirondack Cottage Sanatorium in 1884 for tuberculosis treatment. It was renamed the Trudeau Sanatorium after he died in 1915. AMA bought it in 1957 after the sanatorium closed in 1954. AMA is a nonprofit group that provides executive training courses, seminars and materials. Cure Cottage Development bought it from AMA in October 2019. AMA is still a tenant there. Adirondack Health rents out office space, and Carpe Insectae, a bug spray manufacturer, has also moved its operations there. Draper said the owners rented out a few homes on the property.

“They’re set up for people to be able to rent them long-term, not Airbnb,” he said. “We’re trying to avoid that as much as possible.”

Cure Cottage Development is made up of Draper, of local real estate firm Say Real Estate, partners and real estate entrepreneurs Wayne Zukin and Sue Smith of Philadelphia, and Zukin’s brother Scott.

Wayne Zukin and Smith also own a handful of buildings in downtown Saranac Lake, such as the ones housing Origin Coffee Company, the Ampersound music shop and the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation, Eco Living and the Adirondack Trading Co. They also own some apartment houses. They started buying Saranac Lake property in 2014 after buying their seasonal house in Rainbow Lake.