The $40 million project would renovate the downtown 1-3 Main St. building — the historic site of the Paul Smith’s Power and Light Company and former village police station — and construct a new three-story building in the back of the public parking lot on the Lake Street and Petrova Avenue hillside for a total campus of 28,000 square feet of office space.

On Thursday, APA communications staff delivered an update to the project to the agency board and released more documents online at tinyurl.com/34ywbj36.

The project is still years away from being a reality, and is not guaranteed at this time, but the agency has named the location at the intersection of Main Street, Lake Street and Kiwassa Road as its “preferred site.”

Last month, the agency released a number of environmental, site and building reports on its online dashboard showing no major red flags in the feasibility of the project.

A rough draft rendering of what the potential Adirondack Park Agency campus at 1-3 Main St. in Saranac Lake could look like. The existing building is in front, with the proposed new building in the back. (Provided photo — Colliers Engineering and Design)

To read more about these documents, go to tinyurl.com/yy3mv43n.

Now, APA spokesman Keith McKeever said they are working with the state Office of General Services to negotiate a lease with the village, doing site and building designs and figuring out what permits would be required.

He said a public information session on the project will be scheduled for later this fall.

Impacts of the move

McKeever said the 1-3 Main St. site meets all the criteria the state and agency set for itself in looking for a new headquarters — it is within five miles of the existing headquarters, would have no impact on tax rolls, would be leased, would be affordable, would prioritize reuse and renovation, would accommodate agency needs and would involve public infrastructure.

A rough draft rendering of what the potential Adirondack Park Agency campus at 1-3 Main St. in Saranac Lake could look like. The existing building is on the right, with the proposed new building on the left. (Provided photo — Colliers Engineering and Design)

APA spokesman Ben Brosseau said they believe moving into a hamlet is the “environmentally right thing to do.” One of the APA’s goals is to cluster development in hamlets suited for higher intensity use.

Also, being downtown makes the agency more visible and accessible to the public, he said.

Between the three-story Power and Light building and a one-story brick powerhouse behind it, there is approximately 10,500 square feet existing.

The new 18,000 square foot building at the bend in the parking lot is expected to be built back into the hillside to be outside village zoning setbacks and avoid the need for a village variance.

The parking lot would be open for public use on evenings and weekends, but potentially, not during APA work hours. The lot currently has around 70 parking spaces and could be slightly expanded.

A rough draft rendering of what the potential public community room at the Adirondack Park Agency campus at 1-3 Main St. in Saranac Lake could look like. (Provided photo — Colliers Engineering and Design)

The 1-3 Main St. building has been underutilized and partially abandoned for a bit. Brosseau said the APA will be paying for the renovation, utilities and maintenance of the building, taking those costs off of the village.

A professional consultation report from Colliers Engineering and Design estimates the economic impact of APA employees visiting local businesses at $376,000 per year.

The APA currently has 59 employees. The preliminary designs plan to build space for up to 65.

The property is the endpoint of the Saranac Lake Riverwalk and sits right on the Saranac River. Brosseau said the APA would work to improve public access to the river for fishing and paddling, as well as make stormwater runoff improvements. The parking lot is currently a “sand pit” that feeds straight into the river.

Inside, the agency is planning for a public use meeting space which people could use as a “third space” or a conference room. Brosseau also said the agency wants to include interpretive exhibits to have an educational museum-like aspect to the building.

There is the potential for the agency to get geothermal heating and cooling at the site, as the village has identified the potential for geothermal wells in the parking lot area. But, the building could also hook up to conventional HVAC and is not dependent on geothermal connection.

In 2023, APA staff determined the wetlands at the site are not subject to APA regulation, since the 0.10-acre area has no free interchange at the surface with the Saranac River.

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Funding

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The state has allocated $40 million for the project, up from the original $30 million maximum budget.

The total is broken down into $4 million for site development, $6 million to renovate the historic buildings, $20 million to construct the new building and $10 million in soft costs for designs and unexpected expenses.

The state initially allocated $30 million for the project. A previous draft report budgeted the project at $47 million. The state eventually allocated an additional $10 million to meet the rising costs associated with inflation and other factors. Brosseau said this is a “realistic” project cost for the agency, adding that $40 million is the “bare minimum” to meet construction and soft costs in today’s world. He said they want to be good stewards of the taxpayer dollars they are being given.

To bring it down to the $40 million maximum, several aspects were trimmed: 5,000 square feet were cut from the new building — bringing the square footage from 23,000 to 18,000 — an exterior elevator on the existing building was eliminated and the new building site was shifted to reduce the amount of retaining wall needed.

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Cabin fever

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Board member Mark Hall said some people like the plan, some don’t. What’s not debatable to him is that the agency needs a new facility.

McKeever said the current headquarters — a 1950s-era log cabin at the “Little Albany” campus shared with New York State Police and the state Department of Environmental Conservation in Ray Brook — was not designed as a state office building.

He said it was originally designed as State Police barracks, was briefly the DEC’s headquarters and came to the APA as a “hand-me-down.” The entire building was moved across the property around when the APA was founded in 1971.

It’s a “hodgepodge building,” McKeever said.

Maintenance was not a priority for decades as the agency was just trying to survive amid fierce opposition to its existence.

He showed photos of wood rot on the logs, gaps between the logs on the exterior of the lodge and a photo of a bat sitting on the back of a chair. McKeever and Brosseau said, because of the gaps, it is common for bats, mice and bees to come in to the headquarters. The gaps also let in cold air, making the building energy inefficient.

The heating and cooling HVAC system has deteriorated, and requires them to gut the walls to replace it. Brosseau also said they would need to clear around an acre of trees to stay in Ray Brook because of a needed septic system upgrade.

The state started discussing a move in 2018. The project truly kicked off when the state allocated money for new headquarters in 2022. The research on the 1-3 Main St. site started in 2023.

The current building in Ray Brook is “past its usable life,” and McKeever said the state has allocated $1 million for its demolition.

APA board member Zoe Smith asked if there are plans to commemorate the history at the Ray Brook building. McKeever said there are.

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Background and contention

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Last year, the village moved its police department, formerly headquartered at the 1-3 Main St. building, to a state-owned former Army National Guard armory on state Route 3. The village is currently planning a combined public safety building for the police, fire and emergency departments. The police moved from 1-3 Main St. to make room for the APA.

The three-story building was built by the son of the legendary Adirondack guide and hotelier Paul Smith in 1927. From 1903 until 1986, electric and railway companies operated at the site. The village bought the property in 1986.

The first and second floors were previously rented to Franklin County for office space. The county moved out after their lease expired last year.

There’s been contention over this APA move, though, with different groups of Saranac Lakers writing letters supporting or opposing it.

Of the APA’s 44 staff at the time last summer, 36 were surveyed and a majority either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the proposed move. Some said they were supportive of the move and a chunk were neutral on the issue.

A slew of 62 Saranac Lake leaders, including several former mayors, numerous business owners, clergy members, current and former elected officials, volunteer board members and other community leaders signed a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office in September 2023, enthusiastically calling the move “sensible, prudent and progressive” and urging the state to support it, too.

They said the offices would be an “anchor” for Main Street, putting “feet on the street” while renovating an “underutilized” historic building which needs a lot of work. They said this move would make the APA more accessible and visible, and that the state could potentially partner on the village’s planned geothermal project.

The Saranac Lake Area and North Country chambers of commerce, Harrietstown and North Elba town boards and Historic Saranac Lake organization all wrote resolutions of support for the proposed move.

A group of 19 former APA employees and board members also wrote a letter to Hochul expressing opposition to the move from the agency’s current headquarters in Ray Brook and questioning the transparency and ethics of the process that led to this site being chosen for the new headquarters.

These allegations led to an investigation into APA Executive Director Barb Rice from the state Inspector General’s office, which concluded earlier this summer finding that the allegations were “unsubstantiated.”