A major state agency wants to locate its headquarters in Saranac Lake’s Downtown.

Of course, that’s great news. Up to 55 employees, plus dozens of daily visitors, will be walking past our Downtown storefronts, looking for a place to eat, a cup of coffee, or maybe some shopping before, during, and after work hours, just as it happens in other successful downtowns. Hoorah for the store owners and hoorah for the village taxpayers. Something this profound does not often happen in the Adirondacks and we Saranac Lakers will be the beneficiaries.

Plus, the state agency, the Adirondack Park Agency, will take an albatross from the necks for our village taxpayers by solidifying and restoring the former Paul Smith Electric Light and Power Company Building located at 3 Main St., currently owned by the village. This 96-year-old building, which has immense historic value, remains underutilized and continues to operate in a taxpayer-funded deficit.

This project also fits in with Saranac Lake’s “Strong Towns” goal. A vibrant and economically viable downtown translates into a vibrant and economically viable community. We have had empty storefronts for years, businesses that compete against other downtowns, Amazon, and distant box stores, and this one project alone will get many people walking by Downtown storefronts each day, which, coupled with our two new hotels, means business, business, business. It is not David vs. Goliath, it is just the way the global, UPS, FedEx economy is right now. Goliath is too big, even for a smooth pebble slung from a well-aimed slingshot. We need feet on the street, and the APA will help add feet to our Downtown streets and that’s an economic fact.

The APA move into Saranac Lake’s Downtown also fits its own internal and lawful goal, whereby development and population grows in Adirondack “Hamlet Areas,” and is not part of a sprawl outside into the greater Park’s valleys. Concentrating growth and people in Hamlet Zones was and is the plan. It preserves our lakes and mountains and enhances our park communities.

Simply, APA’s plan to move to Saranac Lake is consistent with the goals of the Adirondack Park Agency Act. New development on state land is not. In fact, expanding in Ray Brook is the opposite of what is intended by the act. APA is walking the walk by their move to Saranac Lake, like the writers of the law intended.

As a bonus, the APA plans to increase the parking spaces at this location. These parking spaces will be open to the farmers market on Saturdays and to everyone else at night, during weekends, and on holidays.

The APA has the money, nearly $30 million, already allocated to it for new headquarters. This is not a pie-in-the sky proposition. It is real. The money is there, and it will happen.

We also know that change, any kind of change, scares some people. A recent news piece stated that some current and former employees do not want this change. One should first respectfully recognize the long-standing contribution and perspective of these employees in responding. Some have spent decades commuting to Ray Brook. It is a comfortable and familiar place for them. However, is this the place of the APA’s future for decades to come?

I submit, with sincerity, that it is not. This nearly $30 million capital investment should also invest in the aims of the Adirondack Park Agency and make its next home in a Hamlet Zone, in fact, the most populated Hamlet Zone in the park, Saranac Lake. This investment should be in a walkable community interdependent with homes, people, and business.

Others want to see affordable housing, or a police station retrofit happen at this location. I fully understand these wants, but the money is not there for these pursuits and is not likely to ever be there. The goals are indeed worthy, yet there are other places for these pursuits, and they can and should be independently tackled. Notwithstanding, derailing the already-financed APA relocation to our Saranac Lake Downtown, at this point in our village’s re-development, would forfeit a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I truly hope we, as a community, can coalesce around this tremendous prospect and help Saranac Lake reach its full potential as a Strong Town by embracing the APA’s move to our Downtown. Let us support, with a positive attitude, our village board, and the APA as they hammer out the details. Saranac Lake’s future depends upon seizing these crucial opportunities.

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Clyde Rabideau was the mayor of the village of Saranac Lake for more than a decade. He is also a former mayor of the city of Plattsburgh and founder of Rabideau Corp. He lives in Saranac Lake.