Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation (SSPF) is advocating for a balanced approach to preservation and modernization at the Saratoga Race Course. Our position has been endorsed by the Downtown Business Association, the Chamber of Commerce, the History Museum, Supervisor Joanne Yepsen, the Preservation League of New York State and others. Click here to read about the preservation challenges at the Race Course and to read our positon. We invite and encourage you to add your name to support the Race Course Preservation Coalition.
In February the Governor and the State Legislature reached an agreement on resolving the future of thoroughbred racing in the Spa City. Included within the bill were provisions calling for an inventory of all structures and landscape attributes on the grounds of the historic track in Saratoga Springs, as well as review of NYRAs capital plan for the Saratoga Racecourse by the State Historic Preservation Office. The Foundation and the Racecourse Coalition had been working with State government to ensure that measures aimed at protecting the historic nature of the track and its environs were part of the overall legislation which granted NYRA a twenty-five year franchise to operate the track.
Under the terms of the bill, a local advisory board will be created, made up of representatives appointed by the Mayor, the County Board of Supervisors and NYRA. The board will work with the State Historic Preservation Office to conduct a comprehensive historic resources inventory of all track property structures and landscape feature, including their physical condition. Those aspects of the property which are of historic, architectural or cultural significance may be advanced by the board for consideration for inclusion in the National and State Registers of Historic Places and in local historic districts.