SARATOGA SPRINGS – Even as he navigated the messy roads during a late season snowstorm this week, area businessman Frank Parillo was eager to spruce up property he bought last year on the northern part of Saratoga Lake.
This summer, on the site formerly owned and managed by Saratoga Boatworks, Parillo intends to offer his own gathering place for Saratoga Lake boaters similar to a pair of marinas he runs on Lake George.
“If everything goes good, we’ll get going as soon as the weather breaks,” said Parillo, owner of Scotty’s Restaurant and Wilton Travel Plaza at Exit 16 of the Adirondack Northway.
With management assistance provided by his son, Scott, and others, Parillo currently owns the Dunham’s Bay and Bolton Landing marinas on Lake George.
Parillo plans to open his Saratoga Lake Marina utilizing the slips already there, which can accommodate about 130 boats. He said the usage fee for the slips would be $89 per foot of actual boat length.
He said a restaurant is a possibility at the new marina, but so far no arrangements have been finalized. “There’s nothing cast in stone,” Parillo said, but added that he is in talks with “good operators” in regards to dining options at his new business.
The most immediate goal, Parillo said, is to refurbish the clubhouse structure both inside and outside.
At its regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday, the Saratoga Springs Design Review Commission considered the exterior modifications detailed in a proposal submitted by Parillo.
The Clifton Park firm Syvertsen Rigosu Architects is involved in the design of Saratoga Lake Marina and had prepared the renderings.
The Design Review Commission is particularly concerned with any aesthetic changes made to lakefront properties within the city’s borders.
The first phase of the project, according to the commission’s summary, “includes the removal of windows on the west and north elevations, new exterior wall penetrations for new windows and a new deck that will support the two entrances into a new club house.”
“The interior scope of work,” the summary continued, is to “create new rest rooms and club house for the members of the Saratoga Lake Marina.”
“The marina is going to be awesome,” offered Hal Raven, owner of the Adirondack Cruise and Charter Company, who has reached an agreement with Parillo to provide sunset, moonlight and other types of cruises on the lake.
Last year, Raven said, he gave such cruises to about 800 customers on a pontoon boat that he owns, which holds up to nine people.
Raven also recently purchased an early 1900s-era Fantail Launch replica that will be in service this summer on Saratoga Lake. It seats between 25 and 30. Individuals and families, according to Raven, once commonly enjoyed such boats on summer nights.
“We’re trying to keep this old-time tradition alive,” he said.
