How hundreds of local volunteers transformed Saratoga Springs.

This series of short essays was created to show how important volunteers have been in the development of Saratoga Springs.

Decades after its launch, the Plan of Action is a distant memory for the many residents who participated, but its living legacy is a Saratoga Springs' thriving downtown.

The effect of urban renewal on the national scene was legislation favoring both neighborhood preservation and economic development, and the emergence of a grassroots reaction that ignited the historic preservation movement, so widely accepted today.

The struggling city of 1970 has been given new and vibrant life by that winning combination of public and private efforts and monies through the efforts of its own residents.

With a national reputation, Skidmore College is in every way a central institution in Saratoga life.

What could have been a disaster for Saratoga Springs, was changed into a major asset by one man, a caring bank, and historic tax credits.

Over fifty years later, the Holiday Inn remains a center of both convention and tourism business and a symbol of the resolute belief of Saratogians that with hard work and commitment, they can control their city’s destiny.

North Broadway is again what its developers intended it to be: the most desirable and elegant residential neighborhood in the city.

Throughout the state, the nation, and the world, there are almost 60,000 graduates who have achieved their academic goals through Saratoga Springs’ pioneering Empire State College.

An elaborate landscape imposed on a curious sheltered valley in the midst of a growing city, the park displays superb ornamental sculpture and other features added over many generations.

From small beginnings, Saratoga’s YMCA has grown into a dynamic community asset through the hard work and financial gifts of the city’s activist citizens.

More than fifty years after its opening night, SPAC remains Saratoga Springs’ preeminent cultural institution.

Through convention business, Saratoga Springs had permanently broken its old reputation of “The August Place to Be.” It is now “The Year-Round Place to Be."

Over half a century Saratogians have come to count on the Chamber of Commerce to identify and address the issues that affect the community’s vitality. And it hasn’t stopped innovating.

It brought together private business and government—successfully. Without the innovative model of SEDC, Saratoga County’s economy in 2019 would far less healthy and dynamic.