SUNY Adk opens new Culinary Center
GLENS FALLS, N.Y. >> SUNY Adirondack student Amber Rojcewicz can take a full complement of courses without ever setting foot on the school’s main campus in Queensbury.
Everything she needs is available at the college’s new Culinary Arts Center, in downtown Glens Falls, where more than 150 people turned out Wednesday for a ribbon cutting to officially open the new facility.
The 8,100-square-foot center, which includes the student-run restaurant, Seasoned, is in on the ground floor of a large mixused building owned by Saratoga Springs developer, Bonacio Construction, at 14 Hudson Ave., near Glens Falls Hospital. “There’s a huge kitchen and two classrooms as well,” said Rojcewicz, of Fort Ann. “This will definitely make it easier for me to get a job around the Glens Falls area.”
Other courses she needs, such as English, are taken online.
SUNY Adirondack President Kathleen Duffy said, “It was nearly two years ago that we began visualizing an opportunity to bring a portion of the college’s program to downtown Glens Falls. Our goal is to partner in new ways to support the workforce needs of our hotels and restaurants. This project is truly the epitome of, ‘It takes a village’.”
The culinary center is one of eight projects funded in part by $10 million the City of Glens Falls obtained under the state’s new Downtown Revitalization Initiative.
Food served in the restaurant will be locally-sourced from area farms including King Brothers Dairy and Thomas Poultry, in Northumberland, creating a new market for their goods and products.
The center’s spacious kitchen is named for Bonacio Construction and its development partner, the Schenectady-based Galesi Group, whose president, Dave Buicko, presented Duffy with a ceremonial check for $75,000.
“We don’t just invest in one project in a community,” Buicko said. “We invest in many projects.”
Duffy cited the role of former Glens Falls mayor and current Warren County Economic Development Corp. President Ed Bartholomew in helping the center become reality. Having students work and study in Glens Falls contributes to the city’s ongoing efforts at creating a vibrant, energetic downtown, she said.
The new culinary center cost about $1.9 million. Downtown Revitalization Initiative funding provided $600,000, and another $500,000 came from an Empire State Development capital grant.
Sarah Crowell, of the state Department of State, said the center will train a new generation of chefs while creating a new des-
tination restaurant. It’s the first project in New York to open under the Downtown Revitalization program, she said.
The 100-seat, studentrun restaurant is scheduled to open in October, giving students first-hand experience in all aspects of kitchen and dining management. A bake shop will offer breads, bagels, cakes, pies and cookies.
Lunch menu items will be served every Tuesday and Thursday from Oct. 10 to Dec. 6. During the same time frame, four-course gourmet dinners ($24.95) comprised of an appetizer, intermezzo, entre and dessert, will be available on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Reservations are preferred. For more information, call (518) 832-7725 or email: culinary@sunyacc.edu.