Once a picturesque Adirondack-style lodging stop with small rustic cabins along the Kayaderosseras Creek, the Thorobred Motel on Route 9 in Malta has fallen into disrepair.
Engineers representing owner Andre Kumar have been working since 2002 to create a viable plan that would have to be endorsed by the town’s planning and zoning board as a way to breathe new life into the business.
It’s been a very long process, said Dave Carr of the LA Group. `The owner can’t make a living with its existing use; he’s trying to make this business work.`
Carr addressed the town council Monday, Nov. 26, at its regular agenda and project review meeting.
Built in 1946, the cluster of cabins and one main building with a few rooms are located across Route 9 from the Roosevelt Hotel. The cabins and main building are now closed up. At its heyday in the 1960s and ’70s, with its tantalizing location just minutes from downtown Saratoga Springs, it was an affordable vacation spot for people visiting the city and the racetrack.
But the location isn’t all a positive thing, since the 14 acres of land are sandwiched between wetlands, and there are now just 3 acres of usable land left at the site.
`You’re trying to squeeze a large building on less than 3 acres; there’s a lot to look at here,` said council member Cliff Lange.
Environmental challenges face the project planners.
The hope is to eventually demolish the cabins and convert the property into a building with 49 rooms and 59 parking spaces. Original plans, rejected by the town board, called for creating more than 75 rooms at the site. There are no longer water and sewer services at the area, as the original septic system was closed down by the state health department years ago. Now, the plan is to create a bio-filtration system that could discharge into the creek.
`I can imagine 100 people coming in here to protest anything discharging into that creek,` said Lange.
Carr said the system would be designed and approved as an acceptable chemical treatment process.
Council member Donna Gizzi quizzed Carr on the potential benefits of the project to the town of Malta.
`We’d be improving an eyesore at one entry to the town, and adding to the tax base, since they are currently doing no business there,` said Carr. `There would also be public access added for people to go down to Kayderosseras Creek. Three years ago, the planning board saw access to the creek as a huge benefit.`
The board agreed to look more closely at the project in workshop sessions.
`There are so many conflicts with the wetlands here,` said Lange. `I don’t want to discourage anyone, but I see a real red light here.`
Carr said the owner has previously tried to sell the property without success.
`We knew there were a number of engineering issues, and we said three years ago they could try to work it out or it would stop this project dead,` said Carr. `This may be the last chance for this property as it is.“
