BrightView Transforms Historic New York Performing Arts Venue

Located on the grounds of Saratoga Spa State Park in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., is the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), a venue that hosts some of the nation’s most renowned performing arts groups, including the New York City Ballet and Philadelphia Orchestra. BrightView partnered with SPAC to revive the amphitheater’s lawn in preparation for the facility’s 50th anniversary season.

SPAC recently has struggled to keep the lawn presentable due to heavy traffic damaging the lawn’s root system. SPAC’s facility committee, state parks officials, and BrightView worked together to create a plan that would give the lawn a fighting chance.

“This project is far from a normal maintenance job,” said Rob Panarese, BrightView Branch Manager. “It is a unique site with plenty of information that had to be considered in order to put together a sustainable solution.”

BrightView presented SPAC with three solutions and a decision was made to cover the lawn with 75,000 square feet of new sod.  The BrightView team also put down 40 tons of sand under the grass to ease compaction and better enable the roots to grow.

“The old lawn was not retaining water and would turn into mud,” said Sue Westervelt, Account Manager at BrightView. “The new grass will require ongoing maintenance to be sustainable but is surely a much more beautiful and comfortable environment for guests.” 

The $75,000 project was paid for with a donation from Live Nation and gifts from three SPAC board members. It is the first time new sod has been installed since the amphitheater was constructed in 1965. The sod was installed in September to provide adequate time for it to take root before the concert season. BrightView teams will continue working throughout the summer to water, fertilize, and reseed the lawn between events.

“We’ve already had a chance to see the lawn exhibit an extensive root system for the first time in many years,” Westervelt said. “There were just 26,000 people on the lawn for a Mumford & Sons concert and before we could even water it the grass stood right back up.”

Our New York team is proud to partner with SPAC to completely revitalize one of New York State’s most notable arts venues.

We’ve already had a chance to see the lawn exhibit an extensive root system for the first time in many years. There were just 26,000 people on the lawn for a Mumford & Sons concert and before we could even water it the grass stood right back up.
- Sue Westervelt, Account Manager at BrightView