See inside abandoned New York state prison for sale in Saratoga County

What would you do with an abandoned state prison with dormitories, a gymnasium, a lake, a Mission-style 1915 chapel and almost 100 other structures in one of the most visited parts of Upstate New York?

July 7 is the last day to submit proposals to New York state to turn the former Mount McGregor Correctional Facility into something else.

For sale is a 325-acre site in Saratoga County - half-way between Saratoga Springs and Glens Falls.

Another 750 acres on the site will be given to the NYS Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to add to neighboring Moreau Lake State Park. Also next door is the Grant Cottage State Historic Site, where President Ulysses S. Grant wrote his memoirs over the last six weeks of his life in 1885.

The prison was vacated in 2014 to save money and respond to a shrinking prisoner population.

The 325 acres for sale includes 100 structures ranging in age from 1913 to 2007 and totaling 550,000 square feet. The site is eligible for a listing on the National Historic Register.

Before McGregor housed prisoners, it housed wealthy hotel guests, tuberculosis patients and returning World War II veterans.

Duncan McGregor built a hotel on the summit in the 19th century. The hotel was later redeveloped as a luxury resort called the Hotel Balmoral, which burned in 1897.

Next, it was turned into a tuberculosis sanitarium owned by the Metropolitan Life Insurance company. In 1945, it became a rest camp for veterans returning from World War II.

In 1960, it became the Rome Developmental Center for the care of developmentally disabled people. In 1976, it became a minimum security prison and later split between minimum and medium-security.

Local officials have some ideas for redevelopment: Tourism, agricultural activities, food processing, transportation and logistics, green energy and semi-conductor manufacturing.
It is not far from the popular Saratoga Race Course horse track and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Albany is 45 minutes away by car.

The winning proposal could be eligible for at least $8 million in state help as well as federal historic tax credits.

Find out more about the site and selection criteria on the Empire State Development website.

Contact Michelle Breidenbach anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-470-3186.

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