Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Ben Westcott, Chronicle Staff Writer
Afrim’s Sports of Albany is purchasing the Adirondack Sports Complex (aka “The Dome”) in Queensbury from Doug and Teresa Miller for $2,185,000 and said it will spend $1.1 million by April 30, 2026 to improve the facility.
It breaks down as $234,540 through a PILOT [payment in lieu of taxes], $40,250 in sales tax incentives, and $13,969 in mortgage tax incentives.
Owned by Afrim Nezaj, Afrim’s already runs five such facilities in the Capital Region. Its application said The Dome has 95,000 square feet of indoor playing surface and nine outdoor sports fields.
Afrim’s said it plans $100,000 of “immediate renovations,” the conversion of at least one outdoor field from grass to artificial turf within one to two years, and the expansion of parking lots to accommodate approximately 100 more spaces.
Afrim’s plans to replace the batting cages within The Dome with an additional basketball/volleyball court. It said it will also implement its youth program Soccer Kidz, open to children ages 2-9, with expectations of 750 to 1,000 participants. Four more soccer tournaments will also be added each year.
“Increased enrollment and use of the facilities will lead to the need for additional employees at The Dome,” Afrim’s said in its application. It said it intends ing to employ 8-10 full-time equivalents, up from the three individuals now.
The Dome does not sell custom merchandise now, but the new ownership, “with its locally known brand,” said it is looking to get in on that game. Afrim’s anticipates $50,000 in annual revenue from sale of merchandise at The Dome, and also expects food and drink sales to increase by about 25%.
Afrim’s application said, “The Adirondack Dome is an existing operation that was unable to operate successfully by the prior owner and has been operating at a loss. In order for the applicant to be successful in its operation of the facility it must control the initial overhead costs and expenses, enabling it to invest revenues back into the operation — creating more programs, leagues, events and tournaments.”
The application said that without financial assistance, “the municipality risks losing a principal provider of youth and adult sports and leagues and a major source for athletic fields and facilities.”
Wild & Magowan exchange words
At the June 21 Warren County Board of Supervisors meeting in which the financial assistance plan passed unanimously, Supervisor Mike Wild of Queensbury urged caution in issuing tax breaks to private businesses.
“This board and the ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) Committee decided to give the prior owner of this over $200,000,” Mr. Wild said.
He said that he asked during that process that “we dig into the financials to truly understand what we were doing and what the nature of that business was” but “was denied that request.”
Mr. Wild charged, “We now realize that what I was suspecting was true — that organization sold. That $200,000-plus dollars that we gave; my sense is it probably just turned into someone’s pocket.
“So we need to be careful going forward,” the supervisor warned. “But I still do support this resolution, because it is an asset that helps our county.”
Supervisor Brad Magowan, also of Queensbury, took umbrage at Mr. Wild’s remarks. “I take really great offense to him bringing this up again in a way of trying to slander someone who has worked so hard to keep a business surviving and had an opportunity to sell. I can guarantee you that no money was pocketed.”
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