Downtown Revitalization: Park and Elm

Written by Melissa Downer on September 21, 2022. Posted in Business, Community, Downtown, Featured, Food.

An artist rendering of the finished Park & Elm. — **ADK Studios’ artist rendering of the Park & Elm Restaurant.**

The revitalization of downtown is being taken one step further with the development of a renovated multi-use building set to open this fall.

Elizabeth Miller and her son Ben Miller, who own the Park Theater and Doc’s Restaurant, purchased the property on the corner of Park and Elm Streets in 2019 with the vision to expand their business and open up space for more parking for events at the theater and restaurant. Formerly, the building was the home of Look TV.

“This is just a natural expansion for us,” Ben Miller said, “We are very excited to share this new operation with the public.”

The building will house a new fine dining restaurant, aptly named Park and Elm, and a deli and market on the first floor, and 10 apartments on the second and third floors. The deli will have a full butcher counter that will have the same cuts of meat served at the restaurant, and the market will sell fresh and local produce, eggs and dairy from area farms, including Miller’s own Sunset Farm in Queensbury. It will also have household items such as dish soap, paper towels and toilet paper.

**ADK Studios’ rendering of the Park & Elm Restaurant and Market.**

“The deli and market will be under the same umbrella as the fine-dining restaurant, using many of the same ingredients,” Ben said. “We will offer fast, casual breakfast and lunch sandwiches, house baked bread, and grab-and-go meals.”

Full and half pan to-go meals will be available for purchase as well.

The apartments are a mix of one and two bedroom apartments ranging from 700 square feet to almost 2,000 square feet. Rent will range from $1,300 to $1,900 per month.

Elizabeth stated that Park and Elm will be a great addition to downtown because currently, Doc’s is closed to the public often due to private events. Moving forward, Doc’s will only be open when there are events at the Park Theater. Park and Elm will give the public an option now, while Doc’s was usually closed. Ben added that they will consider private events at Park and Elm on a case-by-case basis.

A large motivation for this development for Elizabeth is parking.

“We wanted to make parking more viable for our customers and that area of town,” she said, adding that parking has been a problem for the Park Theater and Doc’s.

**ADK Studios’ artist rendering of the Park & Elm Market.**

Cifone Construction is handling the renovations. Plans were held up due to COVID-19, however that did not deter the Millers from moving forward.

“Construction didn’t come to a complete halt, but the pandemic did slow things down a bit,” Ben said. “We are just really excited to be able to share this publicly soon.”

Between the restaurant and the deli and market, there will be at least 8-10 job openings. There will also be a need for events at the Park Theater. Executive Chef Matthew J. Delos will continue his role at Park and Elm as well as at Doc’s for special events.

Elizabeth purchased the Park Theater in 2014 and with Cifone Construction, renovated the building, originally built in 1911. The Park Theater reopened as a state-of-the-art performing arts center, featuring national and international touring performers, as well as local community artists and productions.