Adirondack Studios at 50 years; employs 150 in Argyle, 300 world-wide

By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor

Situated in a non-descript former catheter factory on a curve of County Route 45 in Argyle, Adirondack Studios flies mostly under the local radar, but it’s no stretch to argue magic made here travels from Washington County around the world.

The company, which began as Adirondack Scenic, is marking its 50th year.

If you’ve experienced themed rides — Harry Potter, Star Wars, Indiana Jones — at Universal Studios, Disney or Six Flags amusement parks in the U.S., or in Shanghai or Dubai; if you’ve seen Disney’s Little Mermaid on Broadway or any number of operas around the country; if you’ve walked through an interactive museum or shopped at an eye-popping Wegman’s supermarket — you’ve had an Adirondack Studios experience likely created here in Argyle.

“We are a company that has created more smiles than any other company in the United States,” contends president Michael Blau.

“Three-hundred-and-fifty million people just in the last year have seen our work,” he said at the 50th anniversary party at the Queensbury Hotel in February, citing attendance figures at Disney and other theme parks, “let alone” the shoppers and museum goers.

Adirondack Studios designs and builds the decorative elements of attractions — not the carts of the rollercoaster, for example, but the visuals including moving bits that make the ride an experience, says founding owner and CEO Tom Lloyd.

The company employs about 150 people at its Argyle world headquarters and production facility, and 300 altogether across six global locations.

Adirondack Studios was born as Adirondack Scenic in 1975, in a similarly un-heralded though significantly smaller building on Route 28 in Warrensburg.

Mr. Lloyd, the late Chris Dettmer and Walter Blake founded the company as young guys out of college building sets for theater and opera in a converted dairy barn in Manhattan.

They moved operations and founded their “Scenic” company in Warrensburg, where Tom’s father David Lloyd ran the Lake George Opera Festival — which is where Tom says he first learned to build sets as a teen helping out the company and staying out of trouble.

After “a few years of starvation,” Mr. Lloyd says, “Two things happened. We got invited to do the 100 year anniversary show for General Electric,” which toured 46 cities in six weeks, “and then we got the The Bugs Bunny Follies, traveling stage show for kids. That took us to a level where we could actually survive.”

Local employees range from painters, sculptors and computer technicians to project managers, adminstrators, numbers crunchers and sales people.

Mr. Lloyd says, “Hundreds” of local artists, roofers and other creatives have found work at the facility.

“We decided to change to Adirondack Studios in the early 2000’s when we started doing more museum quality interactive work,” he said.

“We found the potential clientele was a bit stuffy about ‘scenery’ and felt it was temporary or cheap. We realized we were, in fact, a group of ‘studios’.”

Mr. Blau says, “We are an international company that is based here with an effort to stay in the region and to build a workforce that wants to stay with us. Many of our employees stay with us a very long time, and then their kids join us too.”

He said they draw from the local workforce, while also seeking “diverse” creatives from outside the region, and sending hometown staff to work around the world.

Mr. Blau says the relationship with Disney “took off” when Disney higher-ups recognized Adirondack Studio’s on-site synergy, with all the creative departments interacting together under one roof, which mirrored the Disney “Imagineering” approach.

“People come knocking all the time,” Mr. Blau says, looking to acquire the company. He says they aim to stay independent. It leaves them more room to look beyond just the bottom line.

“The legacy part is, we want to be proud of the work that we do, and if that costs us margin, that’s okay.

“When you bring in good people to solve client problems, to make people happy, you will get hired again.”

Below is a snapshot of the world and local impact of Adirondack Studios, from a series of interviews, a tour of the Argyle facility, the anniversary celebration and an excerpt from a new history of the company to be published later this year.

‘Adk. Studios’ by the numbers

• 50 years Adirondack Studios (originally Adirondack Scenic) celebrates its anniversary this year
• 3 originals, Tom Lloyd, Walter Blake and the late Chris Dettmer together formed Adirondack Scenic, Inc, in 1975
• 2 college programs connected them: Tom Lloyd and Chris Detmer met in the Northwestern University theater program in Chicago, and Mr. Lloyd met Walter Blake working in the tech department at Hunter College in New York
• 300 employees, world-wide
• 150 employed in Argyle, fabricators, artists, computer technitions, administrators and sales people based at world headquaters here
• 6 locations around the world: Global headquarters, production-design studio, sales and support in Argyle; production, design and sales in Orlando and Dubai; production and sales in Pasadena (California); plus sales and support offices in Shanghai and Singapore
• 5,000-6,000 projects, estimated they’ve completed over 50 years
• $3,000, to $60 million, range in cost of typical projects, from small items to major Disney attractions
• Nearly $500 million contributed to local economies, according to a celebratory proclamation by NYS Assembly members Matt Simpson and Carrie Woerner
• 5,000 square feet, size of orignal location on Route 28 in Warrensburg, currently Tumblehome Boat Restoration
• 127,000 square feet, size of current facility on Route 45 in Argyle, former site of David Sheridan’s original medical device manufacturing company, later Mallinckrodt Medical Catheter company
• 350 million people just last year have seen their work, company President Michael Blau reports
• 40-60 live projects in the works at any time, between the six locations
• Two-thirds: Percentage of 2025 sales goal met by late March this year. Most of the contracted work is still to be created
• 30 years, carpenter Eric Anderson has worked for Adirondack Studios, one of numerous long-term local employees
• 26 THEA awards, by the Themed Entertainment Association, from Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim California, and Waterworld at Universal Studios Hollywood in 1996, to Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea this year, 2025
• 2 million colored Jelly Belly jelly beans laquered in place to decorate a giant ice cream sundae sculpture for the 2004 grand opening of Jordan’s Furniture interactive store in Reading, Mass. The trick: Make them stay long-term, not melt, and not attract bugs or critters
• 10,000 fiberglass panels made by Adirondack Studios to replicate the interior of the Millennuim Falcon for the entry queue for a Disney’s Star Wars ride
• 33 billion hits on Instagram and other social media for Citrovia, a construction scaffolding pedestrian walk-through in Manhattan that Adk. Studios reimagined for the building developer into a lemon-themed attraction in 2021-22
• $200 million worth of 30-year leases, sold out that developer’s project before it was yet completed, in part based on the Citrovia hype, Michael Blau touts
• 12 weeks, expected current lead time to get specialized wood panels, steel and aluminum materials required for projects, with supply and demand issues
• 12 representatives of the Answers in Genesis Christian amusement attraction in Southwest Kentucky who visited last month to view the mock-up of a new walk-through attraction ASI is making

Some milestones for Adk. Scenic/Studios

List edited from Owner and Founding Principal Tom Lloyd’s memories; comments are his
• 1975: Opened Adirondack Scenic, Inc., on Feb. 19 on Route 28 Warrensburg. “Rough times”
• 1975: Set building for Lake George Opera, Empire State Youth Theatre, corporate meetings and special events
• 1977: “Big break,” landing Bugs Bunny Follies, touring arena kids shows
• 1978: “Big break,” landing GE 100 Years Touring Celebration. “Led to 30 years of top level GE events globally”
• 1978: Key clients Greater Miami Opera, Baltimore Opera, Philadelphia Opera. Won an Emmy for the Philly Opera Pavarotti Competition La Boheme, designed by Franco Colavecchia
• 1978: Helped Bob Flacke, consulting on Glens Falls Civic Center design
• 1980: Lake Placid Olympics, Production Managed the Fine Arts Festival. “Built a bunch of Rings & Podiums”
• 1981: Moved to 20 Elm Street, Glens Falls, in the former Clark Bros. Thread Mill, now The Mill
• 1981: Engaged by Irvin Feld to provide sets for Disney’s Magic Kingdom on Ice. “Led to multiple Feld productions, including Ringling Bros. Circus and Seigfried & Roy in Vegas”
• 1981: First Broadway show, Aren’t We All, starring Claudette Colbert
• 1981: Busch Gardens live shows, “paving the way for expansion into amusement parks”
• 1989: Moved to EPIC Ventures building in South Glens Falls
• 1989: Attractions for Universal Studios Florida “launched theme park expansion”
• 1989: Batman Stunt Shows for Six Flags Parks, with Peter Alexander’s Totally Fun Company
• 1989: Universal Hollywood designs for ET and Back to the Future
• 1991: Returned to 20 Elm Street for “more quality paint space while reducing rental space in South Glens Falls”
• 1991: Added Casino businesses Foxwoods, Las Vegas, Atlantic City
• 1991: Magic acts: Designed and built shows for Peter Reveen the Impossiblist, Lance Burton, Seigfried & Roy, Mark Kalin & Ginger
• 1991: First Middle East project with Majid Al Futtaim in Dubai; several more followed, which led to first Family Entertainment Center in Makkah, Mecca
• 1996: Wegman’s Food Markets, began 30-year relationship creating decorative elements for stores
• 2001: Moved to Argyle, on Route 45
• 2001: Returned to Dubai after 9/11, “but serious problems with economy there”
• 2001: Revenge of the Mummy for Universal Singapore
• 2001: Started Adirondack Asia Pte. Ltd. in Singapore, “subsequent many projects”
• 2001: Returned to Dubai for Motiongate, major installations for Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon. Opened a UAE Office and Studio
• 2001: Opened Shanghai office
• 2001: Became Walt Disney Imagineering trusted provider, working with Disney Attractions in Orlando, Anaheim, Tokyo, Paris, and for their cruise lines
• 2001: Added owners Michael Blau (now Principal and President), Louie Allen, Tamara Bentley, Joel Krasnove. Also: Mike Marko, Matt Reardon, Greg Almy, Adrian Magowan
• 2001: Expanded Orlando Studios to add major production space
• 2001: Opened Pasadena Office
• 2005: Changed working name to Adirondack Studios to better reflect the scope of work. Still officially Adirondack Scenic, Inc.
• 2021: Citronia immersive lemon grove inside a Manhattan scaffolding walk-through generates 33 billion social media interactions
• 2025: 25th anniversary celebration, themed “Make a Scene”

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