State completes $6M waterfront environmental education center at Green Lakes State Park

MANLIUS, N.Y. — Crews have completed a $6 million “makeover” of the Green Lakes State Park waterfront, including a new year-round environmental-education center.

The project converted a deteriorated, 1940s boat house on Green Lake into a “modern facility” to house park events and boost environmental-education programming. The “historic boathouse materials were disassembled and meticulously rebuilt away from the water’s edge,” as described in a news release from the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The new 1,100-square-foot center includes indoor classroom/multipurpose space and restrooms in the building. It also has an outdoor classroom, lakefront boardwalk, canoe/kayak landing, new boat-rental booth, and storage racks.

As part of the project, New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation completed work to improve the park ecosystem, Cuomo’s office said. It included restoring the lake edge, redirecting storm water to constructed wetlands and bioswales/bioretention basins, upgrading electric systems, and rehabilitating the “deteriorated” West Beach parking area with green elements.

The project at Central New York’s “most-visited state park is made possible” by a public-private partnership through Cuomo’s NY Parks 2020 initiative, Cuomo’s office said.

The project also complements “Central NY Rising,” the region’s economic-development blueprint.

Other elements

A public-private partnership led by the Central Regional State Parks Commission raised $1 million in donations and grants for the project. It also included providing exhibits on the formation and science of the park’s rare meromictic lakes, wildlife and “unique” habitats, a large topographic park map, people and the park through history, and an activity kiosk to highlight many things to do at Green Lakes State Park through an interactive touch screen.

The center will help enhance environmental-education programs in the park, including school field trips funded by the Connect Kids transportation grant program, Cuomo’s office contends.

The Connect Kids to Parks Field Trip Grant Program (Connect Kids) is a field-trip refund grant program “connecting New York schoolchildren with nature and New York State history,” according to the website of the state Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Department.

Empire State Trail

In addition, State Parks completed a $2 million project to upgrade the deteriorated 12-mile section of the Old Erie Canal State Historic Park from Green Lakes State Park to Canastota.

The project installed new stone dust surfacing for much of the pathway as well as a paved asphalt surface on a 1.6-mile section in Chittenango from Lakeport Road east to Canaseraga Road.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com