State plans new environmental education center at Green Lakes State Park

MANLIUS, N.Y. — New York State plans to build a new environmental-education center at Green Lakes State Park in the town of Manlius.

The project is part of the “next phase” of the $16.9 million in projects at the state park, the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday.

Cuomo’s office refers to the work as a “transformation of Central New York’s most-visited state park.” Funding from Cuomo’s NY Parks 2020 initiative supports the work.

It also complements “Central NY Rising,” the region’s economic-development blueprint, which captured one of three $500 million prizes in Cuomo’s 2015 Upstate economic-development contest.

Cuomo’s office also announced “major improvements” at Green Lakes State Park “in time for the summer season,” including the renovation of the golf-course clubhouse, Pine Woods Campground, and park entrance.

“Green Lakes State Park is a crown jewel in the parks system and a vital resource for outdoor recreation and tourism in Central New York,” Cuomo said in a news release. “We are making great strides to preserve the unparalleled natural beauty of our state parks to help New York’s tourism economy reach new heights and attract more people to visit and stay longer in Central New York.”

“Gov. Cuomo’s Parks 2020 is about fixing, revitalizing, touching every park, all 215 parks and historic sites all throughout the state,” Rose Harvey, commissioner of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (New York State Parks), said in her remarks Wednesday at Green Lakes State Park.

Education center

New York State Parks this fall will begin a $6 million project to convert a deteriorated 1940s boat house on Green Lake into an environmental-education center.

Crews will move the boathouse back from the water’s edge, where it is exposed to flooding, and renovate it.

The new center will include new indoor classroom/multipurpose space; kitchenette and restrooms in the building; an outdoor classroom; lakefront boardwalk and canoe/kayak landing; new boat rental booth and storage racks; and a fishing pier.

A $500,000 grant from the Central regional economic-development council is supporting the project, Cuomo’s office said.

In conjunction with the education center, State Parks will undertake work to improve the park “ecosystem,” it added.

The work will include restoring the lake edge, redirecting stormwater to constructed wetlands and bioswales/bioretention basins, upgrading electric systems, and rehabilitating the “deteriorated” West Beach parking area with “green” elements.

Completed projects

New York State has already completed other projects at Green Lakes. They include a $4 million renovation of the golf-course clubhouse, featuring an improved patio with an outdoor dining area, new public restrooms, and an interior renovation of the clubhouse, including the kitchen and bar areas.

The work also included a $6.7 million renovation of the Pine Woods campground, which involved the addition of campsites with electric, water and sewer connections; two new restroom and shower buildings; and improved roads and infrastructure improvements to help protect the park’s “ecologically significant lakes,” Cuomo’s office said.

The state also spent $200,000 on rehabilitation, reconstruction, and maintenance of park trails, including erosion control, drainage, surface, directional and interpretive signage improvements on both lake trails, the Brookside Trail, as well as grassland trails and connectors.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com