West Brook Conservation Initiative - Lake George

In the News: Lake George festival park concept plans endorsed by county board (Post-Star, posted August 23, 2011)

Project Update, courtesy of the Fund for Lake George:

The West Brook Conservation Initiative continues to make solid progress to build a new stormwater treatment system for the benefit of Lake George and an environmental park and festival space at the site of the former Gaslight Village. Rough-grading work has been completed on the south parcel as the first steps for the new stormwater treatment system. Work is actively underway now to clear the north parcel of the former Gaslight Village buildings. The Opera House, carousel building, and several small buildings have all been razed and cleared as has the go-cart racetrack in the southwest corner of the north parcel. The Cavalcade of Cars building has been razed and its debris is being cleared. All other buildings will also be cleared this week.

Now that the site is cleared, this ambitious project makes an important transition. The design for the stormwater treatment facility on the south parcel was driven largely by stormwater engineering. The design for the environmental park on north parcel will be driven largely by public recreational and educational amenities that help to draw people to the site. These recreational and educational features will link the south and north parcels. They will emphasize the history of the site, its environmental importance and function, the importance of Lake George to the local economy and quality of life, as well as provide hands-on interpretation about stormwater and aquatic systems.

The West Brook Conservation Initiative Project Management Committee, which includes the Village of Lake George, Warren County, the FUND for Lake George, Lake George Association and Lake George Land Conservancy, is holding a Charrette Week July 11-14th at the Fort William Henry to gather ideas from the general public about what you would like to see for this new park. In many ways this project is a blank canvas and we're looking for ideas for features to include in this park.

Click here for an information flyer about the public input sessions and here for a full schedule. Now is the time to come and share your ideas and tell us your hopes for this new environmental park.

Elan Planning, Design and & Landscape Architecture has been awarded a contract to develop a design concept for this project. Elan staff will facilitate the public input sessions as they have a long history and work experience with public process and design. Elan is joined by Points North Communications, Hoffman Architects, and CT Male Associates to complete this work.

The demolition work will be followed by actions to stabilize the site. This summer portions of the stabilized north parcel will be used by the Village of Lake George for parking and other municipal events. The design concept should be prepared and approved by mid-fall with construction plans developed over the winter. Construction of the new park will be undertaken in 2012-13.

 

Project Background:

Together, the Lake George Land Conservancy, Lake George Association and the Fund for Lake George are working in partnership to transform the dilapidated Gaslight Village area into an environmental park and protect vulnerable upland headwater areas. This $15 million effort is the biggest environmental project ever attempted on Lake George.

On January 22, 2008 LGLC purchased the 1,436-acre Berry Pond tract in southern Lake George, marking the largest dollar purchase in LGLC history and the largest acreage purchased at one time from a single landowner. The purchase, made possible in part through a loan from the Open Space Conservancy and funding provided by the Helen V. Froehlich Foundation, was an integral step in the West Brook Conservation Initiative as the property includes the headwaters of West Brook.