by Bea Peterson
On Friday, February 19, the ax fell on the NYS Bennington Battlefield Historic Site, 38 NYS State Parks and 10 other NYS Historic Sites when Governor Patterson announced their planned closings due to budget cuts. Several other Parks and Historic Sites will have portions of their facilities closed, and others will have some programs and services eliminated. All told, 84 parks and historic sites are affected. Four million dollars in the NYSPR&HS budget shortfall will be made up by increased fees at the remaining 179 State parks and 25 historic sites. Another five million will come from the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) to finance OPR&HP operations.
Parks and Sites to be closed in the Saratoga-Capital Region include the Battlefield, Hudson River Islands State Park, John Boyd Thacher State Park, John Brown Farm Historic Site, Johnson Hall State Historic Site, Max V. Shaul State Park, Schodack Island State Park, Schoharie Crossing Historic Site and Schuyler Mansion Historic Site. Schodack Island and the Battlefield are in Rensselaer County. It appears three other parks in the County, Grafton Lakes, Cherry Plain and Fort Crailo are untouched at this point.
Last year Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino worked with the State, Friends of Schodack Island and the Town of Schodack to keep the roads plowed and that Park open through the winter. She said she is very willing to work with the Town of Hoosick and Village of Hoosick Falls to see about keeping the Battlefield open as well. Jimino wrote to Parks Commissioner Carol Ash before the announcement and asked that she be notified of County Park and Site closings so “that local officials are afforded the opportunity to look for ways to limit the impact of those cuts on our residents until the State can resume its sufficient support of park operations.” She noted the agreement regarding Schodack Island, and she continued, “Based on the success of that collaboration between State and local governments I believe the fiscal crisis affecting us all need not diminish the vital respite that the State parks provide to our residents.” She did not receive a response before the closings were announced.
Dan Keefe of NYSPR&HS confirmed that the State is open to working with local groups and municipalities that have financial and organizational means to take over some of the operations of the closed parks. He said there would have to be a formal management agreement between the State and local government and/or not-for-profit and there would have to be liability insurance coverage. He guesstimated the cost to keep the Battlefield open for the season would be $20,000.
Hoosick Town Supervisor Keith Cipperly, Friends of the Battlefield organizer and past Town Supervisor Marilyn Douglas and Vintage Voices Director Phyllis Chapman believe the majority of that cost is for mowing the grass.
Jimino said it was “good to hear the state was willing to work with us. I’m glad they are open to that kind of agreement. I am willing to work with Hoosick and Hoosick Falls to replicate the Schodack agreement. This is a critical time, and our residents need to have access to our Parks. Many of them do not have the ability to take their families on a vacation, and State Parks offer them relief from their day to day routines.”
The Town of Hoosick already has an agreement with the State regarding the Battlefield and the Barnett House. Cipperly said he has been playing phone tag with Grafton Lakes Director John Lowe about what the Town wants to do this year regarding the Park. GLSP oversees the management of the Bennington Battlefield. The phone calls started before the closure was announced. Cipperly said he is willing to do whatever it takes to keep the Battlefield open.
Battlefield Successes
The Bennington Battlefield is open daily from May through September and on weekends through October. The Friends of the Battlefield and the Vintage Voices have programs at the Barnett House through the summer. In the last five years there have been more events and attendance has been higher. Last year 15,393 people visited the site during the five months it was open.
Local people frequently open and close the Battlefield as part of the agreement the Town already has with the State. According to Phyllis Chapman, the Town has made improvements to the road to the Barnett House. Chapman has added furnishings and interpretive materials to the Victorian home and enhanced the porch/sales area admirably. “We’ve invested in this site believing in its importance,” she said. “The better we make it, the more often it will be visited.” Those who have signed the guest book include visitors from the entire east coast, Denmark, Germany, Australia and Alaska.
It is one thing to go to the Battlefield, look over the site and read the display boards in place there. A tour of the Barnett House with its maps and layout of the battle give a much clearer picture of what happened all those years ago. Douglas said, “Closing the Battlefield is taking away our heritage. Many people visit the Saratoga battle site and then come this way, stop here and go on to Bennington.” The summer camps held at the Barnett House have opened fascinating historic vistas to youngsters.
As for the Victorian house, said Chapman, “It’s closed all winter, and the heat is lowered. It’s opened three afternoons a week in the summer and for special events, so very little electricity is used, and no heat.” As for liability, Town employees are covered by the Town, and Chapman has insurance for the Vintage Voices. Chapman believes it is the duty of the State and the National government to preserve these historic places. “Preserving State and Federal sites should not be debatable,” said Chapman. “They are a public trust.”
She and Douglas both believe vandalism will occur if the Park and the House remain closed. “The road to the Barnett House will be a through road,” said Chapman, “once the bridge is finished in May.”
A million dollars in stimulus money was used to remove the old bridge across the Walloomsac River and replace it. All that remains to be done is the placement of the bridge itself on the new piers. The bridge was reconstructed to give better access to the Cottrell Road portion of the battlefield and to eliminate traffic having to pull out onto a blind curve on Route 67.
The Bennington Battlefield road is lined with 32 maple trees, planted in memory of Hoosick veterans who died in WW II. Some of the trees themselves have died and new ones have been planted by the Sons of the American Revolution.
In 2007, in celebration of the 230th anniversary of the battle, over 150 re-enactors spent an August weekend encamped on actual battle land off Cottrell Road. The State purchased the land at that time and increased the Park’s size to over 400 acres.
There is no doubt County Executive Jimino, County Legislators Stan Brownell and Lester Goodermote, Town Supervisor Cipperly, Friends of the Battlefield and the Vintage Voices all want to see the Bennington Battlefield Historic Site remain open. At some point they will all have to come together and talk. Then they will have to meet with State officials to see what it will take and what it will cost to keep the Battlefield open. It is important to keep the momentum going to allow more locals and visitors to view and enjoy their heritage.