GLSP Shows Off Its New Welcome Center
By Doug La Rocque
The Commissioner of the New York State Office of Parks and Recreation, Rose Harvey, was joined last Wednesday, April 18 by other state officials, Park Manager Melissa Ann Miller and Grafton Town Supervisor Ingrid Gundrum, at the dedication ceremony for the Grafton Lakes State Park’s new Welcome Center. The 3.2 million dollar facility will provides indoor and outdoor year round space to host enhanced educational, recreational and volunteer programming as well as park offices.
The center is located at the north end of the Long Pond Beach parking lot with a boardwalk trail to the main beach nearby, and most park activities. Other highlights include exhibit areas to highlight the ecology of the park and the Rensselaer Plateau, an outdoor patio with terraced seating and a fire pit, as well as an indoor wood-burning hearth. The center also contains an information desk and interactive orientation kiosk.
There is an adjacent playground as well that includes a replica of the park’s Dickinson Hill fire tower. Supervisor Gundrum tells The Eastwick Press, the new center dovetails well with the town’s motto “beauty is all about us” and is a great enhancement to a visitor’s experience at GLSP. “This new facility helps point out that Grafton is a focal point of year ’round recreational activities for the Capital Region.”
Grafton Lakes welcomes approximately 250,000 visitors annually, with six scenic ponds, 25 miles of trails for nature walks, hikes, biking and horse riding, as well as canoeing, kayaking or fishing on its ponds. In the winter trails are groomed for snowmobiling and visitors may also enjoy snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, ice skating and ice fishing.
The new Welcome Center will host a community celebration on Saturday, May 26 from 11 am until 1 pm. The event features an open house with live animals and refreshments and is included in the entry fee to the park for the day.