The Adirondack Council

News Release

Released Sunday, June 16, 2002

For more information: John F. Sheehan, 518-432-1770

TUPPER LAKE, NY -- The Adirondack Council called on the NYS Assembly to pass legislation during the final week of the legislative session that would give the soon-to-be-built Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks the ability to use state government borrowing authority and construction expertise.

On Friday (June 14) the Adirondack Park Agency gave final approval to the development plan proposed by the natural history museum’s staff. Construction can begin as soon as financing is in place. When constructed, the museum will sit on a 31-acre parcel along a bend in the Raquette River. It is expected to employ 30 people and bring as many as 100,000 additional visitors to Tupper Lake annually.

"The natural history museum’s fund raising efforts have been excellent and they expect to be able to build at least the first phase of the project using the funds they have been raising from primarily private donations," said Adirondack Council Acting Executive Director Bernard C. Melewski. "But the folks who will be running the museum would like to call on the NYS Dormitory Authority for assistance in dealing with contractors and builders.

"In addition," he said, "the museum’s staff have told us Dormitory Authority’s purchasing power can provide discounts on equipment, furnishings and fixtures that would allow the museum to devote more of its money to the displays and educational presentations and less on the nuts and bolts of building and running the facility."

The museum is more than half way to its goal of raising $20 million for the first phase of the project. The bill granting the museum the ability to cooperate directly with the Dormitory Authority (S. 6091-a/A. 9715-a; Stafford/Little) has already passed the NYS Senate and is awaiting action in the Assembly’s Ways and Means Committee, Melewski said.

"The Natural History Museum will contain live exhibits of the Park’s flora and fauna, with a special emphasis on hands-on research," Melewski said. "It will make a wonderful complement to the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, which focuses primarily on the human and cultural history of the Adirondacks."

The Legislative session is due to conclude on Thursday, June 20.

"There should be no reason for the Assembly to let this bill die in committee," said Melewski. "It might not seem that important to the average legislator, but the success of the museum would make a huge difference for the economy of Tupper Lake and for the laudable goal of teaching people why the Adirondack Park is such a valuable and special place."

The Adirondack Council is an 18,000-member, privately funded, not-for-profit organization dedicated to protecting and enhancing the natural character and human communities of the Adirondack Park through research, education, advocacy and legal action.