The Adirondack Council

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Wednesday, June 26, 2002

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

TUPPER LAKE, NY -- The NYS Assembly gave final passage today to legislation that would give staff of the soon-to-be-built Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks the ability to use state government borrowing authority and construction expertise to complete the project.

The bill was approved less than two weeks after the Adirondack Council urged the Assembly to pass the bill, even though it was sponsored by a member of the minority party. Bills sponsored by legislators from minority parties often have difficulty getting to the floor of either house for a vote.

"We are very pleased that the Assembly Speaker Silver looked beyond the partisan politics of the Legislature to approve this bill in the waning days of the session," said Adirondack Council Acting Executive Director Bernard C. Melewski. "Obviously, he sees this as a worthy project and one that will benefit the entire state, not just Tupper Lake."

On 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 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.

"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 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.