Summer 2005

Hawkins Point Visitors Center Is Now ‘Officially’ Open

It’s now official. New York Power Authority trustees and North Country elected leaders attended a ceremonial ribbon cutting on July 26 marking the formal grand opening of NYPA’s Hawkins Point Visitors Center.

The new $5 million facility, which replaces the original visitors center located inside NYPA’s St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project, had actually been receiving guests since early June. But July’s festivities, timed to follow Authority-related business meetings held inside the visitors center that morning, gave NYPA officials a chance to celebrate the North Country’s latest attraction with the public.

A picnic lunch for local residents and NYPA employees immediately followed the ceremony’s speeches and ribbon cutting. Among the local officials participating in the grand opening were state Senator Jim Wright, Assemblyman Darrel Aubertine, Town of Massena Supervisor Sandy Cook and Village of Massena Mayor Ken MacDonnell. Many in the crowd of several hundred escaped the day’s heat and humidity by sampling some of the interactive displays inside the air-conditioned visitors center.

In welcoming participants and spectators to the afternoon event, newly elected Power Authority Chairman Joseph Seymour drew everyone’s attention to the St. Lawrence-FDR project, situated just across the South Channel and visible from both inside and outside the new visitors center.

“Today marks a new era for our power project visitors center,” Seymour said. “The panoramic view of the international power dam across the St. Lawrence River underscores the Herculean efforts of those that came before us in harnessing one of North America’s mightiest waterways for clean, low-cost electricity that is absolutely essential to this region.”

Both NYPA’s original St. Lawrence-FDR visitors center, which opened in 1959, and the new facility at Hawkins Point were built to help the public understand the science of hydroelectricity and energy issues in general. More than 5 million visitors experienced the power project’s first center before it was closed for security reasons shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

At Hawkins Point, as part of a recently accomplished power project relicensing, NYPA expanded the site’s parking area, improved an existing boat launch ramp and added a handicapped-accessible fishing pier. The 14,000-square-foot visitors center, designed by Bernier Carr & Associates of Watertown and built by H. Schickel General Contracting of Malone, and its surrounding grounds are intended to serve as a community resource, offering local organizations space for meetings and other special events.

(photo caption - NYPA’s Hawkins Point Visitors Center is formally opened by, from left: Massena Town Supervisor Sandy Cook, Massena Village Mayor Ken MacDonnell, NYPA Regional Manager Allen Schriver, Assemblyman Darrel Aubertine, Senator Jim Wright, NYPA President and CEO Eugene Zeltmann, Chairman Joseph Seymour, Vice Chairman Frank McCullough Jr., and Trustees Elise Cusack, Michael Townsend and Tim Carey.)

(photo caption - NYPA’s new Hawkins Point Visitors Center, above, includes popular exhibits like the pedal-powered bicycle generator, below.)

Recreational Site Improvements Prove Popular

Sometimes, on a hot summer day, it’s hard to remember the bitter cold of winter.

Likewise, the crowds of beach-goers enjoying NYPA-funded recreational improvements at North Country parks this season may not recall the aging facilities that have been replaced over the past year.

Power Authority trustees toured some of the rehabilitated sites on the day before their July 26 board meeting, which was held at NYPA’s recently opened Hawkins Point Visitors Center (see story, this page). Prior to their visit, the trustees were handed “before” and “after” photos of the parks to better appreciate the effort involved in bringing 1950s-era facilities up to 21st-century standards.

Better than any picture, however, was the opportunity for an up-close look at children and adults splashing at the water’s edge, enjoying new playground equipment and lunching in clean, comfortable picnic pavilions.

NYPA initiated some $19 million in recreational improvements as part of the federal relicensing of its St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project, whose construction included the development of thousands of acres of state and local parkland along the St. Lawrence River. The first three local parks to undergo renovations, completed at the start of this year’s summer season, were Massena Town Beach, Waddington Town Beach and Whittaker Park in the Village of Waddington. NYPA also made improvements at Lisbon Town Beach and at the Robert Moses and Coles Creek state parks.

In the next phase, begun this summer, new and improved amenities are under way at several sites in Massena, Louisville and Waddington. The Power Authority is adding improved boating and fishing facilities at Massena Intake Boat Launch; better golf course drainage and a new floating dock at Massena Country Club; and surface repairs to Richards Landing Dike Trail, which runs between the boat launch and the country club.

Whalen Park is receiving a new fishing platform, playground equipment and bathhouse improvements; NYPA will also add a new trail, picnic area and floating dock to Sand Island, located in the St. Lawrence River, just off Whalen Park.

Dock renovations, new benches and better landscaping are planned for Island View Park. And improvements have already been completed at two additional sites within nearby Coles Creek State Park, known as Sandy Beach and Car-Top Boat Launch.

Besides enhancing the overall condition of these facilities, NYPA’s renovations will bring all of the sites into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

(photo caption - Swimming and sunbathing at Massena Town Beach are more enjoyable this summer, thanks to a variety of NYPA-funded recreational improvements.)

(photo caption - Children enjoy playing along the water’s edge at Massena Town Beach.)

RN Notes

Staffers Receive Service Awards

Long-time employees at NYPA’s St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project, which marked 47 years of operation this summer, received recognition at a recent awards dinner for service anniversaries reached in 2004.

Seniority honors for the evening went to 40-year veteran Roger Clough, a hotstick lineman who now serves as business manager for IBEW Local 2032.

Recognition was also given to the following employees:

• 30 Years of Service – Michael Corcoran, Roland Glaude, Gregory Graves, Robert Hadler, Ronald O’Neil, Jerry Sharlow, Jerome Smith, Allen Tucker
• 25 Years of Service – James Annis, Murray Armstrong, Thomas Baker, Donna Cline, Steven Cook, Steven Crump, Ronnie LaDuke, Barry LaPierre, Gerald Maston, Robin McLaughlin, Richard Morgan, Terry Premo, Robert Raines, Jerry Siddon, Charles Tarbell, Richard Terry
• 20 Years of Service – Douglas Ackley, Francis Billings, Susan Haggett, Glenn Hollinger, Elwood Jessmer, Alton Kelly, Kirk Marlow, Steven O’Shaughnessy, Cheri Revai, William Siddon, Glenn Sternisha u

Visitors Center Calendar of Events

SEPTEMBER 18 Antique Truck Show

OCTOBER 13 Breast Health Presentation

OCTOBER 14 Mobile Mammography

October 29 Halloween Party

November 5 Pet Photos with “Santa Paws” (to benefit Spay Neuter Now)

December 11 Christmas Party

We welcome your comments. To contact us, call Carol Simpson, Community Relations, 315-764-0226, ext. 304.