Great Sacandaga Lake Discovery Center project hits snag as costs soar

Fulton County applying for funds to cover $8M price tag for visitors center to be built outside of Northville

By James M. Odato

Fulton County leaders are pursuing millions of dollars to plug a gaping hole in the budget for a visitors center at the southwest gateway to the Adirondacks.

The timeline to create the Great Sacandaga Lake Discovery Center, to be located just outside the village of Northville, stalled after officials opened four bids for discovery center construction June 25.

The original estimated price tag, $1.2 million, grew to $8.4 million. The county legislature’s finance committee voted on July 3 to halt contract progress on the project until at least $3.3 million can be found.

The center is one of three projects the county is pursuing in its push to draw visitors to a region whose economy once benefited from leather factories and now leans on tourism.

Applying for grants, looking to IDA to help cover costs

County Administrator Jon Stead said county staff recently filed a grant application for about $1 million with the Regional Economic Development Council for state funds. A second application, for a program announced in May called ACHIEVE, is being drafted. It would request enough money to fill the gap. 

The competitive grant awards likely won’t be announced until year’s end, Stead said. He said he is also relying on the county industrial development agency providing funds to help the project.

After a pitch from Stead in July, the IDA agreed to transfer proceeds from the proposed sale of 50 acres at the Perth’s Tryon Technology Park to Niagara Bottling plus administrative fees assessed on the project, potentially $2.87 million. 

The California bottler proposes a $200 million project including a 510,000 square-foot plant, said Scott Henze, IDA executive director.

The transaction could be completed next year, he said.

Although Stead said he was anticipating higher costs because of “tariff wars” and “made in America” mandates from Washington, D.C., the four prime contracts for the discovery center came in “considerably higher” than expected.

County finance leaders are reluctant to tap local taxpayers for more of the discovery center’s cost at a time when social services funding — for things like food stamps and Medicaid  — may be cut by the federal government, said Finance Committee Vice Chair Christina VanValkenburgh. She also said borrowing is undesired.

“I don’t know if you’re going to get your return on investment,” VanValkenburgh, supervisor of Johnstown, said about the discovery center project.

Plans for the project

The project is planned to provide a deep history of the creation of the Great Sacandaga Lake, formed nearly 100 years ago by flooding a valley of communities and construction of dam to prevent flooding downstream along the Hudson River.

Planners envision the discovery center as drawing visitors along the Route 30 corridor who may be heading to northern destinations such as the Adirondack Experience at Blue Mountain Lake and the Wild Center in Tupper Lake, while offering locals, particularly students, opportunities to learn history and conduct water and fisheries research as part of “trout in the classroom” programs.

The center site is close to the southern start of the Northville-to-Lake Placid (NPT) hiking trail at the Northville Village Waterfront Park. Planners are proposing changing the course to include discovery center property, redirecting hikers from a section of the Route 30 shoulder.

Part of larger development efforts

It is one of three underway as part of the county’s “Destination Fulton County” strategic plan. The county has spent $2.3 million on planning, as well as land acquisition and prep, 37 acres along Route 30. The bulk of funds came from the county’s national tobacco settlement reserves and American Rescue Fund dollars plus a state Smart Growth grant.

Besides the $8.4 million in construction costs, it will spend $500,000 to $600,000 for exhibits and indoor furnishings, Stead said, and $100,000 a year in operating expenses.

As part of its destination tourism program, the county is also spending $9 million on sewer line extensions in Mayfield on Route 30 that is expected to promote business development, potentially including expansion of an existing RV campground.

And it is spending $1.1 million on Gloversville’s “field of dreams” baseball park in Gloversville, including a vintage stadium.

Tournaments are already booking the initial facilities as more fields are built. That project also includes a small hall of fame at the site, Parkhurst Field, where legends of early baseball once played amid a region that was once dominated by glove-making factories, some of which made baseball mitts.

Photo at top: Architectural rendition by Phinney Design Group of the Great Sacandaga Lake Discovery Center planned for outside of Northville, in Fulton County. Photo courtesy of Fulton County.