• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar

New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Adirondacks & NNY
  • Capital-Saratoga
  • Mohawk Valley
  • Hudson Valley & Catskills
  • NYC & Long Island
  • Western NY
  • History
  • Nature & Environment
  • Arts & Culture
  • Outdoor Recreation
  • Food & Farms
  • Subscribe
  • Support
  • Submit
  • About
  • New Books
  • Events
  • Podcasts

$900 Million Being Invested in State Parks

March 17, 2015 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

NY Parks 2020Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has unveiled a seven-point framework of the NY Parks 2020 Plan that is expected to use $900 million in public and private funding to modernize the State park system.

The plan is part of a multi-year commitment since 2011 to restore facilities, enhance visitor experience, update signage and create better access for tourists at parks across the State. The 2015-16 Executive Budget adds $110 million toward this initiative.

The NY Parks 2020 plan was unveiled by Commissioner Rose Harvey of the State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation at Saratoga Spa State Park, where the state has already directed more than $7 million to improve the National Historic Landmark. The investment is making possible a diverse range of projects at the Saratoga Spa State Park –  including newly paved trails; restored picnic pavilions; improvements of the Victoria Pool complex; a new playground; a more sustainable upgrade of the Saratoga Performing Arts gateway and preservation of the historic Lincoln and Roosevelt Bathhouses.

This multi-year NY Parks 2020 plan is expected to modernize state parks by:

  • Making comprehensive investments in the State’s most popular parks such as Saratoga Spa, Niagara Falls and Jones Beach;
  • Targeting investments to projects that promote outdoor recreation;
  • Ensuring people from all walks of life have opportunities to connect with parks;
  • Replacing neglected public use facilities and infrastructure;
  • Preserving historic sites and cultural assets;
  • Ensuring stewardship of some ecosystems, including making them more resilient to extreme weather; and
  • Leveraging the tourism impact of State Parks to energize local economies.

The plan lays out the framework for how State Parks will achieve these seven strategic priorities, including:

  • Build and improve new recreational facilities such as playgrounds, athletic fields and swimming facilities;
  • Open underutilized parkland and reconnect children to the outdoors by building new nature centers;
  • Modernize and refurbish campgrounds and cabins, bathhouses, contact stations and picnic pavilions;
  • Preserve and improve historic buildings by repairing roofs and windows and restoring historic stonework;
  • Undertake projects that prevent the invasive species, improve storm resiliency and implement energy efficiency initiatives that make state parks a model of sustainability; and
  • Develop partnerships that enhance visitor services such as restaurants and cultural facilities and host more recreational and cultural events that promote New York’s tourism assets.

The NY Parks 2020 plan is available here.

In 2010, 25 of 36 historic sites were threatened with closure.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Advocacy, Andrew Cuomo, Historic Preservation, OPRHP, Public History

About Editorial Staff

Stories written under the Editorial Staff byline are drawn from press releases and other notices. Submit your news to New York Almanack here.

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. This Week’s Top New York History News | The New York History Blog says:
    March 20, 2015 at 9:00 AM

    […] $900 Million Being Invested in State Parks […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Help Finish Our 2022 Fundraising

Subscribe to New York Almanack

Subscribe! Follow the New York Almanack each day via E-mail, RSS, Twitter or Facebook updates.

Recent Comments

  • GARY SCHOEN on Moose Are Back in New York State: A Population Update
  • Deb Heller on Catskills Resort History: The Beginning of the End
  • John Warren on Civil War in the Mohawk Valley: The Battle of Oriskany
  • Richard Daly on Poetry: Mention It, Don’t Insist
  • Norma Coney on Civil War in the Mohawk Valley: The Battle of Oriskany
  • David Forest on Knapp’s Folly: Sullivan County’s Columbia Hotel
  • John Jarosz on State Rebuilding of High Peaks Wilderness Roads Challenged in Court
  • Marlene V Thompson on Supporting the Poor in Saratoga County
  • Sue L on Hair Ice and Frost Flowers
  • dave on Catskills Resort History: The Beginning of the End

Recent New York Books

The Great New York Fire of 1776
The Sugar Act and the American Revolution
battle of harlem hights
Ladies Day at the Capitol
voices of wayne county
CNY Snowstorm book front cover
The Struggles of Boston's Black Workers in the Civil War Era
Expanded Second Edition of Echoes in These Mountains
historic kingston book

Secondary Sidebar

preservation league
Protect the Adirondacks Hiking Guide