By Michael Ryan
CATSKILL - Reconfiguring gravity, money will be flowing up from the Greene County Legislature to the Mountaintop Historical Society.
Lawmakers, led by Daryl Legg (District 7, Hunter, Lexington, Halcott), have approved a pair of resolutions directing funding to the archives center for current operations and future possibilities.
The first measure provides $15,000 annually for the MTHS, “in their efforts to provide tourists from around the State, the nation and the world, as well as local residents, opportunities to learn more about what is happening in the Catskill Mountaintop Region of Greene County.”
Lawmakers also authorized the county’s Economic Development, Tourism
and Planning Department to, “prepare and solicit proposals for an evaluation for the expansion of the MTHS parking facilities.”
That expansion would be done, “in an effort to accommodate the high number of tourists who frequently visit the Clove, Kaaterskill Falls, the mountaintop resorts and the numerous hiking trails” in the high hills.
And with an eye toward the horizon and beyond, the county will look closely at increasing its presence in ski country, potentially creating a tourism-based center on the MTHS grounds.
It would function as a branch of the existing county Tourism Center located adjacent to the New York State Thruway entrance outside Catskill.
If that occurs, county officials will seek to partner with the State Department of Environmental Conservation on the project, noting DEC has been similarly enmeshed in developing the popular Kaaterskill Rail Trail.
All the puzzle pieces are aimed at “enhancing and accommodating” more tourism, the resolution states, while recognizing the vital and significant economic contributions of the mountaintop region.
The multi-phased actions come in the aftermath of massive parking issues the past few summers along Route 23A, leading to the mountaintop from the valley, and a series of talks involving the MTHS and county leaders.
Lawmakers have set a precedent for the support, financially helping the Bronck House, in the town of Coxsackie, with preservation and modernization, along with backing of other historic sites.
“This is the same concept, and this may morph into more of a discussion about the county taking over a building as a tourism center,” legislature chairman Patrick Linger says.
“It would let the Historical Society concentrate on what it does best, and the hope is the county could do the parking and perhaps put up kiosk for economic development,” Linger says.
The county’s yearly funding will “benefit everyday operations,” Linger says. “We see this as a way to develop the campus further. Parking is just the first step,” a plan expected to quickly gain momentum.
Legg, the former Hunter town supervisor, was in the thick of the problem, at the height of the pandemic, when parking along twisting and climbing Route 23A became a law enforcement and safety nightmare.
Efforts were made to get the mayhem under control, including the MTHS opening its lands for paid parking, teaming with local organizations.
While the end of the pandemic eased the vehicular congestion, the Clove and Kaaterskill Falls remain internationally-renowned destination spots.
“People come here from all over the world,” says Legg, who serves as chairman of the legislative Economic Development committee.
“The Historical Society depends on donations and fundraisers. It is getting more expensive to operate, like everything else,” Legg says.
“But this doesn’t just help them. It will help the county as a whole. It’s not the first time the county has done this. It’s the first time here,” Legg says.
Harry Lennon, the legislative Minority Leader, praised Legg and his fellow colleagues for bipartisan movement forward on the project.
“This is a win-win for the county and the mountaintop,” Lennon said. “The county receives a lot of revenue from tourism on the mountaintop.
“We, as a board, recognize that and if we can improve the parking and the [MTHS] grounds, and have a tourism center on that end of the county, it would be even better,” Lennon said.
“Daryl was in the middle of this from the start, before he became chairman of Economic Development, and I commend him for seeing this through,” Lennon said.
The county’s planners will be tasked with beginning the pre-design phase related to building and user requirements, space programming and conceptual design, as well as giving input on probable costs.
County administrator Shaun Groden said DEC will likely be asked to lend physical and fiscal support with parking lot excavation and asphalt costs.
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