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Waterfront park overhaul

TUPPER LAKE – Mayor Paul Maroun calls the sprawling Municipal Park on Demars Boulevard the village’s crowning jewel, but he and other local government officials envision a more aesthetically pleasing area that will draw more tourists and offer more amenities.

Extensive plans were drawn up by an outside firm to do just that. Should this wish list of architectural drawings and plans come to fruition, Tupper Lake’s waterfront on Raquette Pond would eventually include a sandy beach, amphitheater, fishing piers, kayak launch, welcome center with bathrooms, walking trails and more trees to break up the flat landscape.

All are part of 100 pages of plans aimed at attracting tourists and increasing residents’ use of the 17-acre park. The document was unveiled a year ago, and village officials have been plugging away at its implementation. Maroun estimates it will take a decade to complete.

The beach is the hallmark of the plan, according to Maroun.

“I’ve wanted a beach here for 25 years,” he said. “When people drive by, if they see a beach, they want to stop.”

He noted nearby Adirondack towns have beaches in their town centers like Lake Placid and Long Lake.

The addition of a municipal beach on a main thoroughfare will translate into overnight stays, especially with a park full of amenities and nearby hotels, he said.

“It would draw people in, and I will push for it as long as I am around,” he said.

His plan is to keep visitors who are driving on state Route 3 here for the night.

“Families with kids would see water and a beach, and they are going to want to stop. Then they would go to McDonald’s or watch a ballgame, or play in Little Loggers Park,” he said. The latter is an Adirondack-themed playground built in 2014 in adjacent Flanders Park as part of this waterfront master plan.

Once these people walk uptown and see restaurants and a movie theater, they would decide to spend the night, he added.

Maroun is quick to note he is not trying to diminish or detract from the town-run Little Wolf Beach and Campground on Little Wolf Pond. It is off the beaten path, and not visible to tourists driving the main roads, but he said it is a vibrant area that is full all summer.

“But by the time I explain to you how to get there from here, you could be in Long Lake,” he said.

The waterfront design has been the subject of public outreach meetings held last November. More are planned for this late fall, with exact dates to be determined. Both Maroun and Melissa McManus, Tupper Lake’s revitalization coordinator, said it has been well received so far.

The plan features a mix of trails, trees, shrubbery, bathrooms, band shell, water-related projects and a drainage system to prevent flooding. It is estimated to cost between $1.2 million and $1.7 million. But McManus said these are preliminary figures as each project can be altered, especially when the state and local agency permitting process begins.

She has been working with Tupper Lake community planners on the master plan and funding thus far has been provided through a $250,000 grant from the state Local Waterfront Revitalization Program. It is a 50/50 match program whereby the village needs to show its own investment, which it has by paying for new ornamental streetlights on Park Street, building the multi-use Junction Pass Trail and relocating an electric distribution line from the Municipal Park to Lake Street to improve the park’s aesthetics. She said she will keep applying for grants as the project progresses.

“We’re trying to accomplish this with as little cash as possible,” echoed Maroun.

The initial $250,000 paid for the site design and will pay for phase-one plans: mostly renovations to current structures like the bathrooms, basketball court and bleachers, plus new signage throughout the park documenting Tupper Lake’s logging and lumber mill history.

It also will help pay for a new band shell at Flanders Park, toward which the local Lions Club is helping raise money. It will be situated so people can enjoy a play or music while facing the sunset over Raquette Pond, the mayor said. He is hoping for a July 4, 2017, ribbon-cutting.

Other overhauls in the multi-pronged plan are to create a more “park-like” feel with the addition of trees, elevated areas and pathways.

McManus said the goal is to make the area that is now the events lawn and holds the gazebo and pavilion into a more pedestrian area for people to stroll.

“It will provide shade and frame the water view,” she said. All the changes take into consideration the special events that occur there ,including Woodmen’s Days, the Tinman triathlon and the Fire and Ice Festival.

“We want to keep everything there the best we can,” Maroun said. “I think everything will still fit on the grounds.”

Also planned is a small boat launch, floating fishing piers, barbecues, groomed cross-country ski trails, gateways to better note the park’s entrances and improved parking.

“In every town, there is always a big question that is floated around for years,” McManus said. “In Tupper Lake, that is whether there could be a beach in the park.”

Therefore, the master plan included what she called pre-permitting inquiries to all the pertinent entities including the state Adirondack Park Agency, Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of Health and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for site location and water quality.

“Yes, it is feasible is what we found out, but we still need to go through the actual permitting process.”

Maroun said the waterfront project is essential to development of Tupper Lake. The village has created “bits and pieces” of the park over the years including adding tennis, badminton and volleyball facilities, the Little Loggers Park, and wi-fi connections.

“But now we really need to make the park more attractive to tourists and more user-friendly to locals,” he said.

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