LAKE PLACID — The Lake Placid village board on Monday gave the Open Space Institute the green light to move forward with planned upgrades to the village’s Adirondack Rail Trail access point on Station Street.

With the board’s vote, Mayor Art Devlin is now authorized to sign a two-year access agreement with OSI. This will give the environmental conservation nonprofit the legal authority to start work on the property. Once complete, officials hope that the former railyard — located next to the Lake Placid-North Elba Historical Society’s History Museum — will function as a trailhead for the 34-mile Adirondack Rail Trail, complete with a new picnic pavilion, year-round restrooms, interpretive signage and a parking area.

The village of Lake Placid finalized its purchase of the $249,000 property from the Lake Placid-North Elba Historical Society last month. The village Department of Public Works has already removed some trees there, but it may be some time before work on the 1.77-acre plot begins in earnest. OSI Director of Communications Siobhan Gallagher Kent said on Tuesday that construction likely won’t begin until next year. But the access agreement will allow OSI to put the work out for bid and secure a construction company for the project, with village approval.

“We expect to bid the project no later than February 2025,” Gallagher Kent said.

OSI is handling most of the improvements to the property and continues to raise money to fund this project. OSI is $300,000 away from reaching its $1.55 million fundraising goal, according to Gallagher Kent.

The project has already been awarded a $300,000 grant from the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Smart Growth Grant program, a $500,000 Environmental Protection Fund grant, a $50,000 grant from North Elba’s Local Enhancement and Advancement Fund and an unspecified grant from the Cloudsplitter Foundation.

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Friends group fundraises

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The Adirondack Rail Trail Association, the rail trail friends group, has planned a separate fundraiser for Aug. 14 in Saranac Lake.

The group’s board plans to provide updates on trail developments and answer questions at the event. Representatives of Saranac Lake’s Silver Birch Cycles will have a bicycle maintenance clinic on site and local musician Andy Walkow will perform. The restaurant plans to serve complimentary appetizers; there will be a cash bar.

The fundraiser and rail trail celebration is set for 5 to 7 p.m. at the Belvedere Restaurant on Bloomingdale Avenue. The suggested donation is $15, with an additional 15% of sales being donated to ARTA for its programs. Those interested in attending can RSVP to Belvedere co-owner Chrissie Wais at cnw3@cornell.edu.

ARTA was created in 2010 to advocate for the rail trail’s construction. The DEC signed a volunteer stewardship agreement with ARTA in 2023, allowing the volunteer-run group to actively maintain the trail. The state retains ownership of the trail, and the DEC is still responsible for its management.

Rail trail work

Construction on the rail trail itself continues.

The second phase of the rail trail, from Saranac Lake to Floodwood Road in Santa Clara, is expected to officially open by this fall. The third and final phase from Floodwood to Tupper Lake is scheduled to open next year.

The first phase, between Lake Placid and Saranac Lake, officially opened on Dec. 1, 2023 — though by that time, some locals had already been traversing the trail for several weeks. Construction started in November 2022. Once complete, the ADA-accessible trail will span a total of 34 miles.

Before the former rail corridor underwent construction, the section from Lake Placid to Saranac Lake was used by the Adirondack Railway Preservation Society to run a scenic tourist train.