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NEWSLETTER

April 26, 2010

By John Adamski

Another Milestone!

Last Thursday, the Board of

Trustees adopted a resolution toselect Keuka Lake State Park asthe future home of the FingerLakes Cultural & Natural HistoryMuseum. The vote was unanimouswith one abstention.

During the last year, the SiteSelection Committee, under thedirection of Don Naetzker, workedlong and hard to identify the best

site out of 19 that were submittedfor consideration. In February, thefield was narrowed down to two:Geneva/Seneca Lake State Parkand Keuka Lake State Park.

For more than two months,the Site Selection Committee andthe Board of Trustees have beenwrestling with the most difficultdecision of the entire site selectionprocess: Choosing the right home

for the Finger Lakes Museumbetween two very beautiful butdistinctively different sites. After

enlisting ConsultEcon, a Boston-based market research firm inMarch, it was determined that theproject is viable at either sitealthough for different reasons.

While the Seneca Lake sitehas significant advantagescentrallocation among themthe Boarddetermined that the Keuka Lakesite more closely resembles therequirements that were originallyestablished in the Strategic Plan,especially as they relate to naturalhistory programming.

Among the advantages thattipped the scales toward Keuka arethese:

There is 700 feet of intimatelakefront with a level, sandybeach.

The natural history elementof the project is predicted todraw the most visitors. The

rolling, hilly terrain, ravines,brook, woods, and areas ofnatural succession that existthere are ideal for wildlife

exhibits in natural habitats.

Several hundred acres of

land are available for wildlifehabitats and interpretiveusenow or in the future.

A 350-car paved parking lotalready exists.

Keuka College has offered toadd Museum Sciences to itscurriculum and become apartner in the educationalaspect of the Museum.

Yates County and Keuka-area business leaders havepledged over $2 million instartup funding.

In addition, the BranchportSchool, which is presently vacant,

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has been purchased by the FingerLakes Visitors Association for useas the Museums base of operationduring the projects startup phases.The building will provide 15,000square-feet for business offices andinitial programming as well asstorage for the acquisition ofartifacts and collections. Its 13-acre site offers navigable wateraccess to Keuka Lake.

Finger Lakes State Parks andthe Finger Lakes Museum Projectwill undertake a joint master planfor the entire 620-acre park. TheNew York State Office of Parks,

Recreation & Historic Preservationhas been cooperative and enthusedover the proposal and we lookforward to working with them.

Although the Museum will bebuilt on lands leased from FingerLakes State Parks, it will remain a

privately-owned and mostlyprivately-funded institution.

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