Vote Could Save Two Adirondack Fire Towers
By Sarah Marloff | Online Only | Nov. 4, 2010
After an ongoing debate between environmentalists and preservationists, two upstate New York fire towers—located on Hurricane and St. Regis Mountains in the Adirondacks—might be saved from demolition. Last month the Adirondack Park Agency voted for reclassification of the land around the towers as "historic," which would amend the 1972 Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan.
"We really tried to take into consideration public opinion and public comment. People really cared about the removal of the fire towers," says Keith McKeever, spokesman for the Adirondack Park Agency. "We voted to reclassify and forwarded it to the governor, but we don't know when his vote will come."
The 35-foot-tall towers, built in 1918 and 1919, have been closed to the public for years. St. Regis was the longest active fire tower in the state, operating for 81 years until closing in 1990. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, both towers are currently used to house equipment for park agencies. Earlier this year, New York State Department on Environmental Conservation voted for the removal of both towers, as they do not conform to wilderness or canoe standards as defined under the state's 1972 master plan.
In 1998 the Preservation League of New York State awarded a grant of $4,765 to the nonprofit Adirondack Architectural Heritage for a comprehensive survey on all the fire towers in the Adirondacks.
"The Preservation League has long appreciated fire towers as an important element in how the public learns about the Adirondacks," says Tania Werbizky, regional director of technical services at the Preservation League. "We felt like this is a critically important statewide issue." As a result of the grant, the towers gained publicity, and two groups, Friends of St. Regis and Friends of Hurricane, were formed.
However, groups such as the Adirondack Wild Friends of the Forest Preserve have formed against the towers. "Primarily, our concern is following the master plan, which says these towers should come down," says David Gibson, partner of Adirondack Wild. "[We] have done a lot of research for a possible relocation of Hurricane Tower, and we support that as well as the restoration of the five other towers remaining in the Adirondacks […] because changing the amendment is not just a reclassification."
If the Gov. David Paterson passes the APA's vote for reclassification, then amendments will be made to the master plan so that the base of the towers can be classified as historic land, enabling the towers to remain where they are. "Ultimately, we felt that they were historic," McKeever says. "These towers helped build a strong sense of conservation in this country."
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Comments
Submitted by ADK NATIVE at: December 27, 2010
let them be ! very important to or areas history