Goals
of .The
Catskill Interpretive Center
November
9, 2012
Dear
member of the Catskill community,
The private/public Partnership led by The New York State Department
of Environmental Conservation, The Catskill Center for Conservation
and Development, and The Friends of The Catskill Interpretive
Center is making progress in the construction of The Maurice
Hinchey Catskill Interpretive Center in Mount Tremper, in
the town of Shandaken. A Kiosk with 16 panels of information
about the Catskills has already been erected at the site,
by Route 28.
As part
of the planning for the construction of a facility, the Partnership
has engaged a student class of the Architecture Department
of SUNY/Delhi to produce siting and conceptual plans for a
building for the Interpretive Center. The students plan to
make two presentations to the public of architectural drawings
illustrating eight concepts of the planned facility. The Partnership
has arranged for these two presentations to take place at
the Shandaken Town Hall (on Route 28) on Wednesday, November
28 from 3:00 to 6:00 PM, and on Friday, December 14 from 3:00
to 6:00 PM. The November 28 presentation is for the purpose
of soliciting comments and suggestions from interested members
of the Catskill community about the then tentative plans for
the facility; these suggestions will be then taken into consideration
by the student designers who will then, at the December 14
meeting, present the final designs they propose. These eight
proposals will provide the conceptual foundations for the
final detail design of the facility to house The Maurice Hinchey
Catskill Interpretive Center.
On behalf
of the Partnership, I wish to extend a cordial invitation
to you, and through you to any interested member of the Catskill
community, to attend either one or both of these meetings
and to actively make comments and suggestions regarding the
details of the student proposals and designs. The Partnership,
and the Catskill community, is most grateful for the enthusiastic
work of these students and for the great and generous support
provided to this project by the SUNY/Delhi faculty and administration.
I look
forward to see you at these meetings.
Cordially yours,
Jim Infante
On behalf of The Partnership
Some
Thoughts
Underpinning the Further Development of
The Maurice Hinchey Catskill Interpretive Center
E.
F. Jim Infante*
PO Box 216, Phoenicia, NY 12464
845-688-5205
EttoreInfante@aol.com
I. THE
CATSKILL REGION: UNDERUTILIZED RESOURCES
The project, to build and operate The Maurice Hinchey Catskill
Interpretive Center, is centrally based on the fact, documented
by numerous studies**, that the Catskill Park and Forest Preserve,
and the surrounding Catskill region, is badly underutilized
given its natural, cultural and tourist assets.
The Catskill
region is very rich in recreational and cultural resources.
The region is given the credit, in the 1830’s, with
the invention of tourism in the United States. Throughout
the nineteen century and the first part of the twentieth,
the region was the preferred tourist destination for urban
dwellers from the great cities of the East Coast; but the
automobile, the airplane, and air-conditioning, as well as
changes in taste, had a negative effect on tourism in the
Catskills. Nevertheless, it is puzzling that the Catskill
region does not do as well in attracting tourists as the Poconos,
the Shawangunks, the Berkshires and the Adirondacks given
its location, and the quality of its natural and cultural
assets.
The Region
is preeminent in its water resources, with the magnificently
beautiful reservoirs that provide most of the water for the
City of New York. The Catskill Park (705,000 acres) and Forest
Preserve (287,000 acres of forever wild land), and the lands
around the reservoirs owned by the City (159,000 acres, and
growing rapidly), with their vast natural expanses and numerous
and well maintained trails provide hiking, skiing, hunting
and fishing. The vistas are unsurpassed; the un-built and
built environment is unique within New York State. The region
is also rich in cultural resources, with numerous galleries,
museums, art studios, theatres and farmers markets. There
are numerous concerts and theatrical activities during the
summer season, and wonderful skiing in the winter. And there
is appropriate (if not always up-to-date) lodging and restaurants.
A list of some of these assets accessible along Route 28 has
been recently catalogued.***
As noted
in recent studies (notably the Delaware County Community Tourism
Assessment, 2008) the Catskill mountains, public lands, waterways
and other natural resources, as well as private tourism attractions
of the region are underutilized. Although it is acknowledged
that the level of tourism is significantly below the desired
level, this activity is a most important component of the
region’s
_____________________________________________________________________
*Although the ideas expressed here are the responsibility
of the author, he has greatly benefited from extensive discussions
with S. S. Chase, Helen Chase, Joseph Munster, Kathy Nolan
and Alan White.
**See, for example, “Revitalizing the Esopus/Delaware
Region of the Central Catskills,” New York State Department
of State, Draft, May 2012. This study reviews 51 previous
studies, conducted over the past 20 years, of the assets and
constraints for economic revitalization of the area, as well
as providing an up to date profile and analysis of the Region,
and recommendations for actions and strategies.
***See, “Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway,” A Proposal,
September 2011, available at htpp://www.shandaken.us/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Catskill-Mountains-Scenic-Byway-CMP-Draft.pdf.
economy. In **it is estimated, as a result of a survey of
business owners in a portion of the Central Catskills, that
on average, 36% of annual revenues are derived from tourist/visitors,
32% from year-round residents and 32% from seasonal or part-time
residents (second home owners). According to a study by Tourism
Economics of 2009, visitors to the Catskill region (defined
as the counties of Delaware, Greene, Sullivan and Ulster,
a much larger area than the Catskill Park and its immediate
area in the Central Catskills) spent a total of $1 billion
in 2008; of this amount, 34% for lodging, 24% for expenses
related to second homes, 19% on retail purchases and gasoline,
and 16% on food and beverages at restaurants. Tourism is clearly
one of the important economic drivers of the region, indeed
perhaps the most important one, especially to the sparsely
populated areas of the Catskills around the Catskill Park,
Forest Preserve, and New York City West of the Hudson watershed.
The above
figures leads to the conjecture that a 10% increase in tourists
(or an additional 75,000) to the Catskill Park and its immediate
area would lead to an impact of an extra $18 million to the
economy of the Region; or, approximately, to the creation
of some 600 jobs, a very significant impact on a community
whose total population is approximately 25,000 (the area of
the proposed Route 28 Scenic Byway). Beyond the economic impact,
the better utilization, through increased tourism, of the
natural resources of the Catskills region would lead to a
better validation of the great investments that the State,
the City of New York and many private entities have made in
the purchase and preservation of these lands, and of the access
to them for the enjoyment of all citizens.
A major
cause for the underutilization of the Catskills centers on
the lack of appropriate marketing and on the scarcity of easily
available information about the assets of the region. The
interviews with local business owners quoted in ** put a great
deal of emphasis on this issue: “…We need a more
cohesive brand identity of the Catskills. Even the name Catskills,
to many travelers, is more associated with an abandoned period
of time…We certainly could use a comprehensive business
guide and a map of the area…Online marketing would be
helpful…Trying to find a website with good directions
to the trails: good luck….need to get towns to market
together to direct people to travel from town to town…Need
maps of trails, information about hotels, scenic overlooks,
pubs, cafes, and cool historic sites…” The author
of this paper, a local resident of the area, decided to play
tourist one weekend; he sought to seek information about places
and events he well knew existed and were taking place at the
time by asking at local restaurants, cafes and bed and breakfast
locales. The results were most disappointing, indeed discouraging,
leading to the conclusion that “word of mouth”
is an ineffective form of information dissemination and that
a more purposeful, coherent means of informing a tourist is
needed if the many assets of the area are to be appropriately
utilized.
The project
to build and operate The Maurice Hinchey Catskill Interpretive
Center principally aims to address the above stated problem
through the provision of coherent information about the many
assets of the area. It is expected that such a Center, with
its emphasis on modern Information Technology, would become
a significant test bed for appropriate marketing and for the
dissemination of information badly needed by tourists, second-home
owners, and even local residents. Successful implementation
will lead to an increase in volume of tourists and will stimulate,
over time, the development of newer tourist facilities.
II. A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PROJECT
In the middle 1980s a grassroots effort including numerous
community members, local business leaders, political representatives,
the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
(NYSDEC), and The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development
(CCCD) led to the development of the idea and concepts for
a Catskill Interpretive Center. Maurice Hinchey, then a member
of the New York State Assembly, was the leader of this effort.
Plans for such a center were advanced in the 1990s by the
NYSDEC, with extensive consultation by advisory boards drawn
from the Catskill region community. A 62-acre parcel of land
on Route 28 in Mount Tremper, within the town of Shandaken
in Ulster County, was chosen as the site of this center. This
parcel was acquired by the CCCD and the Trust for Public Land,
and leased to the NYSDEC who at present continues to manage
the property; the State spent over $1 million on road, bridge,
site grading, and other improvements to the property. Architectural
and landscaping blueprints were drawn up for a 18,600 square
foot building and for surrounding grounds, and detailed plans
were created for interpretive exhibits and educational programs
to be manned by NYSDEC, travel information resources, a reference
library, auditorium, gift shop, and hiking trails and connections
to nearby State land. The impetus for the creation of the
center came to a halt in the middle 1990s with a change in
the political leadership of the State of New York and of its
priorities for the Catskills. Center stage and urgency were
given to the extended negotiations that led to the New York
City Watershed Memorandum of Agreement, a compact among the
City, the State, and the communities of the Catskills that
provide water to the City. This successful compact has been
in place for over fifteen years.
As the
new century dawned, the need for an interpretive or visitor
center for the Catskills remained. A new effort, spearheaded
by The Friends of The Catskill Interpretive Center (FCIC)
sought to revive the project. During the past decade, the
goal of The Friends of The Catskill Interpretive Center was
to organize a process that would lead the State of New York
to build and then operate The Catskill Interpretive Center
on the basis of an update and appropriate modifications of
the plans originally formulated a decade ago by NYSDEC with
the advice of community members, and at the originally planned
site. As a result of their activities, the Friends obtained
endorsement of the project to build a Catskill Interpretive
Center from the Towns of Olive, Shandaken and Woodstock, and
from the Ulster County Legislature; they also secured endorsements
from a number of non-profit environmental organizations and
local Chambers of Commerce. The Friends raised some private
funds; most major donors wanted a State commitment before
pledging serious sums. Finally, The Friends succeeded in helping
to secure a State of New York appropriation of $1million in
the 2008 Budget for The Catskill Interpretive Center. The
Friends, in 2010, further secured, through the good offices
of Congressman Maurice Hinchey, a Federal appropriation of
$380,000 through the HUD budget for this project. The Friends
turned this appropriation over to NYSDEC, where it is available
through the year 2016. The unfortunate fiscal situation of
the State of New York in 2009 led to a rescission of the $1million
appropriation.
The Friends,
in 2010, regretfully came to the conclusion that their hopes,
and plans, for a Catskill Interpretive Center built and operated
by NYDEC, and funded predominantly with appropriations of
the State of New York with secondary partnership with others
were not going to be realized. The world had changed, and
the economics of the State would not return to its previous
condition.A
new strategy, less dependent on State funds, was called for
to bring to realization the building and operation of a Catskill
Interpretive Center, still badly needed in the region for
environmental, cultural, and now, more than ever, for economic
needs.
III.
A NEW STRATEGY FOR THE CATSKILL INTERPRETIVE CENTER
The history related in the previous section, and the new fiscal
circumstances of the State of New York led The Friends to
settle on a new strategy, and some altered plans, for this
project. Seven issues were considered central in the new strategic
thinking:
•
The State of New York will not, in the future, play the
leading role that had been envisioned earlier; but it will
still need to be a full participant in a public/private
partnership which is now envisioned as having an enlarged
“private” component.
• Whereas the original plans of the Catskill Interpretive
Center were based on the provision of information about
the natural and cultural assets of the Catskill Park, Forest
Preserve and of the Catskill region, with only secondary
emphasis on its impact on tourism in the region, the new
strategy will place more emphasis on endeavors that would
stimulate tourism with a goal to facilitate a significant
increase in the number of visitors and second-home owners
to the region. The Center, in this new view, is more of
a gateway to the region and to its private and public amenities
and events. This gateway concept blends this “tourist
aspect” with the cultural and environmental one, its
“interpretive” aspect, which is retained. It
is expected to significantly contribute to a more forceful
“branding” of the region and on the provision
of the full range of information needed by visitors to make
the region more user-friendly.
• The original 1980 plans for the Catskill Interpretive
Center were centered on a building of significance, on the
use of physical displays, and on physical facilities. The
new strategy will be based on much more modest physical
structures, and on the aggressive use of modern Information
Technology for the dissemination of information, irrespective
of this information being of historical, cultural, environmental,
or of commercial nature. There is a significant opportunity
to effectively utilize the Internet to increase awareness
of cultural and recreational opportunities, and to provide
visitors with information on accommodation facilities and
eating establishments. In the last decade, tourism and travel
have been irrevocably changed by the Internet age; unfortunately
the Central Catskills have severely neglected this arena.
Many tourists rely on smart phones, download “apps”
for their devices to learn about destinations, book accommodations,
and locate restaurants and hotels. A goal of The Catskill
Interpretive Center is to develop and operate a rich web
site accessible for this purpose, to overcome the present
poverty, and lack of appropriate organization, of information
available on line.
• Although modest, a new facility must meet the highest
standards as a “green” building. The materials
used should be predominantly local materials that should
remind the visitor of the Catskills. Finally, the facility
should be a most welcoming one to the visitor.
• At least initially, for the effort to be manageable,
the data base of information on the cultural, historical,
natural, and commercial amenities of the region will be
limited to the Catskill Park, the West-of-the-Hudson New
York City Watershed, and to Delaware County, with an emphasis
on the Catskill Park and Forest preserve. Once this data
base is developed, an expansion of the geographical region
to be covered will be undertaken.
• Originally, the Interpretive Center was planned
to be staffed by NYSDC personnel. This is clearly no longer
possible; the Center will have to be staffed by volunteers
and by staff members of the private non-profits that are
members of the partnership.
• Lastly, the project will be undertaken in at least
five phases. Staging the project in phases is a necessity
in order to raise funds, over a period of time, from both
the private and public sector.
This new strategy was put into effect in 2010, with Phase
I of the long-term project: the design and construction
of The Catskill Interpretive Kiosk on the site designated
for the Catskill Interpretive Center. With the Central Catskills
Collaborative, NYSDEC, CCCD and with the funding support
of a number of private donors, FCIC led this partnership
in the construction of a kiosk on the site of the proposed
Catskill Interpretive Center. The building was designed
and built by students in the Architecture and Building Technology
programs of SUNY/Delhi, with the help of workers provided
by NYSDEC. The sixteen large panels in the kiosk, which
describe the Catskill Park, its environment, history and
culture, were designed by community members and then put
in final form by the staff of NYSDEC. The Kiosk was dedicated
in August 2010 by Congressman Maurice Hinchey and NYSDEC
Commissioner Pete Grannis. In 2011, the Catskill Interpretive
Kiosk was awarded second place by the Association of Conservation
Information in the category “Big ideas, small budgets.”
This
first phase of the project was completed with an out of pocket
cost of $9,500, all from nonpublic sources, and with considerable
in kind contributions by the faculty and students of SUNY/Delhi,
CCCD and NYSDEC. The total cost would have been of approximately
$50,000 had the in kind contribution been monetized. The Kiosk,
Phase I of the long term project of the Catskill Interpretive
Center, illustrates the partnership approach that the new
strategy suggests, its benefits in term of costs, and the
level of community involvement The grounds of the Catskill
Interpretive Kiosk are being maintained by members of FCIC
(for an annual contribution estimated at $2,000).
The Catskill Interpretive Kiosk
In 2012, The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development
and The Friends of The Catskill Interpretive Center decided
to rename the evolving interpretive center as The Maurice
Hinchey Catskill Interpretive Center in honor of the retiring
Congressman from the region who had initiated and, over three
decades, supported the development of such a center.
With Phase I of the long-term project to develop a Catskill
Interpretive Center completed, the plan for The Friends is
to undertake the next four phases as follow.
Phase
II, to be completed by the fall of 2013 is The Building of
the first part of a Modest Facility. FCIC, in partnership
with CCCD and NYSDEC, have entered into an agreement with
SUNY/ New Delhi to have its Architecture Program develop the
siting and conceptual design and its Building Technologies
Program help to construct a modest facility at the site of
the Catskill Interpretive Center consisting, in order of priority,
of a set of bathrooms (desperately needed, as there are no
public bathrooms on all of Route 280), an open air pavilion,
an open amphitheatre, and a small enclosed building to house
a “concierge,” receive visitors, and house computer
and communications equipment. The faculty and students at
SUNY/Delhi initiated the design project in the Fall Semester
of 2012. The NYSDEC has committed in kind resources for the
final engineering design of the building, the permitting,
and with the erection.
Phase
III, initiated in September of 2012 and to be completed by
the fall of 2013 (simultaneously with Phase II), consist of
the Design and Partial Implementation of the Information Technology
Infrastructure of the Center. The built facility will be furnished,
the needed computer and display equipment purchased and in
place, and a first phase, the test bed, of the web based software,
including maps, some environmental, cultural and commercial
data available. This Phase III will of necessity imply the
hiring of a sophisticated commercial firm to design the system
and to develop and organize the data bases required for the
Center to become the gateway to the Catskill Region and a
central source of information to its many public and private
amenities and events. The facility should be open to the public
by July 4, 2014, staffed by volunteers from members of the
partnership.
Phase
IV, from June 2013 to June 2014, is centered on the Maturing
of the Information Technology Infrastructure of the Center.
It is expected that that the full development of the Information
Technology Infrastructure, its communication facility, and
data base organization will require considerable effort to
complete. Hence a year has been set aside for this phase.
Phase V, simultaneous with Phase IV, consists of the Completion
of the Modest Facility. The facility will be built in two
phases (III, and V), because of fund raising constraints;
this second phase of construction will permit the expansion
and furnishing of the reception area of The Maurice Hinchey
Catskill Interpretive Center, and of the building of additional
areas for programs and for displays.
After
the completion of Phase V, further phases are possible. There
might be a need for an expansion of the physical facilities,
or of the information technology infrastructure, or of both.
The fact that a significant portion of the information regarding
the region will be in electronic form makes it possible, with
very modest costs, the opening in other locations of other
gateways to the region; and the expansion of the region of
the Catskills to be covered by the electronic data bases.
The implementation of this strategy is dependent on the raising
of significant funds from the private sector, and on not insignificant
contributions from the State of New York. The Friends (FCIC)
and The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development (CCCD)
believe it is essential for the State to make a significant
commitment to convince the private sector to emulate it. Thus,
these two organizations have proposed that the State of New
York commit to invest, as capital funds, $1 Million of its
EPF resources in this project, with the condition that a similar
amount of funds be raised from other sources; i.e., a 1-1
match to the challenge provided by the EPF funds. There are
reasons for optimism that the State will commit to play its
needed role in this private/public partnership. It is also
expected that The State of New York will provide the modest
annual funds needed to provide basic maintenance for this
facility, and continue to provide mowing and snowplowing for
the grounds; The partnership, through its members, will provide
the staffing for the functions of the Center, and is committed
to raise funds to match the EPF moneys they have requested
of the State.
IV. MANGEMENT
OF THE PROJECT TO BUILD AND OPERATE
THE MAURICE HINCHEY CATSKILL INTERPRETIVE CENTER
As pointed out in this paper, this project is based on the
concept of a private/public partnership, a broad partnership
of State of New York agencies, local governments, Chambers
of Commerce, universities, nonprofit environmental and cultural
organizations, and of donors. Three organizations lead this
partnership: NYSDEC, CCCD, and FCIC.
These three organizations are in the process of entering into
an AGREEMENT OF A PRIVATE/PUBLIC PARTNERSHIP REGARDING THE
DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATION OF THE MAURICE HINCHEY CATSKILL
INTERPRETIVE CENTER that describes their roles and responsibilities
in the management of this project; in particular, the two
nonprofits will be solely responsible for fundraising in the
private sector. The three organizations are also beginning
to invite other organizations, local governments, and individuals
to join this partnership and to participate in its management
and governance. Members of the partnership provide resources
and contributions in kind and in funds for the completion,
maintenance and management of The Maurice Hinchey Catskill
Interpretive Center. Their contributions will be publicly
recognized in appropriate fashion.
Our
Mission:
The mission
of the Friends of the Catskill Interpretive Centeris to encourage
the State of New York, in conjunctioin with local governments
and the private sector, to build the Catskill Interpretive
Center. Once the Center is operational, the Friends will complement
the activities of the State of New York and its Department
of Environmental Conservation in making the Catskill Interpretive
Center an important focus point of environmental, cultural,
educational, and economic activities in the Catskills.
Download
a Slide Show 33Mb
PowerPoint file
Our
Vision:
The
vision Statement of The Friends of the Catskill Interpretive
Center
The
Catskill Interpretive Center,
A Catskill Gateway and Meeting Place
We seek
continuing contact, advice, interest and support of Catskill
constituencies for the creation of a regional entity, The
Catskill Interpretive Center, whose purpose is to celebrate
the natural and cultural assets of the Catskills and to interpret
these for residents and visitors. This center is to be an
appropriate public entry point for those who seek information
about The Catskill Park and Forest Preserve to better understand
the unique environment and natural history of the Catskills
as well as its cultural and artistic assets. It is envisioned
as a learning center for the region, and as a referral point
for its regional museums, amenities, recreational opportunities,
businesses and facilities. Such centers already exist in the
Adirondacks, and are regarded as effective in providing education
and interpretation about that region. The Catskill Park and
Forest Preserve, New York’s second largest park, unlike
similar national and state parks do not have a visitor or
interpretive center; there are many very good local museums
in the region, but they are specialized and devoted to particular
aspects of the culture or history of the Catskills. There
does not exist a facility that is a public gateway to the
Park and to the region.
In seeking
support for the creation of this center, we are attempting
to revitalize a project of a decade ago. In the middle 1980s
a grassroots effort including numerous community members,
local business leaders, political representatives, the New
York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC),
and The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development (CCCD)
led to the development of the idea and concepts for a “Catskill
Interpretive Center.” Plans for such a Center were advanced
in the 1990s by the NYSDEC, with extensive consultation by
advisory boards drawn from the Catskill community. A 62-acre
parcel of land on Route 28 in Mount Tremper, within the town
of Shandaken in Ulster County (and close to the borders of
the towns of Olive and Woodstock), was chosen as the site
of this center. This parcel was acquired by the CCCD and the
Trust for Public Land, and leased to the NYSDEC who at present
continues to manage the property; the State spent over $1
million on road, bridge, site grading, and other improvements
to the property. Architectural blueprints were drawn up for
a 18,600 square foot building and for surrounding grounds,
and plans were created for interpretive exhibits, interpretive
and educational programs, travel information resources, a
reference library, auditorium, gift shop, and hiking trails
and connections to nearby State land. In 1995, the projected
cost of the building (not including the cost of exhibits,
furniture, equipment and supplies) was $ 3.68 million. The
NYSDEC had also completed an Environmental Impact Statement
and a Comprehensive Educational Use Plan for the “Catskill
Interpretive Center.” The impetus for the creation of
the Center came to a halt in the middle 1990s with a change
in State of New York priorities for the Catskills. Center
stage and urgency were given to the extended negotiations
that led to the New York City Watershed Memorandum of Agreement,
a compact among the City, the State, and the communities of
the Catskills that provide water to the City. This successful
compact is now in place.
The need
for an interpretive center for the Catskills remains. We believe
that The Catskill Park and Forest Preserve represent significant
and unique public assets badly in need of an interpretive
center to give them the focus and accessibility required for
their full public value to be realized. The Catskills, and
their visitors and residents, suffer from this unsatisfied
need. We have met with the Board of the CCCD, with proponents
of the proposed Catskill Water Discovery Center, and had contacts
with officials of Ulster County regarding plans for a Tourism
Information Center in Kingston. After numerous meetings and
discussions, we concluded that NYSDEC’s original goals
for a “Catskill Interpretive Center” are, today,
as they were at the time of their formulation, responsive
to strongly felt needs and that the already existing plans
to achieve those goals retain validity. Further, these plans,
both as to programs and as to the facility that would house
them, are highly developed and represent an investment that
should not be unnecessarily duplicated. We also note that
the August, 1999 NYSDEC’s Catskill Forest Preserve Public
Access Plan lists the “Catskill Interpretive Center”
as an action item to be actively pursued in partnership with
other government agencies, local governments and the private
sector. Our meetings with senior NYSDEC officials lead us
to believe that the Agency will respond to an appropriate
initiative by the public. We believe that the proposed Catskill
Water Discovery Center and Ulster County’s Tourism Information
Center represent very valuable additions to the region, highly
complementary and with only minor overlaps to an interpretive
center for The Catskill Park and Forest Preserve. Close contacts
between the principals associated with these three projects
have resulted in statements of mutual support, and of assurances
that there is no significant overlap of mission or of facilities.
Our goal is to organize a process that would encourage the
State of New York to build The Catskill Interpretive Center
based on an update of the plans originally formulated a decade
ago by NYSDEC with the advice of community members, and at
the originally planned site. As part of this process, the
group decided to establish a community organization, The Friends
of The Catskill Interpretive Center, whose initial purpose
is to advocate the building of this center. Once the Center
is operational, under the management of NYSDEC, this organization
aims to energetically complement, as a non-profit private
entity, the activities of the State of New York in making
the Center an important focus point of environmental, cultural,
and educational activities about the Catskills through appropriate
programs, close continuing contact with regional museums and
historical societies, and the fund-raising required for the
sustenance of the Center’s programs. To accomplish this
goal it is essential to develop and demonstrate a strong commitment
from the Catskill community to this project, to provide evidence
of financial support for the capital project from non-state
sources, and to the development of a framework that will provide
continuing community support and commitment once the Center
is a reality. The Friends of The Catskill Interpretive Center
look forward with enthusiasm and commitment to the accomplishment
of this task.
Contacts
Individuals and organizations interested in The Friends of
The Catskill Interpretive Center and in its goals should contact:
Sherret
S. Chase, Chair PO Box 193
...... Shokan, NY 12481 (845) 657-2392 sschase@aol.com
|
E.
F. (Jim) Infante, Secretary ......
PO Box 216
Phoenicia, NY 12464
(845) 688-5205 EttoreInfante@aol.com |
The
Friends of The Catskill Interpretive Center is supported by
private donations including a generous grant from The Wallace
Genetic Foundation for which The Catskill Center for Conservation
and Development is the fiscal agent.
