History II

In his account of the founding of Grasse River Heritage, Varick Chittenden notes that, in the early years of planning for what became Heritage Park, “not much dirt flew and little was built, but a grand plan was created.” And indeed it was, but part of the story of the building of Heritage Park is what did not get built.

The first version of the “grand plan,” dating to 2002, laid forth a design for a North Country Heritage Center on Coakley Island. This was to include two hefty brick buildings of two and three stories, housing exhibition and performance space, an information center, offices, a restaurant, and retail shops, surrounded by extensive parking. Falls Island was to be heavily landscaped, with a lawn, a children’s play area, a water-powered “discovery center,” and other amenities.

That plan soon gave rise to debate concerning how much development was desirable on this unique site, and, in the end, the decision was to emphasize preservation and restoration over major construction. The final design called for landscaping on Coakley Island that would encourage picnicking and enhance viewing of the river, and for a much lighter touch on Falls Island: walking trails that would allow access to historic sites and follow the existing contours of the island, while leaving the existing natural environment largely undisturbed. For this design, Barton & Loguidice of Syracuse won an American Public Works Project of the Year Award in 2008.

With this plan in place, it was time at last for the dirt to fly. But before anything new could be built, there was still much to un-build. Coakley Island was home to two large structures that had once belonged to the Coakley lumber and hardware company. One was occupied by Traditional Arts in Upstate New York (TAUNY), and that eastern side of the island was therefore excluded for the moment from planning for the park. The former warehouse on the west side, however, had long lain abandoned and would have to go. The demolition was carried out in 2004 by members of the local Amish community, who then recycled over 90 tons of lumber and metal roofing from the structure (with hauling assistance by Gibson and Son), to build two houses and a barn. While this work was going on, Dr. Laurie Rush of Clayton was conducting extensive archeological fieldwork on Falls Island to locate and document the island’s cultural resources.

A relative quiet then descended on the future park for some three years, while GRH pursued further funding, sought the necessary permits, finalized the plans, and put out requests for bids. Acts II Construction of Gouverneur won the contract and formally began work in mid-August of 2007.

The lynchpin in the entire project was the King Iron Bowstring Truss Bridge, connecting the two islands. Constructed in the 1870s and heavily used in the early decades of its life, it had grown dilapidated and dangerous. It was imperative that this cultural treasure be restored to its original condition—and that its restoration be the first order of business once construction began, because work on Falls Island could not proceed without it. The entire bridge was hoisted off its abutments by crane and deposited behind the TAUNY building, where Mike Huot of Dexter went immediately to work re-welding the structure and fabricating replica parts where necessary. The restored bridge was returned to its original resting place just a month later, and the rush was on to meet the scheduled completion date of May, 2008.

The next challenge was to create sufficient level ground on the west side of Coakley Island to support the picnic area, walls, and plantings that we see there today. This required trucking in 900 cubic yards of fill, which was then covered with topsoil. Having removed this last obstacle to construction, Acts II proceeded over the next eight months—with a long forced break for winter—to build walls, fences, a patio-style picnic area, kiosks, a parking lot, sidewalks, posts for signage, a drainage system, and a handicapped-accessible stone-dust trail along the west side and north end of Falls Island. A special challenge was the weight restriction on the bowstring bridge, which meant that most of the materials and equipment to be used on Falls Island had to be taken across by hand or wheelbarrow.

But it was not only paid contractors who built Heritage Park. It was also volunteers from the community—well over a hundred of them—their work coordinated first by Bill Murphy and then by Jesse Coburn. Some were members of local organizations, such as the Boy Scouts, the High School track teams, the Canton Garden Club, the Canton VFW, and Habitat for Humanity (this is necessarily a partial list), while others were simply dedicated individuals who rolled up their sleeves and joined in. At one point a crew of prisoners in orange jumpsuits was brought in to contribute labor. Volunteers cleared trails, planted trees and shrubs (under the guidance of Richard Grover), and laid woodchip paths. Roger Bailey, of the SLU fine-arts faculty, did extensive research on the industrial history and ecology of the islands and designed and produced interpretive signs explaining this background to park visitors. Pete Wyckoff led a volunteer crew in building the footbridges that cross, at either end, the sluiceway that bisects Falls Island from south to north.

A lot of sweat equity went into the creation of Heritage Park—but so did a lot of the financial kind. Some of the early contributors of major grants and gifts are noted above. To these one must add the donations, both large and small, from local citizens and businesses—far too many to name—totaling another $150,000, as well as contributions of money and services from the Village of Canton.

On June 8, 2008, the air virtually still ringing from the last nail to be driven home, Heritage Park officially opened to speeches, band music, glorious sunshine, and a community’s celebration of its own remarkable accomplishment.