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N is for Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks

© Gary W. Taylor

On Sunday, July 11, the groundbreaking event was held to kick-off construction of the new Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks. The new museum will be built in Tupper Lake. The event included appearances by Governor George E. Pataki and Congressman John McHugh.

The Museum was the dream of Betsy Lowe, a long-time resident with deep roots in the Adirondacks. She says in a press release from the museum, "We set out six years ago to get to this day. We got here because thousands and thousands of people have donated money and shared ideas. We're working to build a center that complements the region and its existing institutions, because that's the key to long-term success. I can't start to thank everyone who has helped. We've been lucky to have found world-class project designers; really dedicated, experienced staff and consultants; and a talented Board of Trustees who encouraged us to raise the bar at every opportunity, and then helped raise the money so we could jump over that bar."

The Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks will include presentations on the nature of the six-million acre Adirondack Park, the largest park in the lower 48 states. The 35,000 square foot state-of-the-art museum will contain a surround sound movie theater, a 20-foo high waterfall with love otters, giant aquariums, and life exhibits that will include multi-media shows explaining the wonders of the natural world of the Adirondack Park.

There will also be 31-acres of interpreted outdoor exhibits, a waterfront café, and a museum gift shop. In addition, the Museum will provide educational programs for adult and school groups, and be a site for organized field trips.

The festivities to mark the official groundbreaking included a Flag Presentation Ceremony of specially commissioned flags which Museum volunteers have carried to some of the Adirondack's more famous and some less than well-known places. One was flown from the summit of Whiteface, and other flags have been carried up cliffs, down the Hudson River Gorges and onto the summits of High Peaks, down Lake George, up Lake Champlain and into the woods, over lakes and ponds and up some named and unnamed streams. Like an Olympic Torch run, regular citizens have carried the flags, and at the ceremony they will be raised to symbolize what the Museum calls its "commitment to every square inch of the natural world of the Adirondacks." The ground breaking also included tours of the site and a picnic lunch.