Keeseville Waterfront Park now officially open

KEESEVILLE | On June 4, the Town of Ausable and Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH) opened the Keeseville Waterfront Park. "This just marks yet another turning point for Keeseville," said Town of Ausable Supervisor Tim Bresett during the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the community gathering space that now features a playground/picnic area, a pedestrian walkway, and interpretive signage from the Anderson Falls Heritage Society. "And it's pointing us in the right direction." The idea of a waterfront park came after the AARCH purchased the former American Horse Nail Company site in 2008. At the time, the organization had outgrown its office in two classrooms of the historic Keeseville Central School, now the Keeseville Civic Center. A grant from New York State and private donations were leveraged to restore the former office building, which now includes the AARCH offices, a resource library, a gallery, and rental space. At the time of the acquisition, AARCH also hoped to repurpose the Stone Mill as a preservation technology training school. By 2015, that vision had expanded to include a nearby waterfront park, and the AARCH eyed the Prescott Rolling and Slitting Mill, also known as the Red Mill, for that development. AARCH acquired the vacant building in 2018 through a gift from the George and Shirley Moore Foundation and tore it down in 2020 because it was collapsing and riddled with asbestos. "It was filled with a lot of storage items, and it was also pretty unsightly," said Andrew Prescott of EYP Architecture & Engineering, who is also part of the Local Planning Committee, "so we knew that the building needed to come down if this area was ever going to be developed." This decision allowed them to start preparing the site for the first phase of the park's construction. The Town of Ausable Planning Board approved the final park plan in 2023, which was completed in October 2024. Elan Planning, Design, & Landscape Architecture, now Environmental Design & Research (EDR), provided the design, and Keeseville's Fuller Excavating led the construction. This $700,000 project was made possible by the generous support of many funders, including the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, & Historic Preservation; the Cloudsplitter Foundation; the Adirondack Foundation's Generous Acts Program; the Johnson Family Foundation; the Lake Champlain Basin Program; the Charles R. Wood Foundation; and Beth and Brian Stevens, who purchased the office building and Stone Mill in 2022. "At the end of last month, we gave the park to the town; the town purchased it for $1," said AARCH Executive Director Erin Tobin. "It's our gift back to the Town of Ausable and the community of Keeseville." The AARCH completed Phase 1 of the waterfront park. Phase 2 consists of finding a purpose for the former Red Mill's foundation and basement, which couldn't be filled due to budget limitations and structural concerns. "Engineers had determined that the wall wasn't structurally sound enough to hold the dirt we needed to fill that hole," Tobin said. "So, the next step is for the town to figure that out, and hopefully, cover, fill, or do something with that space." During the grand opening, Bresett mentioned the possibility of using monies through the hamlet's $4.5 million grant through NY Forward, a program launched in 2022 to help transform downtowns throughout the state into vibrant hubs, to revitalize the space. In the meantime, the area has been fenced off so that people can admire the remaining structure while enjoying the park. "This is a great time to be in Keeseville," Bresett said. "And I look forward to what the future has in store for our community." For more information or updates, visit keesevillenyforward.com.

Signup for our newsletter

Keeseville Waterfront Park now officially open

COMPANY

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

SUBMISSION FORMS

BEYOND THE NEWS