This project, which was initially led and directed by the late Tom Boothe, is working to build a new whitewater park on the Saranac River in downtown Saranac lake. The park should attract many new paddlers and other outdoor recreationalists to Saranac Lake, providing a needed economic and social boost to our community, while creating a space for paddlers of all levels to experience whitewater paddling.

Tom worked with others to secure funding for the original feasibility study in 2018, and in 2019 secured a $411,000 grant from the $10 million Downtown Revitalization Grant awarded by New York State to Saranac Lake. When COVID hit, AdkAction  pivoted to much more pressing, emergency food and health needs in our community. However, in Spring 2021 the project team—with Steve Maikowski as Board lead, former Board member Scott McKim, Tyler Merriam of Ausable River Association, and Brittany Christenson – resumed work on the project. A Request for Proposal for Design and Permitting of the Whitewater Park was completed, and a company with extensive experience in whitewater park design and construction was selected as our finalist.

With the help of outside legal counsel, we are now finalizing the contract with that firm, and hope to have the design and permitting work underway this Fall. We anticipate that this phase 1 of the work will take 9 months, and we can then begin work on planning the construction of the park in 2023, with a hoped for completion date of 2024.