SAVANNAH #- After nearly 20 years of discussion, fundraising and hard work, the doors finally opened on the Montezuma Audubon Center (MAC), part of the Northern Montezuma Wetlands Complex in the town of Savannah.
Jason Rearick / The Citizen
Color guard officers from the New York State Environmental Conservation Police raise the American and New York State flags ending the opening ceremony of the Montezuma Audubon Center in the town of Savannah Monday afternoon.
Color guard officers from the New York State Environmental Conservation Police raise the American and New York State flags ending the opening ceremony of the Montezuma Audubon Center in the town of Savannah Monday afternoon.
For town supervisor and member of the Friends of the Montezuma Wetlands Complex, Donald Colvin, this project has been a labor of love and long standing determination.
“For me the idea of doing this goes back at least 16 years,” said Colvin, who has been town supervisor for 47 years. “About seven or eight years ago we formed the Crucial Conservation Committee. The state was buying up land and we wanted to get something like a visitors' center. And we finally did, it has been a long time coming in my estimation, but we#'ve finally got something together.”
During those years the concept for the project grew and changed scope as more and more people took an active interest in getting the facility off the ground.
“At first we were going to get the money and do it ourselves,” Colvin said. “And then it progressed, congressmen and senators got involved and we had more money to work with and Congressman Walsh got money and it progressed more. It grew and grew and then Governor Pataki got involved and there was even more money and now we have what is standing here today.”
Among those who helped make the creation of the facility possible was Congressman Jim Walsh, who was instrumental in securing $400,000 for the center's construction as well as $2 million for land acquisition to expand the refuge.
“This is a great day for all of us,” Walsh said. “I love the outdoors. I love being out in the woods or fishing. So this was natural for me.”
The state of the art 5,200-square-foot single-story structure made of more than 50 percent recycled material and is designed to meet with the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED). The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will be applying for certification as a “Green Building” upon final building commissioning and submission of associated documentation. The LEED certification is based on energy efficiency for heating, cooling and lighting as well as the use of environmentally friendly materials in construction.
The building was designed by Madonna L. Foster of Beardsley Design Associates of Auburn.
Foster said that it was designed with all of these factors as well as functionality in mind.
“We wanted it to look as natural as possible,” Foster said. “But we also wanted it to be functional. We wanted it to be the kind of place that the community could use for functions and school classes could visit and work from. I think the idea has been expressed very well.”
The $2.7 million dollar facility is the by product of the cooperative work of local, state and federal government.
“This is just one more example of the public and private partnership forged by Governor Pataki,” David J. Miller, executive director of Audubon New York, said. “I want to thank all of the people that made this day happen. It is a wonderful celebration of everyone's commitment to the preservation of nature.”
Joining Miller as well as Walsh and Colvin for the dedication was DEC commissioner Denise M. Sheehan, who announced that along with the MAC Governor Pataki was also announcing the designation of 16 new bird conservation areas across the state.
Sheehan said that this is a further demonstration of Pataki's commitment to protecting and enhancing wildlife habitats, preserving valuable open spaces and increasing outdoor recreational opportunities through out the state.
“The Center is an effort to give visitors a place to appreciate the beauty of nature,” Sheehan said. “The department (DEC) is proud to be partnering with the Audubon, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and local officials on such a beneficial project. I'm really proud to be here on the day of the opening of this new center.”
Current plans call for the official public opening of the center on Oct. 1st.
Colvin said that he hopes that the introduction of the center will have long term benefits for Savannah.
“We always wanted to do something to bring more people to Savannah,” Colvin said. “I think it will have a very good impact. I think it will bring more people and more people means more business to Savannah.”
Along with being a great place to observe wildlife and the numerous indigenous and migratory species of birds in the area including bald eagles, Canadian Geese and red-winged blackbirds, the facility will also have a permanent display of elephant portfolios of reprints of the bird-oriented works of John James Audubon.
Ideally the center will be a year round place that can be used extensively by anyone that curiously asks the question, why?
“When I was a kid and I would go out in the boat with my dad I would always ask him why,” Walsh said. “I hope that this will be a place for all of those young people with curiosity, whose mom and dad don't always know why. This can make all the difference in our body of knowledge to better understand out planet and our relationship to the natural world.”
“For me the idea of doing this goes back at least 16 years,” said Colvin, who has been town supervisor for 47 years. “About seven or eight years ago we formed the Crucial Conservation Committee. The state was buying up land and we wanted to get something like a visitors' center. And we finally did, it has been a long time coming in my estimation, but we#'ve finally got something together.”
During those years the concept for the project grew and changed scope as more and more people took an active interest in getting the facility off the ground.
“At first we were going to get the money and do it ourselves,” Colvin said. “And then it progressed, congressmen and senators got involved and we had more money to work with and Congressman Walsh got money and it progressed more. It grew and grew and then Governor Pataki got involved and there was even more money and now we have what is standing here today.”
Among those who helped make the creation of the facility possible was Congressman Jim Walsh, who was instrumental in securing $400,000 for the center's construction as well as $2 million for land acquisition to expand the refuge.
“This is a great day for all of us,” Walsh said. “I love the outdoors. I love being out in the woods or fishing. So this was natural for me.”
The state of the art 5,200-square-foot single-story structure made of more than 50 percent recycled material and is designed to meet with the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED). The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will be applying for certification as a “Green Building” upon final building commissioning and submission of associated documentation. The LEED certification is based on energy efficiency for heating, cooling and lighting as well as the use of environmentally friendly materials in construction.
The building was designed by Madonna L. Foster of Beardsley Design Associates of Auburn.
Foster said that it was designed with all of these factors as well as functionality in mind.
“We wanted it to look as natural as possible,” Foster said. “But we also wanted it to be functional. We wanted it to be the kind of place that the community could use for functions and school classes could visit and work from. I think the idea has been expressed very well.”
The $2.7 million dollar facility is the by product of the cooperative work of local, state and federal government.
“This is just one more example of the public and private partnership forged by Governor Pataki,” David J. Miller, executive director of Audubon New York, said. “I want to thank all of the people that made this day happen. It is a wonderful celebration of everyone's commitment to the preservation of nature.”
Joining Miller as well as Walsh and Colvin for the dedication was DEC commissioner Denise M. Sheehan, who announced that along with the MAC Governor Pataki was also announcing the designation of 16 new bird conservation areas across the state.
Sheehan said that this is a further demonstration of Pataki's commitment to protecting and enhancing wildlife habitats, preserving valuable open spaces and increasing outdoor recreational opportunities through out the state.
“The Center is an effort to give visitors a place to appreciate the beauty of nature,” Sheehan said. “The department (DEC) is proud to be partnering with the Audubon, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and local officials on such a beneficial project. I'm really proud to be here on the day of the opening of this new center.”
Current plans call for the official public opening of the center on Oct. 1st.
Colvin said that he hopes that the introduction of the center will have long term benefits for Savannah.
“We always wanted to do something to bring more people to Savannah,” Colvin said. “I think it will have a very good impact. I think it will bring more people and more people means more business to Savannah.”
Along with being a great place to observe wildlife and the numerous indigenous and migratory species of birds in the area including bald eagles, Canadian Geese and red-winged blackbirds, the facility will also have a permanent display of elephant portfolios of reprints of the bird-oriented works of John James Audubon.
Ideally the center will be a year round place that can be used extensively by anyone that curiously asks the question, why?
“When I was a kid and I would go out in the boat with my dad I would always ask him why,” Walsh said. “I hope that this will be a place for all of those young people with curiosity, whose mom and dad don't always know why. This can make all the difference in our body of knowledge to better understand out planet and our relationship to the natural world.”
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