Friends of Taconic State Park - Be A Good Friend!
Inaugural Annual Meeting - July 2009
Friends of Taconic State Park was established in the fall of 2008 when several neighbors and friends of the Park began meeting to discuss how they could help to promote recreational, historical, educational and cultural activities within the park. There are currently about fifty household members of Friends of Taconic State Park with that number growing daily!
The designation in 2007 of the Copake Falls Iron Works Historic District by the National and State Registers of Historic Places was one of the key motivating factors in the establishment of the Friends group.
It is the long term goal of the Friends of Taconic State Park to restore the Copake Iron Works to the condition of its operating heyday in the 1880s, including the re-creation of the narrow gauge railroad that circumnavigated the ironworks. It is our intent to create a pre-eminent site of historic iron-making and a national destination for tourists. We estimate that this project will take 20 years and $50 million to complete – a daunting goal, but well worth it and in our opinion, achievable.
The first phase of this multi-phase plan is to cover the historic Copake Iron Works Furnace. We're raising funds now with the goal of completing this first phase by Fall 2011. Your membership is helping us reach that goal.
The designation in 2007 of the Copake Falls Iron Works Historic District by the National and State Registers of Historic Places was one of the key motivating factors in the establishment of the Friends group.
It is the long term goal of the Friends of Taconic State Park to restore the Copake Iron Works to the condition of its operating heyday in the 1880s, including the re-creation of the narrow gauge railroad that circumnavigated the ironworks. It is our intent to create a pre-eminent site of historic iron-making and a national destination for tourists. We estimate that this project will take 20 years and $50 million to complete – a daunting goal, but well worth it and in our opinion, achievable.
The first phase of this multi-phase plan is to cover the historic Copake Iron Works Furnace. We're raising funds now with the goal of completing this first phase by Fall 2011. Your membership is helping us reach that goal.