The idea to build a visitor center in Lake George’s Battlefield Park was conceived more than a century ago when New York State acquired the historical lands on the Southern shore of Lake George. Wednesday, May 25, representatives of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, the Lake George Park Commission, the Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance, doners and local and state officials gathered to celebrate the Grand Opening of the Visitor Interpretive Center (VIC).
“Many people, from many organizations,” says Joe Zalewski, Regional Director of the NYDEC, “spent many hours working to make this project a reality. The VIC will be managed by our partners at the (Lake George Battlefield Park) Alliance and provide visitors with a welcoming and inclusive space that guides them on a historical journey through interpretive displays and artifacts.”
The VIC is housed in the newly constructed Lake George Park Commission office building at 75 Fort George Road in the center of the park. The $1.1 million project was funded through New York’s Environmental Protection Fund. The historical content of the VIC was funded with individual donations and private foundation grants from the Alfred Z. Solomon Charitable Trust, the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, and the Stewart’s/Dake Family Foundation.
Former Alliance president Lyn Karig Hohmann spoke of the driving force behind the formation of the Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance and the creation of the Visitor Center:
“In 2000, David Starbuck, who has unfortunately passed from this world, began doing archeological digs in the park, and if we didn’t think this park was incredible before he started digging, once we started doing actual archeological studies here, the things that came to the surface were so spectacular, and unfortunately they were all housed down in the New York State Museum, not that I don’t love the New York State Museum, but the people up here never got to see them.” We knew we needed more, says Hohmann.
This prompted those involved in the digs to form the Lake George Battlefield Park (Fort George) Alliance, a Battlefield Park friends group. “We actually got this site on the National Register of Historic Places…we did walks in the park, we came out with a tour book, we did all kinds of things, but in the back of our mind, we needed a visitor center.”
The pine woodlands and rolling lawns of Battlefield Park, a popular camping and picnic spot, is the site of several significant military engagements as the French and British Empires battled for control of North America. Displays in the VIC highlight events such as the 1755 Battle of Lake George, the 1757 siege and surrender of Fort William Henry, and the establishment of the Continental Army’s smallpox hospital in 1776.
Beginning Friday, May 27, the Visitor Center will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through the end of June. Operating hours will expand to five days per week from July 1 through Labor Day Weekend. The Visitor Center will also be open on Memorial Day, May 30, when many people are expected to attend the annual Remembrance Ceremony at the burial site in the Battlefield Park of Four Unknown Soldiers from the French and Indian War. The Memorial Day Remembrance Ceremony begins at 10:30 a.m. Admission to the Visitor Center is free.
The Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance is continuing its tradition of conducting guided one-hour tours of the Park’s most important historic spots each Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. Tours begin at the Visitor Center. Pre-registration is recommended by emailing the Alliance at info@lakegeorgebattlefield.org.