A piece of history at Onondaga Lake Park unearthed decades later
TOWN OF SALINA, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — A piece of history at one of Central New York’s most popular parks unearthed more than 90 years after its creation.
It’s a new chapter for a community staple with a long-standing history.
“These steps right here, way back in the 1930s were actually access to Onondaga Lake. There was a beach here, and it was also a place where people would come, and fish,” said Brian Kelley, parks commissioner.
Built back in the 1920s, these historic stairs are located in Jesuit Landing right by the park’s Butterfly Garden. But, they haven’t been visible for decades, until now. A park ranger shared the story with National Grid, and a light bulb went off, putting employees to work as part of a company project.
“We’ve had between 30 and 40 employees here between yesterday and today. Yesterday, we had some heavy equipment in here to clean off the major part of the brush, and then today we’re doing a lot of work with picks and shovels and rakes to clean it up,” said Alberto Bianchetti, National Grid’s Regional Director of Customer and Community Engagement.
Over the last day and a half, National Grid volunteers have been hard at work, digging up a big piece of the park’s history.
“It was under feet of soil, and plants, and so there was a lot of work to pull it all up,” said Travis Glazier, project coordinator and volunteer at National Grid.
But like they say, “teamwork makes the dream work.”
“The goal here at the end of the day is to have something for everybody, and this project right here certainly ties into the historical part of it, access and historical part of it,” said Kelley.
As soon as National Grid volunteers wrap up with Tuesday’s project at Onondaga Lake Park, they will continue their work across Central New York with several projects still on the list for this week.
As part of this week of service, over 2,000 National Grid volunteers are taking part in community projects across the state.
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