New York Power Authority and New York State Office of Parks to Host Family Fun Event

Contact:
Stephen Ramsey
1-800-724-0309
stephen.ramsey@nypa.gov

Brian Strasavich (OPRHP)
518-827-6111

August 10, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NORTH BLENHEIM—The New York Power Authority (NYPA) and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) will host a Family Fun Event at Minekill State Park on Tuesday, August 14 at the park’s swimming pool complex.

The Family Fun Event, which runs from 1– 3 pm, will feature free ice cream, a DJ, face painter and games for the kids.  Entrance to the park is $6 per vehicle.  Admission to the pool complex is $2 for adults and $1 for children under 12.  Minekill State Park is open daily from 7:30 am to dusk.  The pool complex is open from 10 am to 6 pm during the week and from 10 am to 7 pm on weekends and holidays.

The 650-acre Minekill State Park, built by NYPA next to its Blenheim-Gilboa Pumped Storage Power Project’s lower reservoir, is operated by the Saratoga Capital District of the State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic preservation.  The park offers a three-pool swimming complex, picnic areas, hiking trails and a boat-launching ramp.

Adjacent to Minekill State Park is the New York Power Authority’s Blenheim-Gilboa  project’s Visitors Center which includes the Historic Lansing Manor House. The admission-free visitors center is housed in a restored 19^th-century dairy barn and is packed with interactive exhibits on electric generation and displays highlighting the area’s environmental and geographic features.  It is open daily from 10 am to 5 pm.

The manor house, also admission-free and open from May 1 to October 31, is a classic example of Federalist period architecture. It was built by John TenEyck Lansing, Jr.—a major figure in New York State politics and government before, during and after the American Revolution— as a wedding gift to his daughter Frances and her husband, Jacob Sutherland.  

The Lansing Manor complex and Minekill State Park are located on Route 30 in North Blenheim, 17 miles south of Middleburgh and five miles north of Grand Gorge.  The sites are located about 50 miles southwest of Albany.

For more information and to learn more about New York State Parks, visit www.nysparks.com and to learn more about NYPA, visit www.nypa.gov.