The Gorge of my youth gets a facelift. From the Cornell Daily Sun:
After Years Of Renovations, Cornell Reopens Cascadilla Gorge Trail
SEPTEMBER 16, 2014 12:05 AM
By NOAH RANKIN
After six years of renovations, the Cascadilla Gorge Trail officially reopened to the public in a ceremony at Treman Triangle Park Monday afternoon. Several leaders affiliated with the City of Ithaca and the University spoke at the event, praising the reconstruction efforts and highlighting the trail’s importance to both Cornell and the surrounding community.
Mayor Svante Myrick ’09 and Christopher Dunn, director of Cornell Plantations, lead a tour through the Cascadilla Gorge Trail for its reopening Monday. (Greg Keller / Sun Contributor)
“It’s been a huge undertaking [and] a huge partnership to make this happen,” said Christopher Dunn, director of Cornell Plantations. “[The project was] a considerable investment in both fiscal resources and human resources.”
According to Dunn and KyuJung Whang, vice president for Facilities Services, the gorge trail — which runs along Cascadilla Creek from Treman Triangle Park to East Hill Plaza — was closed in 2008 due to safety concerns such as falling boulders and unsafe walkways.
Renovations included realignment and the raising of the trail, the removal of invasive trees and shrubs, the repairing of the retaining walls and the addition of a specially-made gate at the front of the trail, Whang said. Hand rails, stairs and stormwater drains systems were also upgraded.
According to Dunn, the prospect of Cornell providing the necessary funds to update and reopen the trail was not expected in 2008 due to the recession’s effect on the University’s finances.
However, the University provided approximately $2 million, while the rest of the nearly $2.8 million budget was filled with federal and New York State funds.
“I think Cornell University’s commitment of $2 million or so speaks to the significance the University places in this trail and in the community that Cornell serves,” Dunn said. “This trail is a gateway in many ways: it’s a gateway to Cornell, it’s a gateway to the University [and] it’s a gateway to the City [of] Ithaca.”
Though the section from Treman Triangle Park to the Stewart Avenue Bridge was essentially completed by 2010, renovations on the trail were delayed in 2011 when tropical storms Lee and Irene hit the Ithaca area and resulted in massive flooding, creating an “unanticipated double-whammy of devastation,” according to former Mayor Carolyn Peterson.
“The storm had two immediate outcomes for the trail,” said Todd Bittner, director of natural areas for Cornell Plantations. “The first was positive: Rebuilt stairs, railings and stone trails … weathered the storm flood waters well and proved that our repair methodology was sound. The second [outcome] was that yet-unrepaired trail sections and staircases were left vulnerable, and the resulting damage was significant.”
According to Bittner, Cornell was able to successfully lobby for about $880,000 dollars from the Federal Emergency and Management Agency due to the fact that Tompkins County had been declared a disaster area. The process to get these funds was difficult due to the many deadlines imposed by FEMA, Bitter said.
Though the project took six years to complete, city leaders lauded the University’s commitment to the renovations, calling the gorge an example of the “symbiotic relationship” between the community, the University and the natural environment.
Mayor Svante Myrick ’09 said that he is very happy for the reopening of the gorge, which he said was one of the selling points that brought him to Ithaca as a student in the first place.
“As a student and now as the mayor, I have to tell you that [the gorge] is important because of its symbolic connection,” Myrick said. “It brings you from the heart of downtown, the cultural and geographical heart of our community, into the main economic engine of our community.”
Myrick went on to say that the reopening represents a much-needed “good news day,” in wake of summer events, including the Simeon’s crash.
“The problems you see are not the first problems and they won’t be the last,” Myrick said. “You can take a walk through a 10,000-year-old wonder, when you can walk out of your door and within five minutes be in a physical reminder that the problems you’re facing today are not the end of the world.”
Peterson — who served as mayor from 2004 to 2011 — said she hopes the trail’s reopening will serve as a reminder that the gorge and the natural areas of Ithaca must be constantly taken care of by their inhabitants.
“It’s not only for a hike, but it’s a true transportation path, a recreation path, a show-it-off-to-visitors path and a respite from vehicle traffic when walking from East Hill,” she said. “It was here way before any of us and will be here for millennia more. What we can do is protect it, keep it clean and keep it safe.”
Here's the link:
http://cornellsun.com/blog/2014/09/1...trail-reopens/