General News: Local Historic Sites Impacted by State Cuts
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| Knox Headquarters in New Windsor will not open this summer. |
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| The annual Memorial Day celebration at the New Windsor Cantonment will be held. |
May 17, 2010
The operation of two state historic sites in New Windsor will be impacted by the failure of the state legislature to restore cuts in the governor's budget proposal. On Friday, the spokeswoman for the New York State Office of Parks and Recreation said that the state will start shutting down or keeping closed 41 parks and 14 historic sites across New York.
Jim Hall, the executive director of the Palisades Interstate Parks Commission, told News from Cornwall and Cornwall-on-Hudson that Knox Headquarters in New Windsor and the Stony Point Historic site will not open this summer. In addition, the New Windsor Cantonment, where the Continental Army under General George Washington had its last encampment at the end of the Revolutionary War, will stay open but services will be cut back.
Hall said that no seasonal staff is being hired, staff that would normally maintain the park services. The New Windsor Cantonment will remain open because it shares the facility with the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, which is not being closed. The cantonment also will hold its annual Memorial Day ceremony, which this year will feature a concert and Revolutionary War graveside ceremony.
The Fort Montgomery Historic site will also remain open, Hall said, because it has grant money available for its operation.
Hall noted that the Palisades portion of the state parks and historic sites has an annual budget of $17 million, including permanent staff, seasonal staff and operating costs. Statewide the parks budget was cut by $11.5 million in Governor Paterson’s budget proposal, Hall said. The legislature could still restore the cuts but negotiations in Albany are currently at a standstill.
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