AuSable Forks Record-Post, December 18, 1930
SLIDE OPENING STEP FOR NEW SPORTS CENTER
Lease on Lower Saranac Lake Site Taken by Saranac Lake Village Officials
The first step toward establishment of a sports center at Saranac Lake will be the construction of a 300-foot toboggan slide which will probably be ready for use by Christmas, according to tentative plans made by Village Manager Wayne E. Timmerman following official adoption of Lower Saranac Lake as the site for the project.
After two weeks of study and consideration of all factors incident to the development, the Saranac Lake village board of trustees, on motion of Trustee Frank W. Lane, accepted the offer of Charles C. Harris, owner of the Ampersand properties, to give the village a lease on the site until May 1, at the nominal price of $1, with an option of purchasing 12 acres for $20,000 and any additional acreage that may be desired at $500 an acre.
Immediate plans for development of the site call for construction of a toboggan slide of about 26 feet on top of the knoll overlooking the lake at a height of 21 feet above and 300 feet from shore. This will mean a slide of 300 feet with a drop of 21 feet that would carry the sleds far out onto the covering of the lake in a cove where ice forms quicker than in open waters. The plan also calls for a shelter house and plowing of a road on the lake for skijoring and automobile driving.
The ice road will be about 20 feet wide and will extend 10 miles in a V shape, running up the lake for five, miles and return.
Plans will be submitted to the board of trustees at the next meeting Monday night.
Preliminary development of the center may be financed with funds provided from the annual appropriation for sports, recreation and publicity without conflicting with the smaller toboggan slide at the Pontiac rink or the rink there.
The project is the result of enthusiasm created by Frank Miller, manager of the Hotel Saranac, who individually sponsored a meeting of a representative group of 62 residents of the village. The final solution was worked out by a committee selected by Mr. Miller which is composed of Dr. Edward R. Baldwin, A. P. Whittemore, Samuel Edelberg, Joseph J. O'Connell, Alfred W. Currier, Dr. Charles C. Trembley, Dr. John N. Hayes, Col. Kenneth Gardner, William Leonard, Fred Tremble, Lewis G. Graeves, Walter Sagendorf and Mr. Miller. William H. Scopes, Samuel Matthews, Mr. Harris, Mr. Timmerman and members of the village board cooperated.
It is hoped that the sports center can eventually be developed into a resort for winter and summer activities.
