Friends of Parks Report on Capital Campaign; Not Far from Goal

By ELIZABETH COOPER
COOPERSTOWN

In May, Cooperstown Friends of the Parks put forth a lofty two-year goal: raise $250,000.00 for renovations and upgrades for Fairy Spring Park.

In just five months they have raised 75 percent of that.

“We are excited to have made such progress so early on in our campaign,” said Susie Lasher Knight, Project Fairy Spring coordinator and capital campaign chair.

If they can bring in the remaining 25 percent, or about $62,000.00 by mid-winter, they can break ground in the spring.

The quiet, shady park on the east side of Lake Otsego has long had a dedicated following. Its pebbly beach draws a different crowd from sunny, sandy Three Mile Point, and there’s no better place to meet a friend or read a book and then take a dip in the cool waters.

“We are really hoping other people who love Fairy Spring, or just really value the importance of public spaces, will give to the project before the end of the year so we can get started,” Knight said.

Knight is a member of Cooperstown Friends of the Parks, a nonprofit volunteer organization that supports the village’s public recreational spaces and is spearheading the project.

The Village of Cooperstown, which owns the park, has already allocated a separate $224,000.00 to the project, so the total funding would be close to $500,000.00. It’s also possible the State of New York will match the village contribution so even more can be done.

Village Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh said it’s no surprise so much was raised so quickly.

“Of all our parks, this is the one that is in many ways closest to the hearts of village residents and it has been for decades,” she said. “I think it’s an incredibly special park, I really do.”

The park offers public swimming and picnicking opportunities to Cooperstown and Middlefield residents, as well as to park pass holders from other locales.

The Project

Fairy Spring is now in its 83rd year. The land was originally given to the Village of Cooperstown by Robert Sterling Clark and its unique Work Progress Administration-era buildings are largely intact and unchanged, contributing to the park’s unique rustic charm. Now, those buildings are in need of repair, and in some cases don’t meet the requirements of modern accessibility laws.

Also, Fairy Spring is located on a steep embankment, so its driveways, buildings and parking area are crammed together in a way that doesn’t lead visitors to use key spaces. It also isn’t easy for people with physical disabilities to navigate.

Here’s what is being planned:

• The pavilion building would be updated and a deck with a lake view and ADA accessible ramps added. The building has always lacked its own bathrooms, making it less appealing for gatherings, so an ADA accessible one would now be added.
• The main driveway would be rerouted behind the existing pavilion building to make way for the deck and ensure that transportation lanes don’t interfere with park enjoyment.
• The existing road that winds through the park will be reconfigured to allow for a dedicated pedestrian and cyclist lane. Handicapped accessible parking spaces would also be created.
• The summer caretaker residence has never had its own bathroom, making it harder to find people willing to take the job. One would be added.
• An additional ADA bathroom, a revamped changing area and a lifeguard breakroom are also on the list.
• Depending on funding outcomes, expanded dock space, improved emergency vehicle access to the water, and better landscaping and signage may be options. If any money is left over it would be placed in a stewardship fund for future park maintenance.

For park user and Village Parks board member Jeanne Dewey, accessibility is a key issue. She knows older people can have trouble navigating the steep and sometimes uneven terrain, but it isn’t just that. Her son uses a wheelchair.

“For anyone with mobility issues it has not got great access to the lake,” she said.

She also noted that there are no wheelchair accessible bathrooms and the pavilion isn’t accessible, either. Still, Fairy Spring has a special quality, she said.

“I love that it’s small,” Dewey said. “It’s a beautiful place with all the trees. It is sort of protected.”

Knight, who spent a summer as Fairy Spring caretaker, said the park really should be for everybody and that’s the point of this project.

“I feel fortunate to have met so many of the important people in my life at Fairy Spring, but that experience shouldn’t be limited to only those without mobility issues,” she said. “I know so many people who have grown old in the years they have come to this park. I want people of all ages and stages to be able to enjoy it as long as they can.”

“Fairy Spring defines a Cooperstown summer for me and for so many,” she said. “There are many regulars who come to meet up with a friend or take a dip after work. It becomes its own community.”

A Family Legacy

Village statistics show that 90 percent of Fairy Spring visitors are local, while busier Three Mile Point attracts people from a broader area.

One such visitor is Clay Wilcox, a native Cooperstownian who has recently returned to the area after living and working elsewhere for many years.
Starting when he was a small boy, Wilcox’s mother, Hilda, would bring her children there regularly. She had crusaded for the park to reopen after a brief period of closure, because she loved being in the water so much, and she has been a regular ever since.

Clay Wilcox grew up to work with famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau and he credits his time at the park with starting him on that path.

“I was immediately fascinated with being underwater,” he said, adding that he bought a pair of $2.00 goggles at the local Farm and Home store and dedicated many hours to his explorations of the lake bottom. “I was probably the only Cousteau diver who grew up on a lake. The rest were from oceans like the Mediterranean.”

But it’s his mother’s love for the place that warms his heart.

“Going to Fairy Spring in the afternoons was probably one of her greatest joys,” he said. “She could swim and she could interface with young people and older people.”

Hilda Wilcox is now 96 and can’t go to the park anymore, but an anonymous donor has already made a large contribution in her honor. Clay Wilcox and his family are also planning to give.

Donors contributing at the $1,000.00 level or higher will be recognized on a plaque located inside the pavilion, as well as through several donor events.

Knight said people have been creative with their giving strategies. Two brothers who were former lifeguards made a two-year pledge in order to get their names on the plaque. Another family gathered contributions from multiple members to make a gift together.

Support from the community has been overwhelmingly positive, Knight said. There have been many donations, ranging from a few hundred dollars to much more from faithful park enthusiasts and others those who value public access to Otsego Lake.

A recent large donation was made in recognition of John Odell, who served for many years as a charismatic Friends of the Parks president and Village Parks Board member. Other donations have been made in memory of other park veterans: Jonathan Ross, Dorle Sittler, longtime Friends of the Parks member Bill Ralston, and in honor of Hilda Wilcox’s heroic efforts to keep the park from closing in the 1970s. Grants have also been received from NYCM, Preferred Mutual Insurance, Price Chopper’s Golub Foundation, Stewart’s Shops and the Lucky Duck Foundation.

How To Give

An anonymous match of $25,000.00 has been pledged to encourage community giving over the next several months. Donations can be made in two ways, via a check made out to Cooperstown Friends of the Parks Inc., Attention Project Fairy Spring sent to PO Box 1008, Cooperstown NY 13326 or Venmo @FOTP-Coop with a notation that it’s for Project Fairy Spring.