Plans for environmental education complex in doubt
An ambitious plan to transform an abandoned paperclip factory at Dennings Point in Beacon into an environmental education complex is in doubt because Clarkson University has left the site.
A representative from the state parks department, which partnered with the university because it owns the land, confirmed last week that Clarkson, which operated the Beacon Institute of Rivers and Estuaries (BIRE) at the site, “elected to leave the facilities” in October.
Clarkson had operated its BIRE Water Ecology Center in a renovated, 19th-century brickworks building and started transforming the factory into the Beatrice G. Donofrio Environmental Education Complex. A representative from Clarkson said that the university “concluded the multi-year research we were doing at Beacon and decided to withdraw from the site.” Clarkson said BIRE will continue to provide programming to K-12 schools.
The Water Ecology Center, which hosted lectures and classes, has sustainable features such as a green roof, natural ventilation and composting toilets. It received LEED Gold certification as an adaptive project.
State parks said it has not determined what it will do with the two buildings, although it does plan to update the HVAC in the Water Ecology Center. The agency is also responsible for the repaved walkways, new benches and informational kiosks installed last fall.
Clarkson announced its intention in May 2020 to transform the paperclip factory into the Donofrio complex. The exterior shell was completed in 2021, the same year that BIRE moved from its offices at 199 Main St. in Beacon into the Water Ecology Center.
In 2022, state parks announced it would make a $3.2 million investment in the site; a representative from Parks said on Friday (June 13) that because the project did not move forward, those funds were reallocated. However, state parks has since completed a $1.2 million project to improve the steel structure and add solar panels to the roof.
When the project was announced in 2020, Michael Walsh, then the president of BIRE, said the former factory was in good shape. “The majority of the building is salvageable,” he said. “The concrete floor meets 100-year flood standards, and the structural seal is sound.”
While it’s unfortunate that so much expense was put into rehabbing the area around the factory, I am glad that fewer people will be going in and out of an area that had become wilderness over the last few decades. It has returned to being a quiet haven for species like the bald eagle. Still, it would have been nice to have had an environmentally forward place like Clarkson University in Beacon, educating generations of young people. That would have been the best re-use of the old brickworks.
BIRE did a great job hosting walk-and-talks, as well as presentations at the center, before the takeover by Clarkson. I remember an outstanding talk by a park ranger about bald eagles. It would be nice if they would bring back those programs and advertise them again. [via Facebook]
It’s a tax write-off or something for the college: A lot of nothing has taken place, and they have presented all sorts of plans over the years. [via Facebook]
It’s an incredible place. It would be great if it were a low-key destination. [via Facebook]
I am perplexed by what has been going on there. It seemed Clarkson University was making all sorts of plans, spending all sorts of tax dollars on upgrading facilities, making statements and promises about supporting Beacon High School and Beacon kids and students, and then it bailed with no public statement of any value or substance.
Years of broken promises, and no politician seems to care or have much to say about it (Clarkson has wiped any reference to Beacon from its websites). It’s all very disappointing. [via Facebook]