"It's going to get us in line to get other grants," Altona Town Supervisor Larry Ross said. "If we make this more of an educational thing, the grants are out there."

He envisions the best use of the renovated powerhouse to be as an interpretive center for the town with links to the educational community. It could tell the story of Altona with its unique flat-rock environment, filled with fossils, jack pines and blueberries.

Ross hopes the initial Noble grant could at least get the windows replaced to keep the pigeons out and take care of the cleanup work.

"Now, it's pretty rough," he said.

The roof is all copper, and he hopes it can be restored to its original form, but that will depend on the amount of grant money that can be secured.

Altona Town Historian Loyola Coolidge said that when the building was turned over to the town in 1961, it was still operating, but the town didn't want it.

"From the time I started as historian, it was sad," she said. "The town had this building, and it's gone to waste."

LONG NEGLECT

Not only was the building neglected during that time period, the metal penstock (a huge water pipe) set on concrete pillars that brought water to the powerhouse from the McGregor Dam, located upriver on state land occupied by the Mohawk Indians' Ganienkeh community, was sold for scrap. The electrical-generation equipment was removed, and other components were demolished.

The copper was taken off the roof of the LaSell Powerhouse, a sister structure that was fed by the LaSell dam. This dam is situated about 1,000 feet downriver from the McGregor Powerhouse.

The LaSell Dam and the McGregor Powerhouse form the historic configuration that can be seen crossing the bridge on Devil's Den Road.

The LaSell Powerhouse on Joe Wood Road, located about two miles downstream from the LaSell Dam and originally connected to it by another penstock, is on private property, out of public view, and is now described as a roofless ruin.

The McGregor and LaSell dams along with 84.97 acres were conveyed to the town in 1961 by Miner Institute. According to the deed, the purpose was to "make possible the establishment of recreational facilities in the town and to make available to the town an area for promotion and development, or for such other use as may prove beneficial to the economy and welfare of the town and its people."

Feinberg Park, a town-run campground and recreation area with ball fields and playground, was carved out of that land. But, due to disinterest, much of it reverted to the state. The McGregor Dam and a substantial chunk of the acreage was subsequently made available for use by the Mohawks to resolve a downstate crisis that pitted the Native Americans against the state. This is a fact that still doesn't sit well with town officials today, who contend it ran contrary to the intended use when Miner divested itself of the property.

MINER LEGACY