In Whirlpool State Park, Extreme Sports, Play win out over Nature

Whirlpool State Park is undergoing some changes – in our opinion, not for the better.

One of the original Olmsted/Vaux parks along the Niagara River, in addition to Devil’s Hole and, of course, the Niagara Reservation which encompasses the iconic waterfall, Whirlpool is a tourist favorite. It affords stunning views of the river and Niagara Whirlpool below.

In what’s been termed a brief and violent encounter, Niagara Falls, which over thousands of years had steadily churned its way south from Lewiston at the point where Artpark sits across from Canada’s Brock Memorial, encountered an older riverbed consisting of softer material than the limestone and sandstone that composes the rock layers of the Niagara Gorge. The river made a 90 degree turn in a matter of days, forming the whirlpool which famously reverses course every 12 hours due to Power Project withdrawals of water upriver.

The first incursion on the natural beauty of the Whirlpool State Park scenic vista was probably the Canadian cable car (called the “Spanish Aero Car”, since it was designed by a Spanish engineer, Leonardo Torres Quevedo, in 1916) which conveys passengers over the whirlpool.

If that wasn’t a bad enough blight on the viewscape of the Niagara Whirlpool, the Canadians have really outdone themselves with the new construction of “WildPlay’s Whirlpool Adventure Course”, right on the edge of the gorge above the whirlpool.

According to Wildplay, Ltd.’s website, “(C)o-founders Gordon Ross and Tom Benson… were eager to share their passion and belief in life-changing outdoor adventures… (they) knew that the right locations would not only showcase Mother Nature, but would respect and champion her health. They established development and operations criteria that include… high standards for minimizing or improving environmental impact, sensitive building practices, and careful site selection…”

The obtrusive, newly-installed obstacle course, overwhelming and marring the view from Whirlpool State Park on the US side, and soon to feature the non-stop whooping and screaming of thrill-seeking fans of “extreme” sports, is described as “A fun and thrilling experience of suspended obstacles and ziplines high above the world-famous whirlpool and Niagara gorge. Three self-paced courses include dozens of climbing, ziplining, jumping, and swinging aerial games. Our cliff-side Courses are a totally new and unique way to have a Niagara River adventure and discover the lost art of monkeying-around!”

In other Whirlpool State Park news, and since enjoying nature and natural surroundings is now totally passe’, the Andrew Cuomo administration recently announced an upgrading of the playground there, in addition to new playground facilities at DeVeaux Woods State Park.

Here’s a novel idea: remove the Robert Moses Parkway at Findlay Drive, which would unite Whirlpool and DeVeaux Woods parks, thus reconnecting the old growth forest of DeVeaux, one of the only existing in an urban setting in the entire country, with the Niagara Gorge. That would make one big, grand, Gorge-side park, for which you would only need one playground, not two.

On August 28, 2015, a press release headlined “Governor Cuomo Announces $2.5 Million to Improve Thirteen Playgrounds at State Parks” was sent out.

Then, a year later, on September 12, 2016, it was re-released as “Governor Cuomo Announces $2.5 Million to Improve 13 Playgrounds at State Parks Across New York State”, in case you missed it the first time.

“Open Book New York”, a website maintained by the state Comptroller which lists ongoing state contracts, reveals four playground contracts let since 2014, to Capital Construction & Development, Moy Enterprises, Ocean Construction and Playsites & Surfaces, Inc., ranging from $98,368 to $625,200.

‎While we found no direct campaign contributions from any of these entities to Cuomo on the state Board of Elections website, it’s important to note the following: in New York State, donors can donate obscurely through LLCs (Limited Liability Companies), or to the state Democratic Committee, which is effectively controlled by Cuomo. It may prove difficult, if not impossible, to identify specific instances of pay-to-play with regards to playground contracts, like we recently exposed in this newspaper taking place with the defective, overpriced pavers in Niagara Falls State Park and the proposed brewery at Knox Farm State Park.

In addition, numerous State Parks contracts listed on Open Book, ranging in the millions of dollars, go to large architecture, engineering and development firms for planning and design of various facilities, presumably including playgrounds, and the contract description typically states something ambiguous such as, “Design Services for Allegany, Genesee & Niagara State Park Regions”.

In the final analysis, we would like to ask, where in the state constitution does it enumerate the duty of state government to be in the playground business?

On the other hand, more playgrounds would prepare youngsters for extreme ziplining and aerial monkeying-around.