Read the original: https://auburnpub.com/lifestyles/montezuma-dedicates-parking-lot-at-heritage-park-in-supervisors-memory/article_024020ee-aa94-56e6-b0ee-5805e7fe7043.html
The town of Montezuma recently dedicated a new parking lot at Montezuma Heritage Park in memory of the former town supervisor who made the park possible.
The town held the dedication at the lot, located on Route 31, on Saturday, Sept. 17. The project opens direct access to the park from the road, along the Empire State Trail.
The lot was dedicated to former Montezuma Town Supervisor David Butler Jr., who successfully applied for funding for the town to purchase property for the park through the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965.
“It is because of Supervisor Butler’s foresight and understanding of this significant Erie Canal historic property, we have the park today,” Montezuma Town Historian Cheryl Longyear said in a news release.
Montezuma began planning the park in 2010, with funding from the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Another grant in 2018 supported the construction of the parking lot.
The park offers 200 years of historically significant and interpreted Erie Canal sites. There is also access to a state Department of Environmental Conservation birding trail from the lot, connecting to 10 other nature trails. The town’s newest mural, Dawn Jordan’s “Richmond Aqueduct: Then and Now,” is located nearby as well and highlights the remains of the second largest aqueduct built on the enlarged canal in the park.
