Pledge falls short
Lack of investors holds up project at Frontier Town
Lack of investors holds up project at Frontier Town in the Adirondacks.
Folks around this Adirondack community had high hopes four years ago when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s administration said the old Frontier Town amusement park was in for a $32 million renovation.
The long-shuttered Western-themed park, which is clearly visible to motorists traveling on the Northway, would include a state-run campground along with elaborate attractions such as a network of horse trails, “glamping ” sites and any number of facilities such as an extensive information center and possibly guide services for those venturing into the backcountry.
All that was needed were some deeppocketed investors who, state officials said, were certain to respond to a request for proposals, or RFP, put out by the Empire State Development agency.
But now many are wondering what happened.
To be sure, the state did build a campground on the site and expects a busy summer. And a craft brewery has moved from nearby Schroon Lake.
But the most visible changes may be coming from an independent gas station owner who, with no state help, has purchased and is renovating the landmark A-frame building that was the entrance to Frontier Town. The A-frame was not part of the state’s purchase.
“My intention is to provide the facilities for those people who could come and enjoy
the High Peaks,” Muhammed “Mo” Ahmad said.
Ahmad had earlier purchased and reopened a nearby gas station that, like Frontier Town, had been closed for years.
The seed to renovate the A-frame was planted in 2017 when the state said the site would get a vast makeover.
Given the traffic along the Northway of people heading for the nearby Adirondack High Peaks area, and the iconic nature of Frontier Town with its large kitschy sign, state officials said a revival was a sure bet. Several at the time said they expected a fair number of investors to step forward .
The spot was also viewed as part of an ongoing effort to help steer tourists away from the overcrowded High Peaks region to less-traveled wilderness areas to the south.
Visitors to Frontier Town would learn of the canoeing, fishing, hiking, camping and backpacking spots that could be reached by getting off the Northway and heading west on the Blue Ridge Road toward places like Newcomb, Tahawus and Long Lake.
As it turned out, there were no usable responses to the RFP that Empire State Development put out.
“The responses ESD received to the request for proposals suggested that a phased approach to redevelopment, rather than a single large-scale project, would be the best strategy at the time,” said ESD spokeswoman Kristin Devoe.
But according to local lawmakers, there was only one proposal that was later rejected and dropped for reasons that were unclear.
So now Ahmad is forging ahead on his own.
He envisions turning the distinctive A-frame structure into a restaurant, perhaps with a store or shop where visitors can pick up camping or other outdoor items.
Locals are rooting for him. But they are also hoping to get the help that was promised from the Cuomo administration.
“Different factors throughout the years have caused the project to go stale, other than what Mo is doing,” North Hudson Supervisor Stephanie Dezalia said.
She and other local officials, as well as GOP state Sen. Dan Stec, have urged Cuomo’s office to provide funding for the Adirondack Gateway project, as it was dubbed in 2017. She added that the numerous buildings at the site of the old Frontier Town theme park are starting to fall into disrepair but the state hasn’t touched them since buying the property.
“We have had extensive studies done on the condition of the buildings in hopes to save them,” Dezalia said. “They are all still in place ... deteriorating beyond repair. Parts of some of them may be salvageable but nothing has been removed, repaired or renovated except the A-frame.”
Some have noted that this seems to be a pattern with many of the governor’s economic development plans. They are announced amid great fanfare, but several years later fizzle or don’t live up to their initial promise.
“Frontier Town could be one of the classic examples of this failed strategy,” remarked Peter Bauer, executive director of Protect the Adirondacks, a wilderness preservation group.
That’s not to say the efforts at Frontier Town have amounted to nothing.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation did build a campground at Frontier Town. Last summer, even amid the COVID -19 pandemic, it hosted 6,775 campers. This year, DEC is planting shade trees and improving the horse trailer and horse-care facilities that accommodate equestrians who want to use the area’s modest network of riding trails.
And the Paradox Brewery has moved from nearby Schroon Lake to the Frontier Town area.
The brewery has stateof-the-art automated equipment imported from Germany and it has been full during many weekends despite the pandemic.
Brewery operator Paul Mrocka said he is scheduled to get a $200,000 grant from ESD to help with the move, but that has been a slow, still-incomplete process. There are reams of paperwork, complicated by pandemic delays and difficulties in finding a woman or minority business-owned partner that is encouraged for such grants (the rural Adirondack region is largely white). His entire brewery project has cost about $7 million.
State assistance or not, Mrocka believes the area will eventually become a hub, perhaps with a hotel and other services.
“The area has a lot of potential,” he said.
Ahmad agrees. Originally from Pakistan, he pumped gas at a service station in New Jersey before coming to the Schroon Lake-north Hudson area 15 years ago after a visit to Lake George. Since moving, he purchased two gas station/ convenience stores, at Frontier Town and in Schroon Lake. Both had been closed by the previous owners.
Ahmad has inquired about ESD grants but said his plan for the renovation didn’t seem to fit their categories at the time.
He still marvels at his journey from a job pumping gas in Union, N.J., to having two gas stations of his own along with the Frontier Town building.
“It’s like the American dream,” Ahmad said.