A new warming station is now open in John Boyd Thacher State Park in Albany County.
The Hop Field Warming Hut replaces a 70-year-old restroom at the building at the trailhead and the associated picnic area.
Celebrating the opening of the $1.4 million project Wednesday, Democratic County Executive Dan McCoy says the new 1250-square-foot space, which features a fireplace and restrooms open year-round, is great for park visitors of all kinds.
“This is a place where people can stop any time or weather conditions out here, have a warm fire, have a bathroom to utilize, and then they’re adding more,” McCoy said.
With 2025 approaching, parks staff are looking forward to using the new space for the annual First Day Hike.
New Scotland Town Supervisor Doug LaGrange says he’s thrilled by the new space.
“The fireplace is just gorgeous, and it's such a great opportunity again, the intent is to have a place for people to come in with, with nice facilities, a place to warm up and continue to enjoy it throughout the weather,” LaGrange said.
LaGrange adds he has a long family connection to Thacher.
“I have pictures of my great grandparents here, and it's a recreational site with many different opportunities for people to come to get in touch with nature. The rock formations are incredible,” LaGrange said.
Alane Ball Chinian, Regional Director of the Saratoga-Capital District region of the state Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, says the location is ideal.
“This is the trailhead for numerous ways to explore the park, and so we felt it was important to have clean restrooms, access to water, and a nice shelter where people can get warm, start their journey, gather with their friends and family,” Ball Chinian said.
She says it was chosen after a 2017 survey showing the Hop Field was where most of the quarter-million annual visitors started their exploration of the 2,155-acre park.
Ball Chinian says the unveiling caps Parks’ centennial celebration.
Even though it was raining as the hut was unveiled, outdoors enthusiasts were already out and about. Gene Primomo, a Delmar resident and member of the Capital Trail Alliance, says the old building doesn’t hold a candle to the new one.
“What was here was basically an old shack that was cold and wasn't very inviting. This is a beautiful building. It mirrors the smaller building of the of the visitor center that's just down the road. It's got a wonderful fireplace,” Primomo said.
Nature lovers also love the space. Bert Schou with Friends of Thacher Park says the hut will help the organization with its yearly salamander rescue:
“It has to be really wet. It has to be raining. It has to be nighttime. By having this, I don't have to worry about all the volunteer sheets. I have to have people sign in volunteer sheets for the park. And now I don't have to worry about them getting wet,” Schou said.
So what’s a salamander rescue?
“Every end of March, the first warm meeting night in spring, the salamanders come out from the cliff side, and they cross over to this side of the road. But since they have to cross the road, we have volunteers help pick them up, and then we give them a lift, we count them, and then we give them a lift up to the vernal pond,” Schou said.
If they don’t help them, Schou says many of them will be killed.
As for other improvements he’d like to see, Schou says he wants the lean-to built by the former Helderberg Ski Club renovated.
“When my kid was small, there used to be a wood stove in it, and that we would actually come up there and spend the whole day, and nobody found it. Now everybody knows where it is, especially with fat tire bikes, mountain bikes, snowmobiles. It's no longer an isolated spot,” Schou said.
