At the end of July, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) released a Draft Scope for the Debar Mountain Complex in the northern Adirondack Park, including the historic Debar Pond Lodge.
The NYS Adirondack Park Agency (APA) and DEC are holding a joint public comment period on plans to tear down the rustic 1940s Adirondack camp at the north end of Debar Pond that is listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
The camp commands a view of DeBar Pond and the adjacent mountains which frame the water. The main lodge is a rambling two-story rustic building by architect Saranac Lake architect William Distin. The site also includes a guide/caretaker house, and several barns and outbuildings.
DEC has invited comment on their draft scope through August 15 and this week AARCH submitted our response to the state.
“For over 20 years we have advocated for the preservation of Debar Pond Lodge within the Debar Mountain Wild Forest, most recently working with the Debar Pond Institute towards the passage of a constitutional amendment to remove the remaining historic buildings from the Adirondack Forest Preserve,” a recent announcement from Adirondack Architectural Heritage says.
“When that was no longer a viable option following the Town of Duane’s opposition to the amendment, AARCH supported a reclassification of the lodge complex to Historic as part of a revised Unit Management Plan.”
Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH) is the historic preservation nonprofit for the Adirondacks and Northern New York.
Since their founding in 1990, they have partnered with the DEC and Town of Newcomb on the stabilization, restoration, and interpretation of Great Camp Santanoni, part of the Adirondack Forest Preserve, in Essex County.
What follows is AARCH’s response to recent developments regarding the historic Debar Mountain Complex:
New York State has an option to keep Debar Pond Lodge and manage the surrounding land as Wild Forest through the Historic land use classification available in the State Land Master Plan.
Places such as Hurricane and St. Regis Mountain fire towers and Great Camp Santanoni remain as conforming structures under this classification. While those decisions received some opposition, today those places are beloved and organizations that once opposed their preservation celebrate and support them.
When the constitutional amendment process stopped in January 2024 following the Town of Duane’s statement of opposition to the amendment, AARCH met with DEC senior staff and reached out to town officials to share our interest in working together towards a historic land use classification for the six-acre parcel that would have been included in the amendment.
We have proven our ability to find resources beyond the state to successfully complete restoration projects at Great Camp Santanoni and remain ready to do the same at Debar Pond Lodge. Indeed, the buildings at Great Camp Santanoni demonstrate the possibilities for the future of Debar Pond Lodge.
Significance
The Debar Pond Lodge complex is listed on the National Register of Historic Places with the main lodge as the designation’s centerpiece. Debar Pond Lodge has a “direct association with Adirondack tourism in the first half of the twentieth century,” according to the designation form, and is an example of Adirondack camp design from that era, as well as “an important work of noted regional architect William Distin.”
Distin specifically designed Debar Pond Lodge to work in concert with the site and surrounding landscape. These characteristics speak to Debar Pond Lodge’s significance and direct association with the Adirondack Park, meeting the State Land Master Plan criteria for designation as Historic within the forest preserve.
Resources
Removing Debar Pond Lodge will cost time and money in DEC resources that could be spent on stabilization. AARCH has a 35-year history of partnership with DEC, creating and/or hosting friends’ groups for the Hurricane and Poke-O-Moonshine Mountain fire towers and Great Camp Santanoni, among others.
These stand as model examples of public/private partnerships, with friends’ groups bringing significant resources to the table through staffing, internship programs, local and federal government support, and private donations of time and money.
We stand ready to make the same commitment to a partnership at Debar Pond Lodge and have communicated this willingness, along with our track record of follow-through, to do the same at Debar Pond Lodge.
AARCH most recently toured the interior of Debar Pond Lodge in 2022. After sitting vacant for 11 years, the interior and exterior of the building remained in remarkably good condition, sound with minimal interior deterioration.
We observed very little change in the building’s exterior condition on subsequent visits. As at other historic sites in the forest preserve, restoration and rehabilitation can occur incrementally, starting with a focus on the highest priority building needs.
One need not complete a full building restoration before it can be publicly enjoyed and AARCH has shown how that can be accomplished.
Accessibility and Future Use
DEC’s proposed preferred action includes providing public recreation facilities, including access for people with disabilities. Debar Pond Lodge could house accessible restrooms and/or gathering spaces without the need to construct any additional structures.
Recent conversations about accessibility at Great Camp Santanoni demonstrate the public interest in visiting remote historic sites in the forest preserve. The intersection of nature and culture provides a draw and a destination for individuals from throughout the region, the state, and beyond.
While Great Camp Santanoni requires traveling a five-mile dirt and gravel carriage trail by foot, bicycle, wheelchair, or paying for a horse-drawn wagon ride, Debar Pond Lodge is only 0.3 mile from the current parking area, making it far more accessible.
Keeping Debar Pond Lodge public opens the opportunity for everyone to experience a large historic Adirondack camp while enjoying the pond and surrounding mountains from the lodge’s porch or interior spaces, at the same time providing full public access to the pond and surrounding trails.
The Adirondack Forest Preserve includes many examples of buildings and structures under active use for a variety of purposes including public tours, educational programs, shared use by nonprofit organizations and other state agencies.
These include John Brown’s Farm, Crown Point Historic Site, Great Camp Santanoni, the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center in Wilmington, and many more.
A commitment to preserve and use Debar Pond Lodge will result in many viable proposals from state agencies and non-profit partners to develop exciting, worthwhile, and viable programs and uses for Debar, consistent with the Historic land classification.
Public Benefit
Two years ago, the Debar Pond Institute sponsored a public survey at Debar Pond to ask how the presence of Debar Pond Lodge affected the visitor experience.
The majority of respondents to this survey were from the Adirondack region and overwhelmingly supported the preservation of Debar Pond Lodge, saying that the lodge’s presence enhanced their experience at Debar Pond.
There are few places in the forest preserve where one can experience wilderness in concert with historic architecture on public land, currently perhaps solely at Great Camp Santanoni.
The harmony of historic architecture with an incredibly beautiful natural surrounding serves as a net asset to the people of New York State.
Creating beautiful accessible spaces for all people who would like to experience the peacefulness of Debar Pond and incorporating a historic structure built in concert with its surroundings democratizes the space and contributes to creating an Adirondacks for all to enjoy.
Anyone who wishes to submit written comments on DEC’s Draft Scope can send them to the following through August 15, 2025:
Steve Guglielmi
NYSDEC
PO Box 296
1115 State Route 86
Ray Brook, NY 12977
E-mail: r5.ump@dec.ny.gov
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