Malone Telegram
State Sen. Dan Stec, right, speaks Monday afternoon at Debar Lodge in Duane, alongside Malone village Mayor Andrea Dumas, who works as a liaison for his office.
(Provided photo â Alexander Violo, Malone Telegram) DUANE A state senator and officials from the town of Duane paid a visit to Debar Lodge Monday afternoon as the state Legislature mulls a constitutional amendment that could save the building. Sen. Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, visited the Duane fire station before proceeding to the lodge with town officials. The lodge, built in 1939, sits in a strand of tall pine trees on the edge of Debar Pond. It is at the center of a proposed amendment to the state constitution to preserve it and use it in the public interest. A state management plan released in November 2020 called for removing the lodge and adding a new day-use area at Debar Pond. Local officials are working with a nonprofit group to preserve the building.
Editorial — Preserving a gem: Proposal would exchange land, maintain Debar Pond Lodge nny360.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nny360.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Malone Telegram
Debar Pond Lodge is seen in April 2017 in the town of Duane.
(Enterprise photo â Justin A. Levine) MALONE The Franklin County legislature on Thursday unanimously supported a proposed land trade with the state, involving about 300 acres, in order to preserve Debar Lodge. The historical site, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was bought by the state in 1979. Officials of the town of Duane, as well as county officials believe the site to have “great potential as a cultural, education and recreational resource for the local area of the Adirondack North Country region.” Debar Pond Institution, a nonprofit educational organization, is planning to enter into a land exchange agreement with the state, where New York would receive 300 acres of land in exchange for 6 acres of land. These 6 acres would include Debar Lodge.
Debar Pond is seen in April 2017.
(Enterprise photo â Justin A. Levine) The state Adirondack Park Agency board on Thursday voted 9-2 to advance a draft unit management plan for the Debar Mountain Complex, opening a 60-day joint public comment period that ends Feb. 12, 2021. Board members Chad Dawson and Zoe Smith cast the no votes. John Ernst, Mark Hall, Andrea Hogan, Art Lussi, Kenneth Lynch and Daniel Wilt voted yes, as did state agency designees Bradley Austin (Department of Economic Development), Lynne Mahoney (Department of State) and Joe Zalewski (Department of Environmental Conservation). The plan, written by the DEC, would demolish the Debar Lodge and its outbuildings, and create a day-use and picnic area at Debar Pond. For the day-use area, it would reclassify about 41 acres of state Forest Preserve from wild forest, a moderately restrictive category, to intensive use, the least restrictive option.