New York State Adirondack Mountain Authority Legal and Administrative Files

The Adirondack Mountain Authority was created by Chapter 958 of the Laws of 1960, superseding and continuing the former Whiteface Mountain Authority as an amendment of the Public Authorities Law.

The law gave the new authority powers and duties for acquiring lands and properties for additional recreational facilities, specifically for the development, improvement, and management of the authority and especially to construct, maintain, and operate ski trails on the slopes of the Gore, South, and Peter Gray mountains in Warren County. Furthermore, the law authorized the Conservation Department to acquire by gift, purchase, or appropriation (under the Conservation Law) lands and rights in lands or easements deemed by the authority to be necessary for developing Gore Mountain ski trails. Upon approval by the Comptroller, such lands were to be made available to the authority for development; money provided by the authority for the acquisitions was paid to the comptroller upon the request of the conservation commissioner.

The Adirondack Mountain Authority's predecessor, the Whiteface Mountain Authority, was itself preceded by a temporary state commission known as the Whiteface Mountain Highway Commission (Laws of 1929, Chapter 420) which was authorized to construct a state highway in Essex County, from Wilmington to the top of Whiteface Mountain, called the New York War Veterans Memorial Highway. In 1944 the original Whiteface Mountain Highway Commission became the Whiteface Mountain Authority, which was empowered to develop ski trails on Marble Mountain, a subsidiary peak of Whiteface. The Laws of 1957 (Chapter 310) provided for the construction and maintenance of ski trails on the slopes of Whiteface Mountain for the purpose of major winter sports development, to accommodate increased public demand and to capitalize on the mountains as tourist attractions. In 1965 the legislature authorized funds to expand these facilities for international competitive races.

Similar trends were reflected in the development of Gore Mountain. In 1962, 1963, and 1966 the legislature authorized money to construct and expand the Gore Mountain Ski Center at North Creek. The Laws of 1965, Chapter 1056 provided for construction of Prospect Mountain State Parkway in Warren County.

On September 30, 1968, the Adirondack Mountain Authority was terminated. In 1969 (Chapter 627) responsibility for its facilities, including the Whiteface Mountain Ski Center and the New York World War Veterans Memorial Highway (in Essex County) and the Gore Mountain Ski Center and the Prospect Mountain State Parkway (in Warren County), was transferred to the Conservation Department.

The series consists primarily of the legal and administrative files of the Adirondack Mountain Authority dealing with the two major recreational ski areas in Warren and Essex counties. The authority worked closely with the Conservation Department, and the records relate to the authority's continuation of development begun under preceding authorities and commissions and new development financed by a succession of legislative appropriations.

The bulk of the files are contracts and agreements with various companies engaged to construct facilities at Adirondack Mountain skiing sites. The records include correspondence, memoranda, contracts, agreements, claims, reports, proposals, annual reports, rules and regulations, meeting minutes, and a few maps and photographs produced by the Adirondack Mountain Authority and the Conservation Department. There is also an occasional copy originating from the Department of Audit and Control's Contract Approval Section.

The records include: annual reports of the Adirondack Mountain Authority, including some agendas and minutes of meetings; financial and operational reports on expenses and income; general correspondence of the Adirondack Mountain Authority (from as early as 1957); resolutions of the Adirondack Mountain Authority regarding the appointment of officers and authorization to acquire additional acreage; counsel's memoranda on legislative authority and history, copies of rules and regulations, and lists of members of the Adirondack Mountain Authority; memoranda on recommendations for disposition of buildings acquired in the land acquisition program at Gore Mountain; Adirondack Mountain Authority files on souvenir and concession stands at the Whiteface Mountain Memorial Highway and Ski Center, including requests to submit bid proposals to cover various operations, copies of proposed licensing agreements, profit and loss statements, and weekly reports on receipts from chair lifts, ski school, restaurant, etc.; proposals for promotion programs for the Gore Mountain-Warren County region, including reports on advertising and public relation budget breakdowns; winter analysis of the Whiteface Ski Center, including analysis of snow making operations, comparisons of labor, facility use, snow conditions, operational days and income;

contract agreements for study of construction and maintenance programs at Whiteface, Prospect, and Gore mountains, including recommendations to speed construction and to cut costs; agreements on repayment of state advances made pursuant to various appropriations laws; and contracts and agreements entered into by the Conservation Department.

The few maps found in the series are whiteprint copies or photocopies found with reports, or print maps found within booklets. A few are annotated. Title, legend, and scale information is usually present. They range in size from 22 x 28 cm to 107 x 142 cm.

Examples include: print maps found in a feasibility study booklet for the Gore Mountain Ski Center, showing location of mountain, distance from regional population areas, elevations, property lines, and initial/future construction areas; a photocopy of a map showing approximate location of buildings, included as an exhibit in a request for approval of design additions; a whiteprint copy of a map of lands acquired by the Adirondack Mountain Authority in connection with the Prospect Mountain Scenic Highway and Recreational Area, including two insert maps of specific acreage, annotated to show proposed leases by a radio firm; and vicinity maps of various mountains, found in an economic feasibility report for building a proposed observation tower at a recreational facility at Old Forge, New York.

11349Series 11349, Adirondack Mountain Authority Administrative Subject Files, contains related records.

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