Press Release
July 24, 1998
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Brian Vattimo
518/486-1868
STATE PARKS COMMISSIONER DEDICATES SENECA LONGHOUSE AT GANONDAGAN STATE HISTORIC SITE
(Victor, New York July 24, 1998 ...) New York State Parks Commissioner Bernadette Castro today joined local and state officials, members and supporters of the Friends of Ganondagan and other community leaders to officially open the replica, 17th century Seneca bark longhouse at Ganondagan State Historic Site in Victor, Ontario County.
Commissioner Castro also announced today the acquisition of 245 acres of adjacent archaeologically-sensitive property that will be added to Ganondagan.
"The longhouse is a magnificent addition to the only state historic site dedicated to the life and times of Native Americans," said Commissioner Castro. "No other project that I have been involved in while serving as State Parks Commissioner has received more support from a community than the longhouse project."
"This has become a sterling example of what public-private partnerships are all about," she added. "We could not have built this longhouse without the great work of the Friends of Ganondagan and the financial contributions of people like Danny Wegman and George Hamlin."
Private sector giving to the longhouse project has topped $225,000, including $210,000 raised by the Friends of Ganondagan. The Friends group is continuing its campaign, with an additional $125,000 needed to reach its goal. This money has supported construction costs, purchase of interior furnishings and the production of two educational videos.
The 65-by-20 foot, elm bark and pole dwelling is based on a Seneca longhouse excavated in the mid-1960s by the Rochester Museum and Science Center. Ganondagan, a Seneca town, was once the site of as many as 150 longhouses and 4,500 residents.
"The bark longhouse will transport visitors back to the 17th century," said Site Manager G. Peter Jemison, who is a Seneca. "Visitors will see how Seneca people lived in a multi-family home. Seneca homes and gardens belonged to the women, while men built, repaired and defended the home and town."
"The roles of women, men and their children are demonstrated in terms of the house in which they lived," Jemison said. "The household items displayed inside the longhouse add to the experience for visitors."
Yvonne Bilinski, president of the Friends of Ganondagan, thanked the numerous people who have helped contribute to the project. "The $125,000 grant from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation was the catalyst for fund raising by the Friends of Ganondagan," Bilinski said. "Wegmans Food Markets followed and opened the door to gifts, large and small, from foundations, corporations and private individuals in the Rochester area."
Bilinski said the largest donors for the longhouse project have been:
Canandaigua National Bank
Feinbloom Foundation
Gleason Foundation
Wegmans Food Markets
Willmott Foundation
Wilson Foundation
Commissioner Castro said the property acquisition will help expand the historic site to meet expected increases in visitation and usage. Known as the North Brothers property, the 245-acre parcel is located on Boughton Hill Road and was purchased for $900,000 using money from Governor Pataki's Environmental Protection Fund. This acquisition doubles the site's size to 523 acres.
"This property was identified in a 1983 master plan as being archaeologically sensitive," said Commissioner Castro. "Our purchase of this property effectively protects and buffers Ganondagan."
Commissioner Castro said an environmental and historical assessment of the property will be conducted. She added long-range plans for the property include the construction of a new visitors center, hiking trails and interpretive signs.