Tue, Jan 08, 2008
Lakefront Site Witnessed Several Test Flights
A longstanding feud over an
eight-acre parcel of land in Hammondsport, NY has come to an end,
after two anonymous benefactors kicked in $900,000 to purchase the
site where aviation legend Glenn Curtiss tested his earliest
aircraft designs.
The Associated Press reports the lakefront property will need to
be cleaned up a bit, to make it a park honoring Curtiss. The site
now consists of an abandoned railroad property, and numerous
overgrown shrubs and trees. One hundred years ago, however, it was
largely open... which made it the optimum place for Curtiss to fly
his creations.
The aviator flew his "June Bug" biplane for one minute, 42.5
seconds in Hammondsport in July 1908, the first officially
recognized flight over one kilometer in length. Later, Curtiss
tested the world's first seaplane there.
Plans to revitalize the land have come and gone over the past
decade. In 2004, a bond referendum authorizing $1.3 million to
create an 11-acre Glenn Curtiss Memorial Park was voted down, and
things looked bleak.
A compromise was ironed out late last year, however. A
California charity delivered a $500,000 check to real estate
developer Michael Doyle, with another $400,000 offered by a local
resident. With cash in hand, Doyle lowered his $1.1 million asking
price.
"I consider this a miraculous 12th-hour turnabout," said
part-time Hammondsport resident Geoffrey Grimsman, who kicked off
the 2004 effort to acquire the land for a park named after
Curtiss.
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