County Offers 58 Acres of Unused Land for Recreational Expansion

Model aircraft enthusiasts in the small town of Lockport, New York got some good news this week when they learned of a planned extension of the Niagara County Model Plane Field. 

The County Legislature voted to give some land adjacent to the current airfield, originally acquired in 1962 for use as a recreational area. Since then, however, the 58 acres has sat unused until Lockport Supervisor Mark Crocker showed an interest in the plot. The cost to the town, as it turns out, was quite low. Only $1,500 to survey it, as well as whatever development costs are incurred in order to bring it up to par for public use. In an interview with the local paper, he said “My philosophy is any time you can get land adjacent to a town facility, we should take advantage of that,” adding that his plan for development begins and ends at a small, unpaved driveway and parking lot. 

In the future, of course, more could be done to fill out the park and add more entertainment for locals, but for the time being, Crocker is content to leave the majority of the land natural. A large portion of the property border abuts wetlands as part of a larger wooded area that the city wishes to maintain as-is, making it an unlikely candidate for development.

Another corner of the land, however, could someday see development without changing the nature of the model plane field, he said. "We could set up some fields, baseball fields. Additional soccer fields. There’s all kinds of possible uses for this, but once again, anytime I have the ability to procure some land next to a town park, it would be advantageous to take it.” 

For locals into model aircraft, and newcoming crowds of drone enthusiasts, it's great news. In a surprising turn of events, remotely piloted hobby aircraft have exploded in popularity since the advent of affordable multirotor drones, which can lead to a burgeoning interest in more difficult to master, but rewarding fixed-wing model airplanes. 

FMI: www.niagara-gazette.com