Lakes to Locks Passage A program to rejuvenate communities along North America’s first interconnected waterway

The economic future of rural Upstate rests upon delivering a unique tourism experience. Lakes to Locks Passage connects historic, natural, cultural and recreational resources along North America’s first interconnected waterway – the /Upper , and to the – to deliver an authentic, place-based tourism experience and foster the development of 21st century technology and multimedia skills.

www.lakestolocks.org EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

e seek partnerships with public agencies, non-profit • Builds public awareness, appreciation, organizations and private sector interests to help participation, and a commitment to the Wus develop, refine and implement a program that draws stewardship of the historic, natural, and on the creative, intellectual and physical resources of the cultural resources for future generations. region to rejuvenate communities in . This grassroots initiative has identified key elements RICHELIEU • Invests in building capacity for the sustainable VALLEY to guide implementation. The program: operations of small museums, libraries and community organizations through strong • Serves two audiences – the resident and the visitor. organizational leadership, efficient operation of facilities, and the cultivation of volunteers • Builds pride in place – the fundamental and community support. element for community revitalization. • Establishes techniques to measure and • Creates a great place to live – which is also a evaluate community benefits and economic great place to establish a business, invest Plattsburgh impacts of the program. public resources, and to visit. ANATOMY OF THE BYWAY • Provides educational opportunities for LAKE 21st century technology and CHAMPLAIN Non-profit Organizations Public Agencies Private Sector multimedia skills. Elizabethtown

• Provides a venue that encourages civic Lakes to Locks Passage engagement by all members of Crown Point the community. LAKE Lake George Regions GEORGE • Respects and employs local management Champlain Canal Gateway Visitor Centers Richelieu Valley Lake Lake Champlain to balance economic benefit with George Whitehall environmental impact. Village

Museums, Libraries, Waypoint Communities / Keepers of • Defines and delivers the product through & Non-profit orgs. Heritage Centers community culture CHAMPLAIN CANAL real people, in real places, for a unique Schuylerville

and authentic experience that will attract Ambassadors national and international visitors. Gateway Communities Stewardship Activities: research, education, interpretation, waypoint restoration and conservation of resources Communities Troy

infrastructure for implementation planning and organization 1991 1997 2000 2002

US/UK Countryside Stewardship Essex and Clinton Counties Waterfront Plan Lake Champlain and Champlain Lakes to Locks Passage created Exchange in Essex County served as established a regional strategy for waterfront and Canal Byway Corridor Manage- by merging byways along Lake a catalyst for the Champlain Valley community revitalization, serving as the basis for ment Plans approved, NYS Champlain, Lake George and Heritage Network and “community Byway planning. The 2010 update to the Waterfront Scenic Byways recommended Champlain Canal regions; Federal stewardship” as an economic engine and Byway Plans provides the “next generation” of merger of corridors Highway Administration awarded projects to continue revitalization efforts premiere designation as an “All- American Road;” non-profit status established for management entity building on successes background and a “gateway” to their sub-region. Lakes to Locks Passage framework capitalizes on this by developing partnerships with existing facilities to establish Gateway Visitor Centers in key Lakes to Locks Passage was locations to provide the “big picture” about the byway and established in 2002 by the New an introduction to the stories and experiences that can be York State Legislature as a New found in the surrounding sub-region. York State Byway, and in the same The primary delivery point for building the emotional and year received the Federal Highway intellectual connection between the traveler and the place Administration’s premiere they have come to visit is through the Lakes to Locks designation as an All-American Passage Heritage Road. The corridor embraces an Centers located interconnected waterway that in each Waypoint consists of four sub-regions – Champlain Canal/Upper Community. They Hudson River, Lake George, and Lake Champlain in New are the “stage” for York and the Richelieu Valley in . The bi-national the community to quality of the corridor not only fully integrates the shared express pride in heritage and resources, it strengthens the appeal of the byway their heritage. The as a national and international destination for travelers. managers of the Heritage Centers With funding from the Federal Highway Administration’s Ticonderoga Heritage Museum Program and the NYS Department are “keepers of of State Environmental Protection Fund Local Waterfront the community culture,” often the local museum, library, Revitalization Program, Lakes to Locks Passage has or environmental organization. The Heritage Centers developed a program to deliver an authentic visitor experience are prominently located on the byway, ensuring that they through a hierarchy of visitor information and interpretive are one of the first physical stops people will make when facilities – providing a window to the communities, their entering the community. When linked together, they provide stories, society and culture. The key feature of the system connectivity within the byway corridor. is the network of Waypoint Communities – the cities, villages or hamlets that have the ability to “meet and greet” the visitor. Waypoint Communities serve as a “hub” for PLACE-BASED TOURISM surrounding towns, hamlets, and countryside. Lakes to Locks Passage has begun to assemble the key Each sub-region of Lakes to Locks Passage has a long components of community-based destination stewardship, tradition as a also called sustainable or place-based tourism. Place-based tourism destination tourism engages all members of the community and builds on its own, so community pride in the place they live. Each Waypoint some Waypoint Community has the opportunity to deliver an authentic Communities have tourism experience that is designed to spread benefits made significant beyond individual attractions. It encourages visitors to stop, investments for stay and spend money in a manner that benefits the entire Lake George Village Visitor Center infrastructure as community, serving as the basis for community revitalization and a sound local economy. (continued on next page) programs and products infrastructure for implementation

2004 2005 2008 2014 2020

Lakes to Locks Passage Lakes to Locks Passage Initiated work on IMLS Target date for establishing Target date for establishing marketing plan, graphic formal agreement for Heritage Centers Sustain- all Gateway Visitor Centers; all Waypoint Community identity, visitor information Quebec-New York cross- ability Training; created establish Ambassador Heritage Centers and interpretation strategy border tourism promotion; first “Passage Minutes” and training throughout region developed established first Gateway recognized potential for Visitor Center and Waypoint 21st century technology and Community Heritage Centers multimedia products Lakes to Locks Passage recognizes that a visitor seeks help with “wayfinding;” therefore, a successful Waypoint Heritage Center b i l i t Community can practice “wayshowing” by helping the i n a y a C y visitor create a cognitive map, know where they are going, t c s l u e what they are looking at, and feel good knowing that the S Management community through which they travel cares that they have a positive experience. Programs Leadership

DELIVERING Engagement Ambassadors AUTHENTICITY 4 Awareness Appreciation 4 Pa Consumers of place-based tourism crave authenticity. With rtic ipa tio an understanding of how people perceive authenticity, we Stewardship n 4 Leadership 4 Stewardship can incorporate the principles of “wayshowing” to provoke Process the audience to learn, and engage Stewardship Drives Heritage Center Sustainability them in a personal way, thereby rendering an Lakes to Locks Passage recognizes that this process of authentic travel building stewardship can also fuel sustainable operations of experience. The community organizations that are the core of a successful purpose of Lakes place-based tourism program. The challenge that museums, to Locks Passage libraries and community organizations face is how to build Heritage Centers is strong organizational leadership, maintain operations and to have the people who live here tell their stories, and deliver programs, and cultivate volunteers. Through an Institute authentic experiences. The stories, rendered in a meaningful, of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant, the Essex lively and engaging way, focus on what is natural, original, County Historical Society worked with Lakes to Locks exceptional, referential, influential or ordinary. Direct Passage, and the Champlain Valley Heritage Network personal interaction strikes an emotional chord, so the visitor to develop Heritage Center Sustainability Training for will remember the experience and share it with others. skills and capacity building. This three-pronged approach to resource stewardship and accountability of the Centers includes: operations and management; programs and events; HERITAGE CENTER and Heritage Center Ambassadors. SUSTAINABILITY Heritage Centers allow the visitor to explore the unique stories, immediately engaging them with the community’s MEASUREMENT AND “real people” – the people who have a special affinity for the EVALUATION area, and serve as Lakes to Locks Passage Ambassadors. Lakes to Locks Passage recognizes the need to understand Most importantly, service as an “ambassador” for the and evaluate the outcomes of the program in terms of community stimulates civic engagement; by sharing community benefits and economic impacts. Demonstrating their stories, residents build awareness – appreciation – community benefits and economic impacts of Lakes to Locks participation – leadership – and ultimately, a commitment Passage actions and investments depends on establishing for stewardship of the community’s historic, natural and a baseline of conditions, defining specific outcomes and cultural resources for future generations. measuring indicators of success. We use an outcomes based “logic model” to express how we expect to bring about the desired results. Specific outcomes and indicators of success are defined to provide a way to measuring progress over time, This summary of the Lakes to Locks Passage Corridor Management Plan was funded by demonstrating the relationship between those outcomes the Federal Highway Administration’s National Scenic Byway Program, administered through the New York State Department of Transportation and Lakes to Locks Passage, and the operation of the program. Inc. For additional information contact www.lakestolocks.org Copyright © 2010, Lakes to Locks Passage, Inc. Cover photo by Robert Lyons Photography