Letter to the editor: Don’t let Taughannock become a year-round mini-Niagara

To the Editor

Thank you for Mr. Velazquez’ reporting on the Chamber of Commerce/Ithaca Visitor Bureau effort to intrude even further into visitor experience of Taughannock Falls, a natural feature that needs nothing from humans to be spectacular. The Chamber/Visit Ithaca T Shirt/souvenir shop at the Taughannock Falls overlook and supercharged Inn at Taughannock already degrade the park experience. County tourism dollars are not needed to turn Taughannock Falls overlook into year-round mini-Niagara, especially when need for outdoor recreation tourism infrastructure throughout the county is already documented by and approved in county tourism plans.

There is a place for year-round tourism information: in Ithaca. The new convention center is in Ithaca. The County Chamber of Commerce offices are in Ithaca. If the Chamber wants to “welcome, interact, engage with and serve visitors” to Tompkins County, its year round facility in Ithaca, with heating and bathrooms, is the place to do it. Ithaca even boasts a mural reading “Welcome to Downtown Ithaca” featuring Taughannock Falls. The Chamber need look no further than Downtown Ithaca for visitors to Tompkins County.

As a partner to the county, the Chamber of Commerce runs the visitor bureau. Setting policy for Taughannock Falls State Park, Town of Ulysses or Tompkins County.  The current County Outdoor Recreation and Tourism plan prioritizes trail completion and access point development, (https://www.tompkinscountyny.gov/files2/tourism/Plans/tc_outdoor_rec_tourism_plan.pdf), not general county tourism information/souvenir infrastructure. The county’s 2021-27 tourism plan: https://tompkinscountyny.gov/files2/tourism/Plans/strategic_tourism_plan_2021-27.pdf calls for completion of the outdoor recreation plan. There is much to be done throughout the county to support outdoor recreation tourism for county tourism dollars to support.

In an age of the internet, tourism information is a handheld device away, but the presence of the waterfalls and gorges that bless Tompkins County is specific. Visitors who come to the overlook to experience Taughannock Falls need bathrooms and a water fountain…and benches, tables, and trash cans. Taughannock Falls State Park operated the overlook for nearly a century with no county tourism presence. It is time to clear away distractions and allow visitors to experience the specific natural beauty of Taughannock Falls.

If the Chamber/VisitIthaca must have a year-round presence in the state park, a perfect location might be the park’s new 88 car, year-round bathroom facility at Gorge Rd., where both Black Diamond Trail and car visitors could find tourism information and souvenirs without distracting visitors from the purpose of their visit.

Vivien Rose, Trumansburg