The Open Space Institute is seeking to build the entrance to the rail trail on Station Street in Lake Placid, on land currently owned by the Lake Placid-North Elba Historical Society.

Eileen Larrabee, the senior vice president for communications for the Open Space Institute, said OSI is in “active conversations” with the historical society to purchase the land.

In recent years, the organization has also been focusing on making land more accessible, in addition to conserving it. Larrabee said this is an “extension” of their conservation work.

“We always say, ‘Bring people to the land and make them fall in love with it so then, ultimately, they, too, will care for the land and want to protect it,'” Larrabee said.

The OSI’s goal is to build the rail trail into the community so it is a point of pride for residents of the three population centers it goes through: Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake.

“We want this to be a successful rail trail. We want it to be an asset that people of Lake Placid and the region are proud of and see as a resource in their community,” Larrabee said.

Larrabee said that $300,000 in state money to purchase the land has been allocated in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s executive budget proposal through the state Environmental Protection Fund.

If this funding is ultimately approved when the budget is set to be approved on April 1, she said OSI would then leverage that to raise $700,000 in private donations from individuals and foundations.

In December, OSI received a $500,000 grant in a round of Regional Economic Development Council awards to design and construct the trailhead and parking area.

Larrabee said the trailhead would include public restrooms, bike repair stations and a pick-up and drop-off space for the village’s Placid XPRSS public transportation trolley.

Preliminary design plans from OSI also show a 43-space parking lot area with three EV charging stations and two accessible parking spots, as well as a pavilion with picnic tables, interpretive signage, a brick paver plaza and green spaces.

The leg of the rail trail from Lake Placid to Saranac Lake is expected to be complete by fall 2023, with the completion of the full 34-mile, multi-use trail from Lake Placid to Tupper Lake slated for 2025.