Construction Begins On Lanesborough Aerial Adventure Park
 The first of many platforms have been attached to the trees. |
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Construction on the new aerial adventure park has begun.
For the last month a half-dozen workers have been up in the woods off Brodie Mountain Road building what will become Ramblewild, an outdoor aerial adventure park.
According to Ramblewild CEO Tim Gallagher, the plan is to blend the aerial adventure with educational programming.
"We want to get them here for the park and then sneak in some lessons about the environment," Gallagher said on Monday while touring the site. "We want to get kids to understand and appreciate the forest."
So far the company has recut five existing walking trails through the six-to-eight acre area that will become the park and workers have begun attaching the platforms to the trees — in a way that Gallagher says does not hurt the trees because the wood is not drilled into the trunk. In total there is expected to be 140 to 150 platforms that participants will navigate.
The park's entrance is next to the access road for the Brodie Mountain Wind Project and the park is set back in the woods, extending toward the Hancock border. The space is divided by a large ravine, over which the company is planning to install a 170-foot suspension bridge to access to two sections of the park. The full course is expected to take a participant three hours to complete.
Gallagher says the company hopes to have that portion of the park completed by the end of the year. Next year, they will return to build a parking lot, gift shop/ticketing booth and building for the participants to get their equipment and try it out on practice platforms.
In the meantime, the company will be spending the winter reaching out to school groups and camps to help align programming. Mount Greylock Regional High School has already met with the company to discuss possible programs.
"There is no model we can look at," Gallagher said of the plan to mix education in with the adventure park.
Gallagher is optimistic that the park can be open in April or May but that will depend on the weather and the construction progress.
Ramblewild is a subsidiary of Feronia Forests LLC. which was given approval by voters to add adventure parks to the acceptable usages of land in that zoning district at a special town meeting. The company then received a special permit for the park itself.
Tags: adventure park, aerial park, forestry,
