NORTHERN SARATOGA COUNTY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -10 years after Mount McGregor Correctional shut down, the facility sits mostly untouched. But just next door, the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site plans to repurpose some of the property.
The cottage of the late general and president has been a public memorial since his death in 1885. Keeping the history alive is the Friends of Grant Cottage; a non-profit made up of mostly volunteers that offers historic tours.
"We have visitors from all over the United States and foreign countries. We're very happy to have that. Our visitation has increased significantly since the correction facility closed," said Ben Kemp, Operations Manager.
Kemp says not much has happened at McGregor Corrections since it closed. The movie, No Beast So Fierce, was filmed there eight years ago and some developers have visited the property.
"It is a difficult redevelopment project I believe. There is a single, steeper access road into the facility. The buildings are generally older; interesting and historic in their own right but that's not always what a developer is looking for."
The Friends of Grant Cottage have been requesting a piece of the correction facility be transferred to NYS Parks and the request was approved a few years ago. Thanks to this, the historic site can now expand.
"We're going to build a pavilion capable of holding enough visitors for our larger events. We'll have a field here for reenactment events and other large events. We'll also have a 50-car parking lot, which is crucial," explained Kemp.
When McGregor Corrections shut down, so did the power supply to Grant Cottage. The site became the first in the NYS Parks system to be fully off-grid through solar energy.
