Kelly and Cronin at the bridge

Beacon – Construction is well underway on the first building of the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries.

Getting to the institute location, at the end of Dennings Point, is a daunting task, taking the adventurous visitor up and down a gravel trail and across an old, rickety bridge.

Eventually, the trail will become a hard surfaced road.

Executive Director John Cronin says their hope is to also do something about the bridge. “Our hope is that we are going to be able to preserve the old bridge, and build a new one exclusively for vehicular traffic.”

The old bridge would then become part of a hike and bike trail.

Work well under way on the first building

That won’t come cheap.

That’s where Congresswoman Sue Kelly comes in. “The state had already said that they were interested in helping, so, the half a million dollars that I was able to get has been leveraged to a million dollars by the state.”

The Beacon Institute’s first building will open late this fall and will feature lectures, interpretive education and a learning laboratory.

Much of what will become the institute consists of abandoned old brick manufacturing structures.