Rochester Business Journal

Hamlin Beach State Park would be closed to swimmers three days a week, and two parks in Wayne County and one in Orleans County would be shut down for 2010-11 as part of recommendations announced Friday by state officials.

Dozens of closings statewide are being planned to help eliminate an estimated $8.2 billion budget shortfall, officials said.

Beechwood State Park and Chimney Bluffs State Park in Wayne County would be closed if the recommendations are implemented. Oak Orchard State Marine Park in Orleans County also would be closed.

Also, Stony Brook State Park in Steuben County would be closed to swimmers, and camper recreation programs at multiple unidentified sites in the Rochester region would be eliminated.

“In an environment when we have to cut funding to schools, hospitals, nursing homes and social services, no area of state spending—including parks and historic sites—could be exempt from reductions,” Gov. David Paterson said in a statement.

Recommendations by the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation would result in the closure of 41 parks and 14 historic sites, and service reductions at 23 parks and one historic site.

The plan also calls for $4 million in fee increases at parks and historic sites that have yet to be identified, and the use of $5 million from the state Environmental Protection Fund to finance operations of the state’s parks department, officials said.

“These actions were not recommended lightly, but they are necessary to address our state’s extraordinary fiscal difficulties,” parks department Commissioner Carol Ash said in a statement.

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