The Adirondack Explorer recently highlighted the nearly $50 million public and private investment effort aimed at reconnecting North Creek and Gore Mountain and reclaiming the hamlet’s identity as a true ski town.
The state’s $40 million investment includes the new 18,000-square-foot Station at the Ski Bowl and a new lift linking the Ski Bowl to Gore’s main trail network. This spring, work advances on a $10 million public sewer system that will allow homes and businesses to connect and, critically, grow.
As Jim Siplon, President of EDC Warren County, noted in the article:
“It was a confederation of literally every possible source of funding, and it took an army of people to figure out how to piece this together. Every day, we fought a battle to make sure that this project did not start to unwind.”
“You cannot fully develop the hamlet unless you have infrastructure,” Jim said. “In towns like North Creek, you are held hostage by the fact that you can’t even add a bathroom.”
Now, with sewer infrastructure underway, private investors are stepping forward to reimagine downtown with hotel space, food and beverage, retail and year-round gathering spaces. The market sees what many of us have long believed. The fundamentals are strong.
Infrastructure is not glamorous. But it is destiny.
North Creek’s progress is a case study in coordinated public investment unlocking private capital. It is also a reminder of how complex rural infrastructure financing can be, and why partnerships at every level matter.
North Creek is not just reconnecting to Gore Mountain. It is reconnecting to its future.
Photo credit: Eric Teed