GEDDES -- The Onondaga Lake Visitors Center, which aims to give the community an opportunity to learn about the lake cleanup of Onondaga Lake, opens this Friday.
The center is located along the southwest shoreline of Onondaga Lake.
It was built by Honeywell in order to provide public access to the cleanup. Displays at the center showcase the cleanup plan, progress, the return of native plants and animals, and habitat enhancements.
The lake cleanup began over the summer and is expected to take five years to complete. It’s a $450 million project that aims to recover what was once considered one of the nation's most polluted bodies of water.
Most of the pollution was dumped into the lake or seeped into the lake from the old Allied Chemical plant in Solvay. Honeywell is the corporate successor to Allied Chemical.
To visit the center, you can call 315-552-9751 or submit a form online. Public open houses will be offered Friday afternoons during dredging, which will continue throughout the next several years, except during winter months. It doesn't cost anything to visit the center.
