This weekend, hydroplanes will be flying on the surface of Onondaga Lake at speeds approaching 190 miles per hour. 70 speed boats began arriving at Onondaga Lake Park Friday afternoon to compete in the "Race on the Lake." Organizer Maureen Doyle says Onondaga Lake is made for such an event. "The race drivers love Onondaga Lake... other lakes have the wind, we don't those issues here."
Though Onondaga Lake has hosted hydroplane races in the past, this is the first "Race on the Lake" which features a circuit of competitors from the USA and Canada. Doyle hopes some 15 thousand people will show up for the event.
Some of the proponents of the cleanup of Onondaga Lake feel that this race could go a long way toward changing the public image of Onondaga Lake. Once Onondaga was considered among the most polluted lakes in the world, but over the past several decades, the Honeywell Corporation and taxpayers have poured hundreds of millions into reducing chemical and sewage contamination. Doyle says it shows, "I can come down to this lake and that funny feeling you get when you don't want to go near the water ...I don't have that sensation anymore at all."
She's not alone. Kathy Jones says she strolls through Onondaga Lake Park with her twins just about every day. "I believe that it's getting beautiful by the day and the children love to come down and see all the geese and the ducks."
After the hydroplane race is over, the cleanup will enter a new phase. Three dredges will remove more than 2 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment. Honeywell will pay $451 million dollars for the project. To the south, developers intend to shell out $350 million to build a hotel,office and housing complex at the Inner Harbor in Syracuse. Next year when "Race on the Lake" returns, a lot of that work will be underway.
