ULTIMATE NY STAYCATION SUMMER 2021
People check out the nearly completed Max Moore Memorial Tree House during the 2015 grand opening in Plattsburgh. Located at the beginning of the Saranac River Trail on Pine Street near the Saranac Street Bridge, the Tree House is equipped with a ramp allowing access to those with wheelchairs and strollers. The Tree House is named after Max Moore, a Plattsburgh youth who depended on a wheelchair for mobility, who died in 2009 at 8 years of age. PR Photo.
Max Moore Tree House offers fun accessible for all — Attraction built in memory of local boy
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BY CHRIS FASOLINO
t is almost a universal dream of childhood: to have a tree house. Soon, children who never thought they could share in that dream will be able to reach it. That is because work is beginning on the Max Moore Memorial Tree House, a universally accessible tree house near the Saranac River in Plattsburgh. Saturday’s groundbreaking ceremony marked a milestone for the project. INSPIRATION The idea came from Dr. Heidi Moore, a pediatrician, whose son Max had a physical disability. Two years into the planning of the project, Max passed away. Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, Moore said: “This started with the idea of taking a little boy who was wheelchair-bound and giving him a tree house.” 24
The Max Moore Memorial Tree House will have a ramp, and it will be accessible to people of all ages and conditions. Moore was wearing a blue shirt with the word “believe” in large letters. Project Coordinator Ashley Cousens, who followed, expressed appreciation for donors large and small. While major contributors include the Plattsburgh Sunrise Rotary Club, Liquor & Wine Warehouse, Plattsburgh Mayor James Calnon, Luke Cyphers and his family, Payea & Barnett, the Plattsburgh Recreation Department, the Treehouse Guys, Garry Douglas, Sherb and Amy House and Fujitsu, many small donations have also been received. “Every dollar we’ve received has made a difference,” Cousens continued. “This is a project that speaks to people.” Cousens said that all the materials for the tree house will be arriving within three
to four weeks, and that the project will be completed this summer. “We’re kind of shooting for July.” In fact, Cousens concluded her remarks at the groundbreaking with the encouraging words: “Hopefully, we’ll see you in a couple of months for the grand opening.” GROUNDBREAKING At the edge of the Saranac River, where the tree house will soon be built, a tent had been set up for Saturday’s groundbreaking ceremony. Speakers stood behind a podium emblazoned with the Plattsburgh City Seal, which is marked by a heraldic lion and by the Latin motto Ipsi Sibi Praemium Virtus (“virtue is its own reward.”) In addition to Moore and Cousens, Calnon also spoke briefly, calling the project “a great idea that caught on and became such a passionate idea that so many people shared in, that it got us to today.”
