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Use the slider above to compare a 2004 satellite view of the former Gaslight Village / Lake George Action Park site with a 2018 satellite view of Charles R. Wood Park in the same location to see the transformation.
Wood Park was in full swing this summer: a barbecue and blues music event, an automobile meet, the Adirondack Independence Music Festival, the Lake George Art & Craft Festival, to name a few. It’s like this grassy place has always been the festival space, but it isn’t. But it has been a place of entertainment and fun for decades.
Fans listen to singer Arlo Guthrie on August 23, 2015 at Charles R. Wood Park in Lake George. Guthrie’s concert took place two years before the new park officially opened in June 2017.
Post-star archive photo
Fans cheer as singer Arlo Guthrie takes the stage on August 23, 2015, at Charles R. Wood Park in Lake George. Guthrie played there two years before the new park officially opened in June 2017.
Post-star archive photo
After the closure of Gaslight Village from the creator of the mid-20th century amusement park (late 1980s) and the closure of his Lake George Action Park (it operated in the second half of the 90s), the area has been fenced and dormant. Grants and donations have helped local municipalities and environmental groups begin the property’s slow march into an inviting public venue for concerts and wine and food festivals. Walking paths, a skate park, toilets, a children’s play area and an environmental component occupy the perimeter. The park was officially opened in 2019.
The festival area, skate park, and restrooms are to the north, and a nature walk and system of constructed wetlands that filter runoff before it enters the lake can be seen to the south, from across the old West Brook Road (recently renamed Elizabeth O’Connor Little Boulevard) in the 2018 satellite photo.
The outline of a go-kart track at Action Park can be seen near Canada Street (Route 9) in the 2004 photo. The old Waxlife USA museum building in Wood, which later became Charley’s Saloon, is still standing. visible in the 2004 image, where the wetlands are currently located.
Two more satellite images, from 2013 and 2015, are below and show how the park has developed. Also included here is a 2008 park concept sketch and some views of the abandoned Gaslight Village property from 2007 and 2008.
For photos of Gaslight Village when it was in operation, there is a large Facebook page, simply called Gaslight Village, Lake George, New York, to consult.
Charles R. Wood Park, under development in May 2015 in Lake George.
Google earth
Charles R. Wood Park, under development in September 2013 in Lake George.
Google earth
This 2008 watercolor shows an original concept for the West Brook Conservation Initiative planned for the Gaslight Village property in Lake George.
Some of the remaining buildings of the former Gaslight Village amusement park, seen here, were closed in January 2008.
Post-star archive photo
In the summer of 2007, from left to right, (former) Glens Falls 5th Ward Supervisor William Kenny, Lake George Mayor Robert Blais and Warrensburg Supervisor Kevin Geraghty tour the former Gaslight Village property in Lake George. Warren County officials visited the property to discuss plans to use the property for an environmental project.
Post-star archive photo
The interior of the Opera building of the former Gaslight Village amusement park is visible in 2008. Some officials at the time believed that the abandoned buildings in Gaslight Village could be renovated to provide an enclosed space for events and the exhibits in Lake George. Eventually, the buildings were demolished to make way for the new park.
Post-star archive photo
Bob Condon is the local editor of The after-star. He can be reached at [email protected] or by calling 518-742-3250 (office) or 518-932-5277 (cell). To help support all local reports in The post-star and on poststar.com, please consider a digital subscription. Our latest offer to new subscribers is here.
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