Marcellus High School students' hard work was recognized during Earth Week. Their transformation project redeveloping land that once housed an old mill in the village is set to receive $255,000 from the county. Green Gateway Park borders Nine Mile Creek and will feature a pavilion and an ADA compliant fishing platform. Marcellus School's career coordinator Tyler Cooper says a former student was the first of the creative team behind the project.
“… Without that plan for a park, it was just going to be another abandoned industrial site. And so, he really gave life to the new park. And from there it’s grown for one student now to about 47,” he said.
Today, other students continue to collaborate with local and county government leaders. Jack Paine graduated from Marcellus High School in 2024. He helped guide a road repaving project on Limerick Street in the village that focused on diverting stormwater run-off into Nine Mile Creek.
"This spot was kind of just a mess at first," he said, "It's kind of became an opportunity for students to build it up and make it a really pretty place for people to enjoy now... and fish, especially."
Paine said the repaving project piqued his interest in construction management, which led him on a path to study eco-friendly ways to build at SUNY ESF. The county executive also announced a new trail connecting Marcellus to Camillus that follows the historic path trolleys once took. Click here to review the plans for Green Gateway Park.
