The newly installed handicap-accessible canoe and kayak boat launch on Mirror Lake is seen on Wednesday, Aug. 6 in Lake Placid. The docks are expected to open sometime this week after some final installation measures are completed. (News photo — Chris Gaige)

LAKE PLACID — Paddlers venturing onto Mirror Lake will soon have a handicap-accessible canoe and kayak boat launch.

The Lake Placid village highway department spent much of Tuesday, Aug. 5 installing the mounting platform, gangplank and launching dock near the public boat launch area next to the public tennis courts. It’s a popular public launching point for kayaks, canoes and paddleboards.

In 2024, the Adirondack Watershed Institute — which partners with the Mirror Lake Watershed Institute to place a steward at the boat launch daily during the summer season to inspect for and remove any invasive plant species on or in boats before they enter the lake — recorded 1,278 boat inspections at that location.

Up until this point, however, there have been no docks or other infrastructure to help boaters launch — just an open patch of sand and fine clay for boaters to wade into the water and push off from shore. The new dock includes a gently sloped gangplank down to the platform, which has a set of roller wheels for boats to be placed on the dock, then rolled into the water once the person is inside. There is hand railing on both sides of the gangplank and roller wheels for users to steady themselves, as well as a small set of stairs to help people position themselves over the boat’s gunwales if needed when entering.

“We’re thrilled to see the village investing in more inclusive access to the lake with the installation of these new handicap-accessible docks,” Mirror Lake Watershed Association Chair Marcy Fagan said. “Paddling is one of the most beloved ways to enjoy Mirror Lake, and expanding access means more community members can safely and comfortably experience the water.”

Lake Placid village highway department personnel work to install a new handicap-accessible canoe and kayak boat launch on Mirror Lake near the public tennis courts on Tuesday, Aug. 5 in Lake Placid. The docks are expected to open sometime this week after some final installation measures are completed. (News photo — Chris Gaige)

The docks have been a long time coming, according to Deputy Mayor Jackie Kelly, who spearheaded the project from the village’s standpoint. She said concepts of the idea go back as far as 2014 when the North Elba/Lake Placid Joint Comprehensive Plan was created.

In 2017, the village of Lake Placid tasked the Appearance Committee with creating a Peacock Park and Mirror Lake waterfront redevelopment plan, and that’s when the Americans with Disability Act-compliant dock was put into the project scope, with help from Clarkson University students working under engineering professor Erik Backus, who did a lot of the legwork to ensure its feasibility. Kelly said the village worked closely with the state Adirondack Park Agency, state Department of Environmental Conservation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to make sure all the studies for the project were satisfactory and the permitting was in place.

At that point, the biggest thing holding the village back was the money. Kelly reached out to Assemblyman Billy Jones, D-Chateaugay Lake, to inform him of the Peacock Park project and its benefits and to see if any grant funding was available.

Jones lined up $125,000, and the village received an additional $30,000 from the North Elba Local Enhancement and Advancement Fund, which is collected through a 2% occupancy tax. Kelly said the village contributed about a quarter of the project’s total cost, which it appropriated for during its annual budget process since 2021. Kelly said this funding covers the ADA-compliant dock, as well as some of the other shoreline and park improvements.

Kayaking and canoeing are activities that already lend themselves well for people with mobility impairments, given that leg use isn’t required to move the boats — it’s all done with the arms. Kelly said that getting in and out of the boats, and these docks are specifically made to help with that. She added that the benefit extends to people of all abilities, and that even if one doesn’t have mobility issues, getting in and out of a low-lying boat on shore can be awkward, uncomfortable and therefore off-putting.

She was confident that the new dock would make recreating on Mirror Lake more inviting for all, and has received a lot of positive feedback from community members. She said people are looking forward to a cleaner entry, as people won’t have to place their boats in the sand and clay to get into the lake.

Besides the convenience, the dock replacing this entry will help to mitigate erosion around the launch, as people won’t be walking or dragging their boats directly over the shoreline as much. Erosion prevention has been a major component of the larger shoreline and Peacock Park improvement project, with crews working to gradually replace retaining walls along Mirror Lake that were starting to fail.

Kelly said that going forward, the gangplank and dock will be installed and removed seasonally on a similar schedule as the dock by the Mirror Lake Beach’s swimming area. Going forward, the village is looking for ways to expand and improve the temporary parking zone where boats can be dropped off to make it more accessible. Kelly said this project will likely be tackled in 2026.

The docks are expected to open sometime this week or shortly thereafter, with crews needing to put a few more finishing touches on before the dock is ready for use. She also said there will be a dedication ceremony expected to take place sometime this month, though an exact date has not been determined, but will be announced on the village’s Facebook page.