August 23, 2013
With an eye toward getting students familiar with safe and legal places they can swim in hot weather, Cornell University is offering a free shuttle bus to Buttermilk Falls State Park this weekend and Labor Day weekend. The buses will offer four round trips per day, with campus pickups at the Baker Flagpole on West Campus and George Jameson Hall on North Campus.
Swimming is illegal in Cascadilla Creek gorge. 14850 Photo.The Cornell Plantations has helped develop a gorge safety program including a brochure and student-produced video, and reminds newcomers to town that swimming in the Fall Creek and Cascadilla Creek gorges is illegal. A safe-swimming web site at gorgesafety.cornell.edu presents several alternatives, such as the City-owned Alex Haley Pool and Cass Park pool, as well as Myers Park in Lansing, and Robert H. Treman and Taughannock Falls state parks, in addition to Buttermilk.
Four students have died in nearby gorges, and many more have been injured, in recent years. The Cornell Plantations web site and the safety video remind students and other area residents that "strong undercurrents and hidden rock ledges and debris make [the gorges] unsafe places to swim."
Buses will run Saturday, August 24th and Sunday, August 25th, and again next Saturday, August 31st through Monday, Labor Day, September 2nd, with departures from campus at 11:30am, 1:00pm, 2:45pm, and 4:30pm, and return trips at 2:15, 4:00, 5:45, and 7:00pm. Tickets are free to students, who can obtain them in advance at the Day Hall Visitor Center desk, Carol Tatkon Center in Balch Hall, or the service desk on the first floor of Robert Purcell Community Center.
