Chautauquans take to the lake Wednesday amidst poor air quality due to wildfire smoke.
JENNA OUTCALT
Staff Writer
As Chautauqua Institution and the surrounding region continue to respond to and address Thursday’s statewide Air Quality Health Advisory, issued by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, the Institution is evaluating safe ways to maintain programming, particularly for Youth & Family and Recreation events.
“Our decisions are really made on an hour-by-hour basis,” Alyssa Porter, the director of community education and youth programs, said. “We try to stay as nimble as we can, so that we’re not preemptively closing anything when we could be open.”
According to Porter, youth programs and the waterfront are staying as available as possible while still considering health and safety.
“You’re going to see pockets of times where the air quality is better and pockets of time where it’s worse, so we want to take advantage of those better times where we can have places like the beaches open,” she said.
Porter said the Air Quality Health Advisory is not too different from other weather events. She advised parents to keep an eye out for emails about changes to youth programs and keep an eye on the “News and Announcements” page of Chautauqua Institution’s website.
“The response at waterfront and youth programs happen pretty similarly to any emergency weather response as normal,” she said. “We’re looking at things like visibility and health and safety risks for our patrons and our campers, as well as our staff.”
She emphasized the importance of visibility on the lake, which can be heavily affected by air quality.
“The waterfront is a little bit different because we have to actually be able to see the lake, especially for things like the sailing center and kayaking at Sports Club,” she said. “So that’s the first factor that we are looking at.”
Youth programs and the waterfront experienced some closures and moved inside on Thursday and Friday due to air quality, which settled at very unhealthy levels through the end of the week. When air quality is around 200 to 300 fine particles, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation warns of a health risk to everyone and recommends people stay inside when possible. However, sensitive groups, which include individuals with existing respiratory issues as well as children, teens and older adults, are particularly at risk.
The DEC recommends wearing masks when outside, especially close-fitting ones like N95s or KN95s.The Institution is monitoring local air quality and has a limited supply of masks available to Chautauquans at buildings across the grounds including the Colonnade, Main Gate Welcome Center, Visitors Center, Chautauqua Bookstore, Smith Memorial Library, Athenaeum Hotel, Turner Fitness Center, Alumni Hall and the CLSC Octagon.
Porter said that while most things are “at a partial opening” right now, they are continuing to monitor the situation.
“We also work closely with the [Chautauqua County Health Department] and stay in contact with them to let them know of any decisions we’re making and find out what waterfront areas around (the) lake are doing,” she explained. “Then we make the determination to close or move inside from there depending on the program.”
Porter is hoping for a full reopening by Monday.
“Our hope is that we see a change in the weather, the wind, all those kinds of things over the weekend,” she said.
On Thursday, Boys’ and Girls’ Club encouraged children to stay home and provided supervision and a movie day for the smaller group that still came. During periods of poor air quality, Porter recommended indoor activities such as arts and crafts or board games for youth.
“The library will be open, so that’s a great indoor location,” she said. “Turner Fitness Center has an indoor game room that’s open to the community, so that could be a fun option for families to explore.”
She also suggested exploring more local places such as indoor art galleries and recreation facilities in surrounding towns.
Porter said it would be interesting to consider what sort of long-term changes may need to happen as weather concerns become more frequent. Ultimately, however, she said the air quality response is similar to protocol for other weather events.
“At the end of the day, running an outdoor camp, things like air quality and weather, those environmental factors are fairly common, so we’ve got good tools in our tool belt to be able to respond to and manage programming with that,” Porter said.
For the most up-to-date information regarding air quality alerts and changes to Institution programming, visit the “News and Announcements” page at chq.org.
