DANVILLE – The Montour Preserve will receive $200,000 in state money to help keep the outdoor recreation site near Washingtonville open.

State Sen. John R. Gordner, R-Berwick, and Rep. Kurt Masser, R-Elysburg, made the announcement at the Montour County Commissioners' meeting Tuesday morning.

The Montour Area Recreation Commission has taken over maintenance of the recreation area after Talen, the company that took over the Montour power plant, planned to discontinue programming at the site, unless an outside organization stepped in. MARC raised $175,000 from local donors to help pay for the upkeep of the preserve, and took over programming at the site in October.

Gordner and Masser said in a press release that after they toured the preserve with Cindy Dunn, state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources secretary, they gained the support of DCNR along with a pledge of $200,000, what they called "at least two more years of funding."

Some background on the Preserve from a press release put out by Sen. Gordner's office:

The Montour Preserve and Lake Chillisquaque were constructed by PP&L in 1972 to provide a backup reservoir of cooling water for the PP&L Montour coal-fired power plant, located roughly three miles south of the Preserve.

During the next decades, the company added various amenities at the Preserve, including the sugar shack, fossil pit, pavilions, parking lots, restrooms, play areas, a boat launch, wildlife observation blinds, trails, gardens, a visitors’ center and environmental education center and other features.

PPL operated and maintained the Montour Preserve until September 2014 when it announced it would discontinue programming at the Montour Preserve and consider proposals from other organizations interested in providing programming at the site. At the same time, PPL also announced its intention to spin off the competitive electrical generation side of its operations to Talen Energy.

On October 1, 2015, MARC assumed operational control of significant portions of the Montour Preserve, while Talen Energy retained ownership of the lands and facilities.  All programming and facilities at the Preserve has continued under the direction of MARC.