Griffin Visitor Center

Onondaga Lake Park

Griffin Visitor Center

Griffin Visitor Center explains the 1928 foresight of community leader Joseph A. Griffin, whose ideas and leadership led to the creation of one of America’s top ten heritage parks.

The evolution of recreation and local history is also detailed at the Visitor Center and interpretive displays along the park trails.

For more information, contact Onondaga County Parks at (315) 451-7275.

Joseph A. Griffin Visitor Center Fact Sheet

• Open now - March 31, 8am-4:30pm, Monday-Friday; after April 1 open 8am-7pm, daily.
• The Joseph A. Griffin Visitor Center is part of the new Family Activity Center located at the southern end Onondaga Lake Park in Liverpool, New York.
• In 1928, Joseph A. Griffin was the secretary of the Onondaga County Park and Regional Planning Board and chairman of the Boulevard-Parkway Committee. He introduced and pushed for the development of a parkway to connect the city of Syracuse and the Village of Liverpool that would include park land and athletic facilities. When this project was finished in 1933, Griffin Stadium was dedicated in his honor. For 70 years, thousands of community and interscholastic sports events took place at the Griffin Field.
• The Visitor Center and surrounding area features:
  • Joseph A. Griffin, the man with the dream who created the idea of Onondaga Lake Park and the Parkway.
  • Two Shuffleboard Courts
  • Two Bocce Ball Courts
  • Two Multipurpose Ballfields
  • One Sand Volleyball Court
  • Restrooms, including family restrooms, accessible from inside and outside the Visitor Center
  • Park and local tourist information
  • A pictorial history of Joseph A. Griffin and the former stadium
  • Recreation Concession Building-Rentals of shuffleboard, bocce, volleyball, bike and skate equipment
  • Extended East Shore Recreational Trail and new Wegmans Tram stop and turnaround
  • Expanded parking
  • Easy access to Village of Liverpool business district encouraging tourism and commerce
  • CENTRO bus stop, with more routes on the way
  • 1st phase of Interpretive Signage touting five centuries of history around Onondaga Lake, funded by the Community Foundation and the Friends of Historic Onondaga Lake. The signage will eventually surround the lake.