Ë®¹ûÅÉAV

Auburn City Clerk Chuck Mason provided a preliminary update at the City Council meeting Thursday. Estimates show that 1,300 people attended the eclipse party held at Falcon Park. Mason said about one-third of the attendees were from out of state. 

On the day of the eclipse, Falcon Park was scheduled to open at 2 p.m. But because of the large turnout — the parking lots were already filling up hours before the event — the city decided to open the gates early. 

Mason said the attendees included visitors from New Jersey and Pennsylvania who either spent the night in Auburn or drove to the city that day to be in the path of totality. 

"It was a great turnout and people really loved the facility," he said. 

The New York State Equal Rights Heritage Center, which is operated by the city, reported increased visitation in the days leading up to the total solar eclipse. 

According to Mason, there were 1,335 visitors at the center from March 25 through April 9. Although there were visitors from New York, including some first-time patrons from Auburn, several were from out of state. The center had guests from four countries — Canada, Germany, Israel and Italy — and 14 states, including California, Florida, Oregon and Virginia. 

Mason told the council that there was "summertime-level visitation" at the Equal Rights Heritage Center in the two weeks before the eclipse. 

Statewide, there was increased visitation reported in areas within the path of totality. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced last week that from April 6-9, nearly 1 million people visited state parks. The total includes more than 326,500 people who visited state parks on the day of the eclipse. 

Twelve state parks were at capacity for the eclipse, including Fair Haven Beach State Park in northern Cayuga County.