Rochester Institute of Technology is getting quite the gift just three weeks before Christmas.
RIT has been gifted a 177-acre property in Penfield by real estate entrepreneurs Amy Leenhouts Tait and Robert Tait.
The property includes a 60-acre lake and a private mile of Irondequoit Creek adjacent to Ellison Park.
The site, which used to be a former Dolomite sand quarry, will be dedicated as the Tait Preserve of RIT.
The property will expand the university’s research and educational offerings in ecology, agriculture, sustainability and other fields.