Scenic Hudson Rehabilitating Beacon Waterfront Site

Visitors still invited to enjoy waterfront path and dramatic sculpture

BEACON – During this winter Scenic Hudson began the first phase of work to transform a former industrial site it owns on Beacon's waterfront into a 16-acre public park. The initiative is a crucial component of the organization's campaign to "save the land that matters most" throughout the Hudson Valley. Saving pristine lands is a focus of the campaign but so is revitalizing downtown areas by creating public parks and encouraging "smart growth" development in city and town centers.

While there is some construction fencing up and signs of park-construction activity, the site remains open. Residents and visitors can stroll along a marked path that leads to the waterfront and a dramatic sculpture, by renowned artist George Trakas, that features terraced decking, a boardwalk and a restored bulkhead that stabilizes the shoreline. In addition to the park, the Scenic Hudson property will be home to a cutting-edge "green" hotel/conference center and other public amenities.

Clean-up work needed to make park healthy and inviting

Common to riverfront parcels that were formerly industrial, the property had a large amount of construction debris buried under its soil. Scenic Hudson investigated and prepared a plan to remedy the situation. After a competitive bid process, the group hired contractors to construct the park. Based on the design of landscape architecture firm Reed Hilderbrand, and in consultation with a soils engineer, construction crews will install clean fill and topsoil to a depth of three feet and enhance the area with native tree and shrub plantings.

Scenic Hudson is spending $850,000, not including the cost of purchasing the land, from its Lila Acheson and DeWitt Wallace Hudson Valley Land Preservation Endowment to create the park. An additional $628,000 is coming via grants from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and the state Department of State. Plans are for construction of the park to be completed by spring 2008.

Park and pending "green" hotel project are smart growth

"This magnificent riverfront property is important to the fabric of the mid-Hudson Valley. We're delighted to have protected it so people in one of the valley's seven cities will have a new place to engage in recreation and enjoy spectacular views of the Hudson River and northern Highlands," said Scenic Hudson President Ned Sullivan. "With development pressures still affecting the valley, this type of conservation strikes a balance and helps attract and retain businesses in a competitive environment," he added.

Underscoring the tourism industry's importance to the city and valley, Scenic Hudson stated that tourism is a $4.5 billion annual industry in the 10-county valley region. Just in Dutchess County, where Beacon is emerging as a major draw, tourism pays $29 million in taxes annually and employs 10,000 people.

"We know there's enthusiasm by residents and the city to add this park to a growing list of great reasons to live, work and have fun in Beacon. For more than a decade Scenic Hudson has been working with city officials, residents, Dia:Beacon and others to revitalize Main Street, the local economy and waterfront. We also provide environmental education to the city's school district. It's been great seeing how school kids and many others enjoy our existing parks in Beacon, and we know this coming riverside attraction will further enhance the city's quality of life," said Margery Groten, Long Dock project director, who oversees the group's work in Beacon.

Beacon Mayor Steve Gold said he's very pleased about the park and Scenic Hudson's broader work in the city. "Beacon is really benefiting from everything that Scenic Hudson has brought to it. The group has been a key player in the city's revival, including convening a variety of partners to attract Dia:Beacon. It's such a pleasure to see the community's growing pride in its re-emerging waterfront and bustling Main Street. This park and the hotel project are the latest and most exciting contributions Scenic Hudson is making to Beacon," said Mayor Gold.

The green hotel/conference center will occupy nine acres surrounded by Scenic Hudson's 16-acre park. Foss Group Beacon is developing the $85-million project, which will feature 166 rooms, a 27,500-square-foot conference center and cutting-edge leadership in environmental and energy design (LEED) standards.

Purchase part of land-saving campaign

The park project is part of Scenic Hudson's campaign to "save the land that matters most," protecting lands that earned the region Congressional designation as a National Heritage Area. With the help of government and other land-trust partners, the organization will preserve ridgelines, mountaintops, marshlands, tributary shorelines, farmland and legendary views that are critical to the region's iconic natural beauty and historic character.

In addition to buying land, the campaign will include creating parks and promoting "smart growth" development in city and town centers, consistent with Gov. Eliot Spitzer's upstate smart growth strategy. This approach revitalizes riverfront communities while at the same time slowing sprawling developments that consume open land, fail to reuse existing community infrastructure, and then require new and expensive tax-paid infrastructure.
"I'm delighted this park is a leading effort in our 'land that matters most' campaign because it has everything we're looking to safeguard for future generations. It's beautiful, it affords stunning views of the river, it's located along one of the Hudson Valley's most historic stretches – and it's fueling environmental and economic health of a great river city. We're off to a great start," said Mr. Sullivan.

Waterfront sculpture part of collaborative effort

Internationally celebrated artist George Trakas was commissioned to create his shoreline-stabilizing sculpture by Scenic Hudson, Dia:Beacon and public art organization Minetta Brook. The artist was the ideal choice to create a stunning work of art that reflected the Hudson's tidal movements, that made it easier for people to connect with the Hudson, and that stopped the property from eroding into the river.

Scenic Hudson works to protect and restore the Hudson River and its majestic landscape as an irreplaceable national treasure and a vital resource for residents and visitors. A crusader for the valley since 1963, we are credited with saving fabled Storm King Mountain from a destructive industrial project and launching the modern grass-roots environmental movement. Today with more than 10,000 ardent supporters, we are the largest environmental group focused on the Hudson River Valley. Our team of experts combines land acquisition, support for agriculture, citizen-based advocacy and sophisticated planning tools to create environmentally healthy communities, champion smart economic growth, open up riverfronts to the public and preserve the valley's inspiring beauty and natural resources. www.scenichudson.org

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