Our Work in Beacon

Scenic Hudson is at the heart of Beacon's renaissance

Beacon's revitalized Main Street. Photo © Greg Miller

Scenic Hudson has a unique investment in the green infrastructure and economic foundation of the City of Beacon. This depressed, post-industrial city in southern Dutchess County on the Hudson River was riddled with crime and drugs on its Main Street, underinvestment in housing stock and the loss of its industrial and jobs base. Waterfront factories and an active industrial rail yard had long been closed down.

Connecting city residents with nature

Scenic Hudson recognized in Beacon a unique combination of location, scenic beauty and strong local elected leadership and began investing collaboratively in the city over a decade ago. Scenic Hudson purchased over 2,000 acres of Hudson Highlands land, including historic Mount Beacon, located in the city and nearby East Fishkill, and created a trailhead within the city limits to enable people to enjoy recreational and tourist activities in the Hudson Highlands.

Mount Beacon had been the site of an incline railroad in the early part of the 20th century, and Scenic Hudson created a stairway along the route of the railroad and interpretive signs explaining the popular tourist destination. We worked with the city to create a waterfront park along a tributary of the Hudson and encouraged the purchase of an abandoned industrial building nearby to lay the groundwork for the utilization of the building.

Transforming an industrial waterfront

Scenic Hudson has been working with internationally renowned artist George Trakas on the Beacon Point project since 1999. Photo © Harry Wilks

Scenic Hudson went on to purchase a contaminated waterfront parcel, known as Long Dock Beacon, to do initial remediation of contamination and to lay the groundwork for future redevelopment of this site. We have worked closely with a private developer to assemble plans and designs for a 166-room hotel and conference center with Scenic Hudson's responsibilities focused on development of a park, boardwalk and public pavilions and the private developer responsible for the hotel, conference center and restaurants. While this project is still a work in progress as the developer seeks to assemble key elements of the financial package, Scenic Hudson has completed restoration of a portion of the park and it is now open to the public.

The highlight of the park is Beacon Point, created by renowned sculptor/landscape artist George Trakas. Designed as a series of gradually cascading steps recalling undulating waves, the work provides easy access to the Hudson River and offers a superb place for visitors to relax and enjoy views of the river and Hudson Highlands.

Creating a world-renowned arts destination

Dia:BeaconPhoto: ©Richard Barnes. Courtesy Dia Art Foundation.

Because of its active leadership role in redevelopment in the city, Scenic Hudson was asked by community leaders to serve as convener of local, county, state and federal officials to attract an international art institute to the city. Scenic Hudson brought key players together and helped assemble a package of incentives for Dia Center for the Arts to make a more than $25-million investment in the adaptive reuse of an abandoned Nabisco box factory on the Beacon waterfront. Today Dia:Beacon attracts visitors from around the world.

Shaping the city's ongoing revitalization

Scenic Hudson also worked with the city to secure permits for a ferry dock where Metro-North has established a commuter ferry link with the city of Newburgh, immediately across the river, whose waterfront is being revitalized with restaurants and shops. (Scenic Hudson purchased land just outside Newburgh to help begin a similar process in that city.) And as a project evolves to build a transit-oriented development around the Beacon train station, we're working with Metro-North and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to ensure that environmental, traffic and other citizen concerns are addressed.