Greening the riverside

Scenic vistas and kayak put-ins are not normally associated with financial activity and economic development, but Scenic Hudson”™s Long Dock park project in Beacon is aiming to disprove that theory.

“Here is a project that brings together jobs, stimulus to the Hudson Valley economy and connecting people to the beauty and inspirational powers of the Hudson River,” Scenic Hudson President Ned Sullivan said.?A former industrial site that was home to a salvage yard and oil storage facility and is the resting place for piles of concrete deck from the old Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, the 25-acre Long Dock peninsula will be rehabilitated into a park that will create approximately 75 construction jobs as part of the $8.5 million project.

Longtime plans to build a hotel and conference center on an adjoining site are on hold.

When completed next spring, the park will feature a new pavilion, a kayaking center, a restored barn for environmental education and arts programming, extensive rehabilitation of wetlands and meadows, and self-guided displays that tell the story of the site”™s history, ecology and sustainable design.?The area is a short walk from the Beacon railroad station and Dia:Beacon.

Expectations are the project will boost commerce in the city.

“Development of this park will provide an economic boost for the business community,” said Ron Iarossi, president of the Beacon Chamber of Commerce.

“There has been a large increase of tourism in Beacon, people who not only look for shops and restaurants, but are also here for the beauty of the river, the trails and the mountain. Long Dock park will be one more reason for tourists to come and enjoy the city.”?But economics are only part of the tabulation compared with the quality of life the work will bring to Beacon.

“The real benefit of the Long Dock park is the recreational benefits it offers the city,” Beacon Mayor Steve Gold said.

In addition to “stunning views” and a riverside path, he said the new park would provide a kayak put in, an amenity currently lacking in Beacon.  ?The park will be constructed by a team of noted park designers and architects, who are seeking to make it a model for sustainable design and land management.

The project has been selected for a pilot program testing green landscape design, construction and management as one of 150 projects in 34 states that seek to create landscapes that can clean water, reduce pollution and restore habitat while providing significant economic and social benefits to land owners and municipalities.?“We”™ve already initiated a cleanup of an abandoned industrial site here, now we”™re creating a special place where people will relax, picnic, fish and enjoy the inspiring beauty that has earned the Hudson its national reputation,” Sullivan said. “This project also will be an economic engine helping bring more people to Dia and the city”™s Main Street restaurants and shops.”

Kirchoff-Consigli Construction Management of Pleasant Valley will oversee the variety of firms working on the new park.

Firms on the design team include civil engineering firm Divney, Tung Schwalbe of White Plains; environmental remediation consultants Ecosystems Strategies of Poughkeepsie; planning consultant Matthew D. Rudikoff Associates of Beacon; and marine engineering firm McLaren Engineering Group of West Nyack.

The design team is led by Reed Hilderbrand Associates of Watertown, Mass., in collaboration with ARO (Architecture Research Office), New York City.