City officials in Peekskill on Friday hosted the ceremonial opening of Historic Peekskill Landing Park, a $3.6 million joint-venture redevelopment project of the city and Scenic Hudson, a nonprofit regional environmental organization based in Poughkeepsie.
Built on a vacant industrial site that adjoins the city’s Riverfront Green Park, the new 4.4-acre park on Peekskill”™s Hudson River waterfront includes a shoreline boardwalk, a pedestrian footbridge, docks for kayaks and small watercraft, a gazebo and trellis, and a trail for jogging, biking, walking and other outdoor activities.
Scenic Hudson purchased the Peekskill Landing property in 1998 with a vision to turn one of the earliest industrial sites in Peekskill into a public park  “that also provides benefits to the city”™s economy,” Scenic Hudson senior vice president Steve Rosenberg said in a press release. “Scenic Hudson”™s mission focuses on creating new places where people can connect with the Hudson and enjoy all it has to offer. This is especially important in our Hudson River cities, where the greatest numbers of people are located,” he said.
A Scenic Hudson spokesman said the city and Scenic Hudson partnered for 15 years on the project, which encountered and was delayed by a “complex web” of state and federal regulations and funding gaps.
A $1.1 million grant from the state Department of Environmental Conservation allowed extensive cleanup work and shoreline stabilization to be completed in 2010.
The park”™s construction was partially funded by additional state grants of $2.2 million from Empire State Development, $450,000 from the state Department of State and $400,000 from the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Scenic Hudson contributed $2 million to acquire the property and the city of Peekskill put up $583,000 in matching funds.
Scenic Hudson spokesman Jay Burgess said the nonprofit received support for its work on the Peekskill Landing project from the Westchester Community Foundation and Consolidated Edison.
Peekskill Landing is the first phase of the city”™s $8.3 million waterfront parkland redevelopment.
Presiding at the opening ceremony, Mayor Frank A. Catalina called the park”™s completion “a major milestone for Peekskill. ”¦ Historically, Peekskill”™s riverfront was alive with industrial and commercial activity, and now we are bringing it back to life for residents and visitors, with tourism and new business.”
Scenic Hudson”™s Rosenberg noted that waterfront parks such as Peekskill”™s “help drive the Hudson Valley”™s $4.7 billion tourism industry, but also promote a quality of life that brings businesses and jobs to the region.”
Kenneth Adams, president, CEO and commissioner of Empire State Development, in a press release said the state economic development agency invested $2.2 million in the redevelopment project “because we believe strongly in the importance of parks and recreational facilities as economic engines in our communities.”
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