Teatown seeks approvals for campus renovation project

Teatown Reservation, which has approximately 1,000 acres across Ossining, Yorktown, Cortlandt, and New Castle and has an address of 1600 Spring Valley Road in Ossining, has gone before the Town of Yorktown’s Planning Board seeking Site Plan Approval and a Special Use Permit, Wetland Permit, Tree Permit and Stormwater Management Permit for a campus renovation project.

Teatown’s Managing Director Alan Sorkin explained to the Planning Board that Teatown has been welcoming generations of visitors to observe and learn about the natural world for more than 60 years. It is the largest community-funded nature preserve in Westchester County, and includes 15 miles of hiking trails, a two-acre island refuge, year-round programming, wildlife exhibits, natural science day camps in the summer and more.

In 2023 it had revenues including contributions of $6.4 million and an endowment of $3.3 million.

According to Andrew Tung of DTS Provident Design Engineering, the objectives of the renovation plan include maintaining the health of the nature preserve, upgrade its aging infrastructure and buildings, improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon footprint, and creating a safer and more accessible campus environment.

The proposal includes:

• Renovation of the Nature Center interior and exterior, also known as the Visitor Center, to modernize and optimize the exhibit, gathering and staff spaces;
• Replacing a barn and parking area with a new one-story Education Center building with a green roof and a geothermal heating and cooling system. The roof will provide space for educational activities;
• Enhancing the Carriage House;
• Creating nature play areas and providing an open-air pavilion and upgraded animal shelters to support the outdoor education programs;
• Addition of an internal drive from the Blinn Road parking area to provide bus and car dropoff and pickup at the Education Center;
• Construction of a new one-story maintenance building, work area and staff parking area;
• Extension of the south gravel parking lot to the south, to replace the spaces in the main parking lot, which will be removed and new landscaping installed;
• Addition of new and upgraded trails;
• Addition of a new crosswalk, pedestrian signage and flashing beacons to improve visibility and safety along Spring Valley Road;
• New stormwater management measures including rain gardens, stormwater planters and wetland buffer enhancements.

During a virtual meeting to explain the plan to Teatown’s supporters and other interested parties, Kevin Carter, Teatown’s executive director, said, “Teatown exists in a suburban neighborhood. We’re not building a tourist destination to attract a half-a-million or a million people. We’re really following a philosophy of not expanding volume but expanding impact.”

Carter said that the exhibits will be reimagined through working with a professional exhibit design firm. He pointed out that existing buildings are old but the buildings and facilities need to be brought up to a place where they are more sustainable, energy efficient and align with the ambitiousness of the teaching that takes place at Teatown.