If people are hoping for a new version of the “New Deal” once President-elect Barack Obama takes office, a visit to the home of Franklin D. Roosevelt may provide insight on how the four-term president handled the national economic crisis of his day and made decisions during wartime. Not only is FDR”™s home filled with fascinating memorabilia, including his custom-built car, but the Presidential Library on the grounds of the family”™s Hyde Park estate is a wealth of information about the 32nd president and his family.
While FDR”™s wife, Eleanor, maintained her own “home away from home” at nearby Val-Kill during the Presidential years, it was no problem for either Franklin or Eleanor to visit back and forth: Roosevelt had built a trail from his family home to Val-Kill during the 1920”™s, and during his presidency, the couple used it extensively. Roosevelt”™s “Farm Lane” not only linked Springwood with Val-Kill, but gave FDR the opportunity to plant many species of trees along the way.
Unfortunately, Farm Lane had fallen into disrepair once the Roosevelts were gone; for years, it was practically unusable until Scenic Hudson stepped in and bought the 335-acre parcel for $1.6 million.
Scenic Hudson then transferred Farm Lane to the National Parks Service for $1 million ”“ making Svcenic Hudson”™s final contribution $600,000. Funding for million-dollar Park Service purchase was arranged by U.S. Rep Kirsten Gillibrand. The Park Service has spent an equal amount re-creating the trail that linked Eleanor and Franklin.
“The road is open now, so people can walk the ”˜Hyde Park Trail”™ all the way from the Vanderbilt mansion to FDR”™s homestead and then continue on to Val-Kill,” said Steve Rosenberg, executive vice president for Scenic Hudson. “When we purchased Farm Lane, it was in terrible condition, rutted and impassable in some areas. Now the Parks Service has made it possible for thousands of residents and tourist to enjoy our historic sites and visit them by foot or bike, and it is free to all.”
“The money for the $1 million refurbishment of Farm Lane came to the National Parks Service through the Federal Transportation Department”™s public lands highway fund,” said Sarah Olson, superintendent of the Roosevelt-Vanderbilt national historic sites. “It”™s been cleared, all the holes and ruts smoothed away; drainage work was done to parts of the road that were prone to flooding; now it”™s open for everyone to enjoy. Eventually, we hope to place interpretative signs along the road so visitors can identify the many species of trees FDR planted during his lifetime.”
Eventually, the Parks Service hopes to make the Hyde Park Trail accessible north from the Vanderbilt home to Mills Mansion in Rhinebeck. Plans are also in the works to provide tram service to and from FDR”™s home to Val-Kill in spring, 2009 for those unable to make the 1.7 mile journey by foot.
In addition to the Roosevelt property, Scenic Hudson purchased Hyde Park Drive-In Theater, which Rosenberg says the nonprofit group eventually hopes to convert into a Hudson Valley Visitors Center. For the time being, however, Scenic Hudson has a lease agreement with the former theater owner to continue the current business operation. “The way the economy is right now, our plans for that property are on hold,” said Rosenberg. “But like everyone else, we are hopeful there will be a financial turnaround for the country and that we”™ll eventually be able to bring our vision to the hometown of FDR.”
According to Olson, Hyde Park is second only to West Point as the most frequently visited tourist attractions in the Hudson Valley. A recent cover of Time Magazine portraying President-elect Obama in Roosevelt”™s famous car, complete with FDR”™s signature cigarette-in-a-holder in hand and banded straw hat, will bring even more visitors to Hyde Park in the months ahead, say both Rosenberg and Olson.
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