A plan by the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival (HVSF) to transform a golf course in Garrison, The Garrison, into a permanent home for a performing arts festival will require a full environmental study, according to a decision by the Philipstown Planning Board, which is reviewing the application for the project. The Planning Board approved a positive declaration of environmental impacts for the project requiring preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). The action came shortly before the HVSF revealed its design for a proposed 8,650-square-foot permanent open-air theater with seating for approximately 500.
In addition to the theater, the HVSF project would involve a 4,000-square-foot backstage structure, a welcome center and box office, a 3,500-square-foot rehearsal building, administrative offices, picnic lawns and gardens, concession and restroom spaces, and an outdoor pavilion for HVSF and community events.
An existing restaurant and banquet hall would be reduced in size to seat 200 people. The proposal calls for construction of buildings for artist and guest lodging that would provide 26 housing units. A total of 521 parking spaces would be provided.
The current proposal has been scaled back from what was originally proposed and eliminates a separate indoor theater and a hotel.
“With the removal of the indoor theater, the number of performances and the performance season will be significantly reduced and will be comparable to what currently occurs at Boscobel, where HVSF has been performing for decades without incident,” Jan K. Johannessen of Kellard Sessions Consulting told the Philipstown Planning Board. “The amended plan will reduce the performance season by three months and performances will occur from the end of May to mid-October.”
HVSF described the proposed new open-air theater as being constructed “using a palette of natural materials with the textures and muted colors of stone, slate and wood. Designed with sensitivity to the preservation of the area”™s scenic views, the proposed structure presents a thin ground-hugging profile and uses a floating timber framed roof whose shallow horizontal curves echo the ridge lines behind and around it.”
HVSF”™s said the performance space would be the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum purpose-built theater in the country. Solar panels, rainwater capture, reduced embedded carbon and other design elements would be incorporated to minimize climate impacts and better protect the theater from extreme weather and wear. HVSF said the platinum designation is the highest level of LEED certification and shows the organization”™s strong commitment to sustainability.
Davis McCallum, artistic director of HVSF, said, “With our new theater design, our project more fully reflects the unique character of this extraordinary place and extends the deep tradition of environmentalism in the Hudson Highlands. Philipstown has been our home for over three decades, and we are grateful for the broad and strong support of the community as we advance to the next stage of the SEQRA review process.”
