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| Scenic Hudson at the Center of Beacon's Renaissance |
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With the recent announcement of New York State's new Rivers and Estuaries Center on the Hudson and the opening of Dia:Beacon, the City of Beacon is clearly on the rise. Scenic Hudson has been laying the groundwork for this renaissance for more than a decade and is strongly connected to the latest happenings. See timeline for more details.
On the ground for a decade
Since the early '90s, Scenic Hudson has worked to save Beacon's natural and historic resources to help spur the rebirth. Scenic Hudson has been acquiring and restoring land: the 2,000-acre Fishkill Ridge Conservation Area, including Mount Beacon; 11-acre Madam Brett Park; and 23-acre Long Dock Beacon on the Hudson River. Outreach to government and business leaders also has advanced the city's economic revitalization.
A model green development
With significant stakeholder input, Scenic Hudson developed a vision for Beacon Landing, the 23-acre riverfront parcel where it intends to create a model "green" development. Scenic Hudson is working with developer Foss Group Beacon to create a vibrant, welcoming 15-acre waterfront park and eight-acre mixed use development, www.longdockbeacon.com.
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The goals are to enhance public access to the river, restore a
post-industrial property to productive use and build connections with other Beacon destinations. Plans for the site include a cutting-edge, sustainably designed hotel, conference center, restaurants and green harbor. A 2006 opening is anticipated. |
Partnering with Dia and the new waterfront research center
Scenic Hudson's work fostered a suitable setting for the new Rivers and Estuaries Center, and plans call for part of the science and research facility to be housed on Scenic Hudson's Beacon Landing property. In 1998 Scenic Hudson acted as the initial convener of governmental and other parties who encouraged Dia to come to Beacon, and we united key stakeholders in creating an overall environment that would be workable for Dia. |
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In the News
The following excerpts are from news coverage of Dia:Beacon.
An Old Box Factory is a Haven for New Art
The New York Times, April 23, 2003 (Excerpted here)
By Carol Vogel
And Dia is but one of the institutions working to transform the area. Near Dia:Beacon, Scenic Hudson, a nonprofit environmental organization and land trust, has bought more than 2,000 acres to create a $40 million development on 23 acres along the east bank of the Hudson, where it plans to build a hotel, conference center, restaurants, spa, shops, harbor, public waterfront, a park and a network of hiking trails over the next three years.
As Artists Move In, Can a Gritty Town Adapt?
The New York Times, May 16, 2003 (Excerpted here)
By Lisa W. Foderaro
The environmental group Scenic Hudson wants to create a boat-building program for young people in an old barn. Now under renovation, the barn sits on 23 acres of riverfront property owned by the group. Scenic Hudson is undertaking its first real estate enterprise on the land, with plans for an ecologically up-to-the-minute hotel, restaurants, shops and housing, as well as a "green" marina for paddle boars and electric motorboats.
A New Dia is Dawning in the Mid-Hudson
Times Herald-Record, May 16, 2003 (Excerpted here)
By Terry Schommer
The restoration features begin outdoors with landscaping designed with the building in mind. Setting off the entrance and parking area are a grove of flowering trees that, when fully grown, will only be as high as the building. Officials are working with Scenic Hudson and the local government to connect Dia:Beacon's 31 riverbank acres with 70 adjacent acres of parkland.
River Institute Goes to Beacon
Poughkeepsie Journal and The
Journal News, April 22, 2003 (Excerpted here)
By Dan Shapley
The center represents the vitality the state sees in burgeoning Beacon, one of many old industrial cities on the Hudson that has struggled to regain its identity. Now, its downtown if growing busier, the Dia art museum is set to open next month, and the environmental group Scenic Hudson plans to develop a strip of waterfront.
Ned Sullivan, president of Scenic Hudson, praised Beacon's "green economic future" built on arts, science and recreation.
"Forty years later, it's not enough just to try to stop projects. It's important to have a vision for the 21st century. This Hudson Rivers and Estuaries Center will give tools that helped launch the environmental movement so kids of the future can be great stewards."
Research Site Chosen
Times Herald-Record, April 22, 2003 (Excerpted here)
By Wayne A. Hall
Adding the center to Beacon immediately ballooned the city's anticipated tourism draw. It may even add to Newburgh's.
Beacon's waterfront neighbors will now include Scenic Hudson's proposed innovative, ecologically friendly hotel complex and Dia:Beacon, the mammoth modern art museum that will open May 16.
Environmental Group Was There at the Start
Hudson Valley Business Journal, May 5, 2003 (Excerpted here)
Commenting on Gov. Pataki's announcement of the new Rivers and Estuaries Center, Ned Sullivan, president of Scenic Hudson, a nonprofit environmental organization, said the center will heighten awareness of the river's needs.
"Not only will this bring a positive economic development initiative to the City of Beacon, it will uncover new science and create educational initiatives that will help policy makers and citizens throughout the valley and world to understand and serve as stewards of their waters," Sullivan said.
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