Assembling the Parcels
- 1992 to 2000 acquired 2,000 acres on Fishkill Ridge in the Hudson Highlands, including Mount Beacon.
- 1996 acquired 11 acres at the mouth of the Fishkill Creek to create Madam Brett Park.
- 1997 purchased two parcels on the Beacon Waterfront:
- Garrett Storm, (3.6 acres) a major oil storage facility
- Kellam, (15.5 acres) a former rail yard and storage facility for coal and salt.
- 1999 acquired 15 acres at the base of Mount Beacon to create a gateway park.
- 2000 acquired third parcel on Beacon waterfront: Beacon Salvage (4 acres) a salvage yard, bringing the total waterfront assemblage to 23 upland acres.
Remediating Brownfields and Restoring Properties
- General cleanups of debris were accomplished at all Beacon sites.
- 1999 entered into a voluntary cleanup agreement with the state for the remediation of petroleum-saturated soils on Garrett Storm (near completion).
- 2001 removed 660 cubic yards of junk from salvage yard.
- 2001 entered into a voluntary cleanup agreement with the state for remediation of PCB-contaminated soils (completed 2002) and soils with heavy metal (to be completed during construction).
- 2003 barn dating to 1860's is renovated for future use as a community boat building center.
Working with Partners
- 1996 signed a management agreement with the City of Beacon to develop and maintain Madam Brett Park.
- 1997 signed a management agreement with City of Beacon to maintain public amenities on Beacon Landing.
- 1997 convened meetings with stakeholders to help bring Dia to Beacon.
- 1999 in collaboration with Dia, engaged environmental artist George Trakas and Diane Shamash of Minetta Brook, a non-profit public arts organization, to produce "The Beacon Waterfront: Survey of the Edge."
- 2001 in collaboration with Dia, engaged George Trakas and Minetta Brook to design and build Beacon Point, a restoration of the shoreline incorporating decks, a handicapped-accessible fishing pier, pathways, and steps into the river; permitting is complete and construction is beginning spring 2003.
- 2002 signed a management agreement with the Mount Beacon Incline Restoration Society for the ongoing stewardship of the mountain.
Involving the Community
- 1997 held a series of community meetings, a roundtable, and workshop and distributed a survey to ascertain the community's vision for its waterfront; the process resulted in a "Conservation and Development Template," a conceptual plan for the site's development.
- 1999 helped to coordinate a Countryside Exchange, sponsored by the Glynwood Center, focused on ways to help Beacon realize the potential of the changes underway.
- 1999 to 2003 worked with various community groups focused on improving the linkages between the waterfront and Main Street and on economic development issues.
- 2000 convened a community advisory board, representing a broad cross-section of the community, to provide feedback on various development proposals and the proposals of architectural teams under consideration.
- 2000 wrote a grant to fund brochure, and in 2002 worked with the Greater Southern Dutchess Chamber of Commerce to prepare a brochure marketing Beacon.
Selecting a Developer
- 2000 prepared and distributed a request for qualifications (RFQ) for developers to propose a model mixed-use waterfront development and sent it to over 100 developers and architects; the RFQ laid out Scenic Hudson's objectives for the site.
- 2000 received a dozen responses and shared them with the Community Advisory Committee.
- 2000 selected the Foss Group approach and proceeded to negotiate a development agreement (nearly completed) and long-term lease (in negotiation).
Selecting an Architectural Team
- 2002 the Foss Group, with Scenic Hudson's input, issued an RFQ for architectural teams; the RFQ was sent to 19 world-class architects and 16 responded.
- The respondents were narrowed to six who were invited for interviews; in-depth interviews resulted in a selection of John Patkau Associates of Vancouver, working in association with Gruzen Samton of Manhattan and including Oehme Van Sweden (landscape architects from Washington, D.C.), Arup (consulting engineers), and Steven Winters Associates (green consultants).
- The team will design the development and the park.
Working with Other Stakeholders
- 1998 to present: participating in Metro-North planning process for comprehensive station upgrade.
- 2002 to present: Minetta Brook - Watershed Steering Committee, working on valley-wide art installations.
- 1999 to present: working with NYSDEC and other stakeholders to plan the Hudson River Estuary Shoreline Trail.
- 1999 to 2003: worked to secure the funding and teamed with Dia and the city to design and implement a plan for a new pedestrian walkway from the train station to Beacon Landing and Dia.
- 1996 through 2002: secured over $5 million in grants for the city and for Beacon properties owned by Scenic Hudson.
- 2003 Gov. George E. Pataki announces the selection of Beacon as the future site of the Rivers and Estuaries Center; Beacon Landing to host a portion of the project.
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| Ned Sullivan thanks Gov.
Pataki at the Beacon Waterfront for the October '03 announcement of more than $1 million of grants to support estuary projects. |
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