PARKS & RECREATION/New York village turns brownfield into park

As brownfields remediation catches on across the nation, New Yorkers are taking their turn to reclaim useful land. Prompted by the state’s Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act, Irvington, N.Y., is turning an industrial site into a 12-acre waterfront park overlooking the Hudson River.

The property, located in Westchester County, was formerly occupied by lumber and bus companies. A real estate developer had an option to purchase the site with the intent of constructing condominiums, but that idea was nixed after Irvington officials and residents protested.

The village’s 6,500 residents instead favored an offer from Scenic Hudson, a local not-for-profit environmental organization dedicated to protecting and enhancing the scenic, natural and recreational resources of the Hudson River Valley. The organization offered to buy the land from the real estate developer if Irvington agreed — with the help of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) — to remediate the site and build a park. As an added enticement, Scenic Hudson offered to sell the land to the village for the price of $1 after it had maintained the park for a minimum of 20 years.

The NYSDEC agreed to fund the remediation of the site and the river using state funds allocated for brownfields redevelopment. To protect public health, the site — which also contained seven-and-a-half miles of contaminated shoreline — would be capped in the same manner as a landfill.

“It was an ideal project to initiate the governor’s program,” says NYSDEC Commissioner John Cahill. “We were using the money exactly as it was intended — to clean the water and reclaim the waterfront. People have begun to realize that there are tremendous opportunities there.”

The $12.8 million project includes improved access to the river; a softball field and a Little League field that can be overlain with a soccer/football field; restrooms; a seniors’ center; a portable-craft boat-launch ramp; an esplanade; two playgrounds; and parking facilities. The shoreline, which has deteriorated badly, will be reconstructed with riprap. The park, designed by New York-based Vollmer Associates, is scheduled to open in spring 2001.

According to Irvington Mayor Dennis Flood, the park’s opening will be a notable event. “This will be the crown jewel in the history of the village,” Flood says. “It’s the one single project that everybody everywhere is just going to admire and say, ‘Thank God somebody had some foresight’ because it really opens up the Hudson River to the community.”