Peekskill to break ground on waterfront park, trails

• Peekskill will break ground Wednesday on a $4.1 million waterfront park and trail system.
• The 3-acre park and 1-mile trail system will run from Riverfront Green to Charles Point Pier Park.
• It's part two of a multi-year waterfront redevelopment effort. Phase one was Peekskill Landing Park.
• Phase three is Lincoln Depot Plaza, where the Lincoln Museum is having its grand opening next week.

After more than eight years of planning and securing permits and funding, Peekskill will break ground Wednesday on a $4.1 million waterfront park and trail system from Riverfront Green to Charles Point Pier Park, city officials said.

Peekskill's southern waterfront will be turned into a 3-acre park and a one-mile trail system. There will be two gazebos, a Hudson River overlook, a boardwalk across Travis Cove, and paved trails for walking and biking. Plans also call for decorative lighting, landscaping and the installation of a original sculpture. The work is scheduled to be completed next year.

The $4.1 million project is phase two of a multi-year effort to revitalize the city's waterfront. The city received $3.7 million for park design and construction from Empire State Development. The New York Department of State gave Peekskill a $150,000 grant, and Ginsburg Development Co. gave $100,000. The city provided matching funds.

"Historically, Peekskill's riverfront was alive with industrial and commercial activity, and we are now bringing it back to life for residents and visitors with tourism that promotes new business," Mayor Frank Catalina said in a news release.

A month ago, Catalina officially opened the $3.6 million Peekskill Landing Park, located next to Riverfront Green Park and the Metro-North train station.

Peekskill Landing Park, a joint project of the city and nonprofit Scenic Hudson, used to be a vacant industrial park. It is a 4.4-acre recreation area with a boardwalk, a pedestrian footbridge, docks for kayaks and small watercraft and trailways.

The waterfront being redeveloped is all public land, said Jean Friedman, city planner. "This is all for the public and it's all parkland and trails," she said.

The city also plans to break ground this fall on phase three of the waterfront redevelopment project – Lincoln Depot Plaza. The plaza, which is north of the Metro-North station, is home to the Lincoln Depot Museum. The city plans to create a public plaza surrounding the museum.

The museum, a former freight and passenger rail depot, is holding its grand opening Saturday. The opening exhibition comprises more than 80 borrowed and permanent President Abraham Lincoln and Civil War artifacts related to New York. President-elect Lincoln stopped to speak in Peekskill Feb. 19, 1861, while traveling from Springfield, Illinois, to Washington for the inauguration.

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