DEPEW PARK Sustainable Master Plan
City of Peekskill, Westchester County, New York February 28, 2009
Class Fishing Trip, Lake Mitchell, Depew Park c. 1940's Prepared by
Hudson & Pacific Designs Landscape Architecture 24 Mynderse Street Saugerties, New York 12477 845.246.1699 Fax: 845.246.1370 www.hudsonpacific.com This document and all maps were prepared with funds provided by the New York State Department of State under the Quality Communities Grant Program
DEPEW PARK Sustainable Master Plan
City of Peekskill, Westchester County, New York February 28, 2009
Prepared by
Hudson & Pacific Designs Landscape Architecture 24 Mynderse Street Saugerties, New York 12477 845.246.1699 Fax: 845.246.1370 www.hudsonpacific.com
DEPEW PARK Sustainable Master Plan
City of Peekskill, Westchester County, New York February 28, 2009
Peekskill Common Council Mary F. Foster, Mayor Donald F. Bennett, Jr., Deputy Mayor Drew A. Claxton, Councilwoman Catherine E. Pisani, Councilwoman Patricia Riley, Councilwoman Joseph Schuder, Councilman Andrew Torres, Councilman Conservation and Parks Advisory Board Sue Sheridan, Chairwoman Kay Barthelmes Margaret Bryan Al Collins Christina Edwards Don Ettinger Marie Knapp Dorothy Leslie Gene Panczenko Brian Havranek, Acting City Manager David Greener, Director of City Services Francis Brunelle, Director of Human Services Jean Friedman, City Planner
Prepared by
Hudson & Pacific Designs Landscape Architecture 24 Mynderse Street Saugerties, New York 12477 845.246.1699 Fax: 845.246.1370 www.hudsonpacific.com
DEPEW PARK Sustainable Master Plan
Contents Page INTRODUCTION ...... 6
SITE ASSESSMENT...... 8 Location and History...... 9 Recent Survey & Site Analysis ...... 13
SCHEMATIC DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 19 Schematic Design Overview...... 20 Hydrology ...... 23 Landscape Restoration & Habitat Revitalization ...... 28 Circulation & Parking ...... 38 Park Facilities...... 40 Trails and Trail Signage...... 51
PRECINCT PROJECT PRIORITY & COST ESTIMATES...... 63
SUMMARY...... 80
PLAN SHEETS & TRAIL MAPS
APPENDICES
A Senator Depew Conveyance of Land for Depew Park B Lake Mitchell Management Plan Prepared by New England Environmental C Veterans' Memorial Pool Complex Study Prepared by Ward Associates, PC D Funding Resource List E Public Meeting Minutes F Biographies of Famous People Commemorated in Depew Park G Invasive Species Management H Native Species List I Trail Improvement Guidelines
Introduction ......
In 2007, the City of Peekskill retained the firm of Hudson & Pacific Designs, Landscape Architecture (HPD), of Saugerties, New York, to provide a master plan for Depew Park and its connection to Blue Mountain Reservation. An essential component of the master planning process was to engage the community in the plan's development.
Few parks elicit community devotion as passionate as that evidenced by those who took part in the public presentations and discussions of the master plan for Depew Park. All viewed the park as an extraordinarily precious resource for the City of Peekskill. All acknowledged the compassionate care given to the park by the Parks Department and its staff. The consensus was to enhance the passive and bucolic aspects of the park.
The most serious park problems identified by the public included vehicular traffic and speed, the deteriorating water quality of Lake Mitchell, and the overabundance of Canada geese. The overall feeling was that the existing mix of uses was working but that facilities needed improvement. Also expressed was the notion that any expansion of activities must not be to the detriment of the park’s ecological and historical resources.
In HPD's explorations of the park, its vast natural richness became clearly evident early on, and it was decided that the master plan should include sustainable components. Any and all proposed improvements must clearly restore the park's ecological and cultural fabric.
Initially, a new topographic survey was prepared and a site analysis conducted to arrive at an exact understanding of current conditions and to pinpoint problem areas. Next, schematic design recommendations were developed and subsequently refined during a public review. Finally, a list of priorities for implementation and cost estimates were prepared, together with a list of issues that are addressed by each project. Numerous funding sources that could assist with implementation were identified.
The Conservation and Parks Advisory Board was designated as the City's Project Advisory Committee, along with City and County staff. These individuals met often with tireless energy and exhibited a generosity of spirit toward Depew Park. They provided valuable input and direction as HPD developed a Sustainable Master Plan for Depew Park.
Depew Park Sustainable Master Plan February 28, 2009
During the process, Senator Chauncey Depew and his legacy, Depew Park, captured our hearts. The energy and commitment displayed by the citizens of Peekskill during the 21st century would have pleased the man who initially dreamed of
a place where young and old could go for play and recreation
Realizing the Sustainable Master Plan will represent a positive step towards the creation of an even greater Depew Park to welcome future generations.
The City of Peekskill and its residents should be commended for their decision to embark on this journey.
Depew Park Sustainable Master Plan February 28, 2009
DEPEW PARK Sustainable Master Plan
Site Assessment
SITE ASSESSMENT PAGE 8
Location and History ......
LOCATION See Sheet 1 Set in the southeastern corner of the City of Peekskill, the 176-acre park is approximately ½ mile east of the Hudson River and the Peekskill Train Station, generally bordered by Union, Hudson, and Maple avenues and, to the south, Westchester County’s Blue Mountain Reservation. Surrounded by residential neighborhoods, Depew Park is close to downtown and is accessible both by automobile and on foot.
HISTORY Creation A June 1937 Press Union article proclaimed that the “Depew Park Grant Was Only Routine Matter for Donor,” in describing the gift to Peekskill by Chauncey Mitchell Depew, who represented New York State in the United States Senate from 1899 to 1911 and had attended the Peekskill Academy for 12 years as a boy. Routine though the gift may have been for Depew, however, it was a significant one for the area: Until 1901, Peekskill owned no park or village green. On May 27, 1901, a cordial letter requesting the privilege of addressing village trustees at their regular meeting arrived from Depew. His intention was to give the village a park.
To a packed room of current and past village officials and citizens, Depew declared that he had long felt a great need for a park in the village. He recalled his boyhood wish for a place that he and his chums could go without fear of trespassing. Then he continued:
When the old farm over yonder began to be filled up and the village to get around it, it struck me that to cut down the woods, which I believe are the only primeval forests there are around here, or near to it, and turn it into lots would be a sort of sacrifice. At the same time, it would afford a nucleus at least and after a while a very good park in itself, with the surrounding property which I have purchased.
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So I have bought out the other heirs, and having got it in that position I want to present the ground to the village in order that my successors cannot have the limitation placed upon them which I had when you and I were boys, Mr. President. And so I have had the deed prepared, and a map of the property.
Post-World War II The next significant period of park development occurred after World War II as Peekskill, incorporated as a city in 1940, welcomed its sons home from war. As Senator Depew had predicted, the city proceeded to grow up around the park. The road system was expanded, and trails began to be formalized, diverging from the original design of the park as a place where children could simply roam without fear of trespassing.
With the baby boom came the stadium, expanded roads with parking, and increased pressures for more activities and facilities, including the pool and active sports. As the infrastructure became more developed and social imperatives evolved, it is possible that the quaint wooden structures and floral gardens became to seem a burden to maintain. No archival plans for post-1931 development such as the stadium or subsequent “improvements” were located at City Hall or in the library.
In 2001, a parcel of approximately 1.8 acres of woodland wetland was subdivided from the homestead of the late Ruth Rusch by Scenic Hudson and donated to the City of Peekskill, satisfying the basic conditions of her estate.
THE HISTORIC PLAN AS SEEN TODAY Depew Park was surveyed in 1931–32 by the Irish surveying company. During HPD's documentary research at City Hall, a portion of these topographical surveys was made available to us. Missing from the series of the original five maps was the central area focusing on the northern developed portion of the park. Presumably this map was borrowed for post-1931 park improvements and never returned. However, the firm of Badey and Watson Engineering & Surveying, PC, from Cold Spring, New York, had the entire series of Irish surveys in its files and made this important document available to us and to Peekskill.
The Irish survey documents the first development of the park and, when viewed along with historic photos available at the Local History Room of the city library, expresses the original intent of the park.
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Active recreation was placed along the park’s northwestern boundary closest to the established village. The key features of the park included the grand stone entry gates at Union, Hudson, and Montross avenues and at Fremont, Walnut, and Ferris streets. The park road system has since been altered along Union Avenue and Depew Court to accommodate the stadium and new houses built during the1950s.
Robin Drive is essentially the same today as it was early on, linking Union and Hudson avenues. Montross Avenue did not enter the park, and Ferris Street was, according to the survey, a wooded, dead-end road. The survey shows most of the park topographically with notations as to significant habitat types such as “young birch and elms,” indicating old pasture. No structures or trails are shown. Most of the natural features described, including wetlands, rock outcrops, and trees, can still be found today.
The developed park of 1931 included the following classical features:
The Northwest Corner Next to Union Avenue and Fremont and Walnut Street Homes • Planted evergreen screening: These trees are now mature and high-branched.
Fremont Street Entrance • Fremont pond and stream gardens continuing to Union Avenue: The pond was filled in and the streams engineered for flood control during the 1980s. • A wooden pergola, called the Fremont Pavilion, with a sitting area and rock garden: The pergola has been removed; the rock walls are in fair condition. • Fremont bridge, urns, and rockery: What remains is in fair condition. • Fremont floral walk and rustic well house: The house has been removed, but traces of walk remain. • Bandstand area: The bandstand was restored in 1981. The bandstand floral walk was removed. Features of the southern garden area north of the stadium no longer exist, including the upper bandstand fountain, floral garden, and paths. • Tennis courts: These were replaced by the stadium. • Parks office: This was expanded. • Husted and Chauncey Depew memorials: These are in good condition.
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• Playground: The swings, seesaws, and sandbox are in fair condition. The spray wading pool has been abandoned, but the concrete shell remains. • Armstrong Lake: Now Lake Mitchell, it contained an island, a fountain, and causeways. The fountain has been removed, and the area between the island and the shore was filled in during the 1960s in an unsuccessful attempt to reduce algae growth in the lake. The southeast end of the lake contained a large wetland and field, which is now the gravel parking area adjoining a maintenance facility. • The planted evergreen screen along Hudson Avenue: These trees are now mature and high branched.
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Recent Survey & Site Analysis ......
Refer to Sheet 2
SURVEY As part of this master plan, Hudson & Pacific Designs commissioned the services of Badey & Watson Surveying and Engineering, PC, from Cold Spring, New York, to prepare a property boundary and existing conditions survey for all of the park's 176 acres. This survey, completed in 2008, details the park's boundary, with bearing and distance descriptions, easements, deed references, public roads, and adjoining property lines. Survey pins were also set at all boundary line tangent points. Badey & Watson also documented the park's existing features, both natural and manmade, including topography, large rock outcrops, water features, wetland areas, drainage courses, roads, paths, trails, underground utilities, buildings, etc. All this survey information was funneled into the map that became the basis for the Sustainable Master Plan.
SITE ANALYSIS / OVERVIEW During several field visits designed to analyze the existing site conditions, it became apparent that the park consisted of several distinct areas or precincts. A map of the park was created to describe each one. Each precinct has a unique character or sense of place that contributes to the overall park experience. The precincts have been organized in the master plan from west to east and then north to south reflecting the typical visitation patterns.
Precincts • Northwest Precinct: The area along Robin Drive between the Union Avenue and Walnut Street entrances, including the bandstand and the Walnut Street parking lot.
• Athletic Area Precinct: Just south of the Northwest Precinct, including the stadium, pool, Nature Center/Nursery School, Depew Court frontage, and the Bay Street entrance/exit.
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• Park Center Precinct: Just east of the Northwest and Athletic Precincts, including the restrooms, playground, Recreation Department Office, and Lake Mitchell. This area provides readily accessible short trail loops to the north and northeast portions of the park.
• North Precinct: The northeast corner of the park, following Robin Drive from Lake Mitchell to Hudson Avenue at Pomeroy. The area includes overflow gravel parking, horseshoe and bocce courts, the Rotary Knoll picnic area, the Recreation Department Maintenance Building and yard, the Sugar Shack, basketball and tennis courts, an off-site stormwater retention basin, a sledding hill, and the Robin Drive trailhead to Montross Avenue.
• Northeast: The northeast corner of the park. This area is entirely wooded, containing paved, pedestrians-only Montross Avenue; the Rusch Interpretive Trail and various other mulched trails; the Parks Department mulch yard; and the recently donated Rusch parcel connecting to Maple Avenue. There is trailhead access from Montross Avenue and Ferris Street.
• Forest Trails: The entire southern half of the park, with dedicated woodland trails. The trails connect Depew Park to Woodside Elementary and Blue Mountain Reservation.
Precinct Features Analyzed and Described Each precinct was analyzed and the following key features described:
• Structural/built features: All buildings, walls, pavements, pools, utilities, etc.
• Historical/original features: All original park or design elements such as monuments.
• Planting: All trees identified in the 1931 Irish Survey, along with current trees and plantings.
• Water/Wetland: All hydrology.
• Traffic: All vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
(See Sheets 3 through 15 for specific problem areas and historic feature locations.)
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SITE ANALYSIS / BY PRECINCT
Northwest Precinct The Northwest Precinct is the major gateway to the park, and its most significant historic structures are here.
They begin with the historic dressed stone wall along Union Avenue, with dramatic stone entry gates at Union Avenue and Fremont and Walnut streets. The northern stone boundary wall, another important element, runs from Union Avenue to Walnut Street. Much of the rustic streamside rock garden walls and bridge remain between Fremont Street and Union Avenue. The rock garden walls need repairs and re-landscaping. The Fremont Pavilion, sitting garden, and well house are gone. The former Baker’s Pond near the Fremont Entrance is now lawn. The former rustic stone wall surrounding Baker’s Pond has been replaced by rickety timber bollards. The brook between Fremont Street and Union Avenue was replaced during the 1980s by an engineered rip rap stormwater channel. An unsightly storm culvert is located just beneath the historic Union Avenue wall.
The Depew Park Bandstand is in good condition but in need of some routine maintenance. The original Bandstand Garden Path and upper floral garden with fountain were removed decades ago. Many significant trees documented by 1931's Irish survey are in good to better condition. The evergreens in the planting along the property lines of private residences adjoining the park have matured and are high limbed, therefore no longer providing a privacy buffer between the park and the homes.
Robin Drive has been realigned between Union Avenue and Depew Court, resulting in the loss of original garden paths and the aforementioned well house. Robin Drive is in good condition, but a serious conflict with pedestrians exists, especially during peak traffic hours. The stretch between Union Avenue and Walnut Street is used by fast- driving cars taking a shortcut to avoid traffic lights on Hudson Avenue. The loss of connecting paths as a result of the realignment of Robin Drive aggravates the safety issue.
The addition of the stadium also severed the original pedestrian path system. The expansive fill along the stadium’s north end contributes to drainage problems throughout the bandstand lawn. The undergrounding of the brook north of Robin Drive from Walnut Street to Fremont Street and removal of the pond and park path connections have left this area bare and unusable.
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Athletic Precinct Faced with increasing student enrollment in the 1960s, the city added a football stadium to accommodate the school district's request for a first-class facility to use primarily for football, baseball, and track. A new track has been added to recently renovated 1920s Torpy Field, the school district’s athletic field at Walnut and Hudson, which adjoins Depew Park. (Because the field lies outside park boundaries, it is not included in this study.)
The stadium’s concrete bleachers are in remarkable shape, but its boundary areas are a challenge. To the north, the filled slopes have never been adequately healed in. Along Depew Court, the buffer to the pine grove needs enhancement. To the south, the boundary at the pool is an unsightly jumble of fence, scoreboards, pool terrace, etc. On the east, the boundary along the drive is much too tight and provides an uncomfortable vehicle/pedestrian conflict.
Over the years, random fill at the parking area south of the Veterans' Memorial Pool complex has disrupted the natural hydrological cycle. The parking area floods frequently and marginal wetland vegetation is invading the southern portion of the lot. The Veterans' Memorial Pool complex is in only fair condition and is in need of significant upgrades. The pool’s configuration and facilities are of outdated types.
Depew Court is a wide public street that accommodates on-street special event parking. The tight placement of the pool and stadium along the southern portion of Depew Court and the eastern park drive force park users into vehicular traffic. The present vehicular circulation discourages pedestrian use of the park and severs important pedestrian connections.
At the southeast corner of the Veterans’ Memorial Pool parking area is the former Nature Center, which is used as a nursery school. The drive and cul-de-sac environs need repair and a better connection to the side yards, with fencing and a nature adventure play area.
Park Center Precinct The Park Center Precinct is the active heart of Depew Park. Occupying half of the precinct is one of the park’s dominant features: Lake Mitchell, which has a forested and landscaped shoreline and a rustic stone bridge. The north lawn is often wet as a result of its location on the portion of Lake Mitchell that was filled in the 1980s. The picnic pavilion is a prized park asset that would benefit from the alleviation of seasonal flooding and the addition of facilities such as barbeques and tables. Remnants of the original island causeway network, which included a fishing rock and a large island with a
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fountain, appear along the shore, and the original fountain has been filled and made into a memorial. The rustic stone bridge is part of the active motorway and needs some repair. Currently, the Lake Mitchell Loop Trail is hard to navigate and is not ADA-compliant; an opportunity to provide an accessible trail close to the park's center is lost.
Peekskill’s Recreation Department offices command a panorama that encompasses the stadium, Lake Mitchell, and the Depew Playground. The playground is separated from the park by Robin Drive, an active motorway. Playground equipment and restrooms have recently had a significant upgrade. Original features such as the James J. Dever Council Ring, the wading pool, and the Chauncey Depew Memorial are in need of maintenance and repair. The northern property boundary and woods to the east lack any definition or connection to the playground.
The trails around Lake Mitchell and to the east offer a diverse landscape experience close to the center of the park. They are heavily used and would benefit from increased litter control as well as more defined ADA enhancements. To ease congestion, the addition of new trails is recommended. The hemlock forests are declining, the slopes eroded, and the wetlands trampled; the overall trail experience would benefit from a forest management policy.
North Precinct The North Precinct is an active pedestrian gateway to the park with one-way traffic exiting onto Hudson Avenue. Clustered in this precinct are active neighborhood facilities to meet the needs of Peekskill citizenry, including tennis courts with a variety of surfaces, basketball courts (often used for soccer), a bocce court, horseshoe pits, a picnic area with a pavilion and barbeque pits, and the Montross Avenue trailhead.
The perimeter of the park along Hudson Avenue possesses a fine rustic stone wall, with a vehicular and pedestrian entry gate that is backed by a mature grove of spruce trees. Disconnected features include the amorphous western boundary along the Board of Education playing fields; a neighborhood storm-water retention basin crudely engineered inside the park; and the City Parks maintenance facility, which would benefit from more generous space to function, perhaps at a site outside of the park.
Northeast Precinct This portion of the park is most used by the immediate neighborhood, perhaps due to its location. Its northern boundary is defined by rustic farm fieldstone walls. Noble stone gateways enhance the pedestrian entrances at Montross Avenue and Ferris Street. The 2001 woodland wetland donation from Ruth Rusch’s estate made it possible to connect the park to Maple Avenue. Sympathetic boundary and landscape improvements will announce the park
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to passersby. Because the Rusch parcel is ecologically sensitive, no trails from Maple Avenue are envisioned. However, the donation allows for the preservation of a woodland wetland and will permit expansion of the existing Rusch Interpretive Trail into the western portion of the newly acquired parcel. A trailhead and sidewalk along Maple Avenue and Ferris Street to the Ferris Street entrance would provide direct park access to Peekskill's new Chapel Hill neighborhood.
The screening around the municipal mulch yard at Ferris Street should be improved or the facility resited away from this important neighborhood gateway to the park. The pedestrians-only paved roadway through the park called Montross Avenue could be reduced in width to minimize maintenance, reduce runoff/erosion, and improve park hydrology.
Forest Trails The entire southern half of the park offers the retreat “without fear of trespass” that Senator Depew envisioned. The current trails, although easy to navigate for frequent users, are difficult for occasional hikers to follow. This tends to discourage repeat visitation. A uniform standard for trail construction and signage will enhance the overall experience and minimize long-term upkeep costs.
OTHER PARK ISSUES
Hydrology / Vegetation Depew Park serves as the lungs of Peekskill. The park's intricate glacial landscape of rocky soil, hydrology, and vegetation filter a large portion of the air and water for the city. A cursory glance of the hydrology analysis plan reveals that post-1940 improvements to the park failed to recognize its interconnected living infrastructure. A major challenge to reclaiming the park and ensuring its sustainability is to address the increased runoff from the developing city around it and to reconnect the city to the park's life pulse.
Traffic Circulation The park was created as a destination for people to re-create themselves, not as a thoroughfare. While some residents enjoy the drive through the park, automobiles often conflict with pedestrians’ use of the park. In order to reinforce the park as a destination retreat, some automobile traffic needs to be eliminated. Strategically placed parking areas should be created to accommodate all Peekskill residents.
Depew Park Sustainable Master Plan February 28, 2009
DEPEW PARK Sustainable Master Plan
Schematic Design Recommendations
SCHEMATIC DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS PAGE 19
Schematic Design Overview ......
HPD's site reconnaissance determined that Depew Park is a vital ecological and historical recreational resource for the City of Peekskill. As a result of public participation in the detailed site and use analysis process, it has been decided that Depew Park should be maintained and revitalized according to Sustainable Development Practices.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES The Sustainable Sites Initiative, an interdisciplinary effort of the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the United States Botanic Garden, has created voluntary national guidelines for sustainable land design, construction and maintenance practices. Underpinning these guidelines are the following Guiding Principles of a Sustainable Site:
• Do no harm: Make no changes to the site that will degrade the surrounding environment. Promote activities and projects that regenerate ecosystem services through sustainable design.
• Precautionary principle: Be cautious in making decisions that could create risk to human and environmental health. Some actions can cause irreversible damage. Examine a full range of alternatives, including no action, and be open to contributions from all affected parties.
• Design with nature and culture: Create and implement designs that are responsive to economic, environmental and cultural conditions with respect to local, regional, and global context.
• Use a decision making hierarchy of preservation, conservation, and regeneration: Maximize and mimic the benefits of ecosystem services by preserving existing environmental features, conserving resources in a sustainable manner, and regenerating lost or damaged ecosystem services.
• Provide regenerative systems as integrated equity: Provide future generations with a sustainable environment supported by regenerative systems and endowed with regenerative resources.
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• Support a living process: Continuously reevaluate assumptions and values, and adapt to demographic and environmental change.
• Use a thinking systems approach: Understand and value the relationships in an ecosystem and use an approach that reflects and sustains ecosystem services; re- establish the integral and essential relationship between natural processes and human activity.
• Foster environmental stewardship: In all aspects of park development and management, foster an ethic of environmental stewardship, an understanding that responsible management of healthy ecosystems improves the quality of life for present and future generations.
OVERVIEW OF THE SUSTAINABLE MASTER PLAN The Sustainable Master Plan for Depew Park includes recommendations for improving Park Facilities (playgrounds, fields, courts, horseshoe pits, picnic areas, lighting, park furniture, pool complex, bathhouse, maintenance facility), circulation and safety (pedestrian and vehicular traffic flow, sidewalks and parking areas, trails), hydrology (erosion control, drainage, water quality, and aquatic habitat enhancement and geese control at Lake Mitchell), historic preservation (Fremont Pavilion, Union Brook, fishing bridge, and the Lake Mitchell island and fountain), and ecology/habitat (landscape restoration and habitat revitalization).
Specific Management Areas Utilizing the Sustainable Sites Initiative’ Sustainable Development Principles listed above, this section of the Sustainable Master Plan will outline the appropriate management practices for Depew Park following specific sustainable management areas and/or practices:
Hydrology – Erosion and Flood Control, Water Quality, and Aquatic Habitats • Hudson-Montross Retention Basin • Lake Mitchell • The Main Entrance • Veterans' Memorial Pool Parking Area
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Landscape Restoration and Wildlife Habitat Revitalization • Woodland forest • Woodland meadow • Park trees • Park meadow • Park field • Athletic fields • Lawn
Nature in Balance It is also intended that Depew Park’s ecology will be largely self regulating, always in a state of dynamic equilibrium, and changing in response to the environment around it. Natural forces will largely decide what grows and where. Nutrients will be recycled as fallen leaves decompose and return to the earth. Dead trees will remain standing, serving as roosts for birds of prey and nest sites. Only where they pose a threat to health or safety will trees and debris be removed.
Necessary Alterations To promote certain ecological goals, however, some alterations, including some affecting portions of the natural area, are necessary. Without some human intervention, the natural evolution of the site will not necessarily be completely desirable from an anthropocentric perspective. For example, without management, meadows will quickly revert to forest, eliminating the bluebirds and butterflies, which depend on them.
In addition, because meadows and their inhabitants are increasingly rare in this area, trees and vines should be routinely removed from the fields and their perimeters. Encroaching vegetation needs to be periodically mown. Growth of grasses and herbaceous vegetation should be encouraged. Nest boxes for bluebirds could be provided. In selected areas of existing woodland, it may be desirable to create meadows by removing invasive tree species.
The park’s location and its water features make it a prime candidate for a watercourse restoration. If the water quality in the park is improved, additional protective measures could be mandated for its contributing residential watershed. Remedial work in the adjoining neighborhoods to the east and north would benefit the entire watershed and eventually the Hudson River. Additionally, improved water quality will increase the diversity and populations of organisms that live in and depend on the park’s water resources.
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Hydrology ......
Refer to Sheets 16 and 17 The more than 200 acres encompassed by Depew Park and adjacent Westchester County land is an important hydrological feature of Westchester County. Storm water is absorbed, filtered, and stored from adjoining neighborhoods and from the site itself.
The approximately 34 acres of the developed northwestern corner of Depew Park process a substantial amount of storm-water runoff from the city neighborhoods to the northeast. The north-facing portion of the woodlands also contributes water to this area of the park. The overflow storm water continues through the city storm system to the Hudson River.
The Northern and Southern Hydrology Analysis Plans illustrate the following three categories of on-site hydrology:
• Present watercourse and or edge
• Historic watercourse and or wetland
• Problem wet areas
The largest body of water in the park is Lake Mitchell, which serves as the ultimate reservoir for 75 percent of storm-water runoff in the northern half of Depew Park. The lake supports a modest diversity of wildlife, including raccoons, fish, green frogs, painted turtles, dragonflies, damselflies, wading birds, ducks and geese. The lack of aquatic vegetation contributes to limited diversity and an overall fair to good water quality. The lake has been altered over time, most significantly by filling the northwestern quarter of the lake to improve water quality and expand usable passive recreational lands alongside the lake. The landfill did not help improve water quality in the lake but did not diminish it, either. The Lake Mitchell Management Plan (see Appendix B) is the result of a year-long study analyzing lake conditions and providing a detailed list of required actions in our Schematic Design Recommendations project PC#1 (see page 23).A second water feature, the pond between Walnut and Fremont Street north of Robin Drive, was filled in during the late 1970s. This pond served as a valuable flood control system for off and on-site stormwater runoff at the park's Northwestern Precinct. We propose to restore the park's carrying capacity by creating an extensive bio-swale pond and brook system at this location.
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Most of the historic woodland wetlands remain unchanged. A major wetland once existed where the present Robin Drive Parking Area exists. Much of the water in this filled area is conducted directly into Lake Mitchell, where the previous wetland served as a filter for water entering Lake Mitchell. Problem wet areas occur along the edges of the parking area.
Throughout the northern half of the park, problem wet areas occur along manmade elements where the natural flow has been altered. By restoring and revitalizing the historic watercourses through enhanced streams and/or bio-swales, the abundance of water that now results in problem flooding will become a resource.
Prime examples are the flooding of the tennis courts, where springs were impounded by the courts' creation, and flooding along the bocce and horseshoe courts, where a wetland was filled and the remaining stream and overflow piping are inadequate.
The undeveloped southern and eastern portions of the park captures and recycles rainfall with clean overflow passing into Blue Mountain Reservation and through neighborhoods to the Hudson River beyond. The Southern Hydrology Plan indicates that the overall hydrology of the woodlands is in good condition. Occasional log or natural debris snares need to be cleaned up in order to restore hydrologic balance in the forest.
Erosion and Flood Control, Water Quality, and Aquatic Habitats A majority of the hydrological process within the southern woodland functions well. Deleterious erosion occurs along excessively used trails, in areas affected by off-trail trespass, and in areas where storms have toppled trees. Erosion and flood control remedies include the following: • Restore trail surface with properly graded compacted item no. 4 in heavy use areas.
• Regrade or reroute long stretches of steep trail where storm water gains momentum. Provide water bars at the side of the trail or within the non-ADA trails.
• Revegetate all disturbed areas with native plant material.
• Discourage off-trail use via natural barriers such as branches, rock, planting, and/or signage.
• Seasonally inspect and remove excessive debris that blocks water flow within streams, wetlands, or drainage swales.
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Hudson-Montross Retention Basin Park development has stressed the hydrological processes in the Northwestern Precinct. Influx of neighborhood street storm water and the site manipulation undertaken to create active recreation areas have raised the potential for frequent erosion. Frequent overtopping or flooding highlights the limited storm capacity of the neighborhood retention basin just off Hudson at Montross. The basin’s highly engineered structure is not only unattractive but also provides minimal ecological benefit. Absent a complete bioengineering study of the drainage area feeding the basin, the following sustainable practices must be employed within the park:
• Vegetate the slopes of the basin with native plants that will help filter the water while increasing habitat values.
• Expand the limited basin outfall area, and regrade the adjoining drive as part of the Montross Trailhead Parking Area to capture and direct excess storm flow.
• Convert Robin Drive’s limited drainage swale into a bio-swale. To increase the swale’s capacity, provide a deeper sand filtering bed and wider natural stream-like edges with forebays to capture and slow runoff.
• Wherever possible, bring the underground storm piping to the surface. Place box culverts under road or trail beds. Underground piping prevents water from replenishing the environment and intensifies the velocity and force of storm water, resulting in excessive erosion.
Lake Mitchell The porous material used to fill in this portion of the lake causes the field at the northwest corner of Lake Mitchell to flood frequently. Given the area's importance for picnicking, the low areas should be raised with a select gradient of six inches of angular river stone, four inches of sand, and four inches of topsoil.
The shoreline erosion remedies for Lake Mitchell are detailed in the Lake Mitchell Management Study (see Appendix B). In brief, the lake's shoreline needs to be vegetated with native submergent vegetation and shoreline plants. This will:
• Eliminate erosion and subsequent siltation in the lake.
• Dramatically improve the habitat value of the lake, thereby improving the fishing.
• Direct lake access to less sensitive areas.
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• Discourage geese from using the lake. In addition, a temporary stake and string barrier can be installed to prevent geese from returning during peak geese activity times.
• Restore the park's aesthetic and historic character.
Main Entrance The main entrance to Depew Park between Walnut Street and Union Avenue experiences frequent flooding and erosion. Within the bandstand lawn, excessive water comes from surrounding paved drives and the football stadium. When these amenities were added to the park, limited consideration was given to site hydrology or the potential impact the construction.
The design of a new eco-parking area primarily within the existing paved area at the Walnut Street entrance will vastly improve the flooding and erosion situation. This eco- lot will contain porous pavement; a bio-swale will capture all surface runoff. A bio-swale stream will provide a destination for the water in the lawn, relieving ponding on the bandstand lawn. Once the water is diverted into the bio-swales, the lawn areas will be improved by rototilling with sand and peat and then seeding with a native lawn mix.
The eco-parking bio-swale would continue to a restored Walnut-Union stream and Baker’s Pond reservoir. An engineering exercise in the late 1980s brutally compromised the historic reservoir and brook garden that once graced the northwestern park boundary. As a result, a large volume of street storm water is brought into the park at Walnut Street and is forced underground until it reaches the jagged rip-rap channel that was once the brook garden. By bringing the storm water to the surface as a stream with forebays and re-creating the reservoir and brook, all water will be slowed and filtered before it flows to the Hudson River.
Veterans' Memorial Pool Parking Area The existing parking area to the south of the existing pool complex is the park's largest parking area, an important park access point, and the one with the closest direct access to the Blue Mountain Reservation.
It sits about 10 feet lower in elevation than the pool and is bordered by hillsides to the east and west. To the south, remnant wetlands and an intermittent watercourse continue into the forest. Given the natural topography, this area was most likely a larger forest wetland cleared and filled in during the construction of the pool complex with no
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attention to soil conditions, hydrology, or wetland ecology. As a result, the parking area experiences continuous settling and flooding.
Surrounding the parking area, marginal fringe wetlands have established themselves and are choked with exotic and invasive plants. Piles of gravel and visible surface erosion are evidence that this parking area is not cared for and send the message that it is unimportant.
To upgrade the area, we recommend the following improvements:
• Remove the parking area and install proper drainage (specifically, under-drains and surface drainage), then rebuild to establish a proper firm subgrade that will resist settling.
• Install a new sustainable surface treatment. Reduce the amount of impervious surfaces by limiting asphalt to traffic aisles and drop off areas and include treatments such as pervious pavement, eco-pavers, gravel, or grass for the parking spaces.
• Install bio-swales in parking islands and restore the bio-retention areas along the parking area perimeter.
• Repair any adjoining intact wetlands by removing invasive plants and drainage impediments.
• Remove invasive plant species and use only native species for all landscaping.
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Landscape Restoration & Wildlife Habitat ......
Refer to Sheet 27
WOODLAND AND PARK Trees act as a sponge, absorbing carbon dioxide that would otherwise become a greenhouse gas and helping to offset heat-trapping emissions generated by the burning of fossil fuels for energy. On average, one forest tree absorbs about 13 pounds of carbon dioxide each year (2.6 tons per acre of trees)—the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide produced by 26,000 vehicle miles. The figure in a forested park is higher because of the park’s denser vegetation, but conservatively the Depew Park Forest absorbs 520 tons of carbon dioxide per year, the equivalent of 5.2 million vehicle miles.
Forests are the “lungs” of the whole environment. A single tree can produce enough oxygen for two people for a year. Trees can also filter common and harmful pollutants like nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, cadmium, chromium, nickel, and lead. Depew Park, together with Blue Mountain Park and the Annsville Creek Park Preserve, contribute significantly to reducing the harm caused by vehicular traffic on city streets and Route 9.
In addition, trees help reduce runoff and flooding and help retain soils that otherwise erode and silt up streams and lakes. Water then percolates down into the ground, where it replenishes the water table, is naturally filtered, and stimulates steady rainfall through continued evaporation. Trees also provide habitat for birds, insects, and mammals. Tree leaves, seeds, and nuts provide essential food supply, while the shade and moisture they provide tempers the sun’s heat, protecting plants and other forest life. Their beauty enriches the soul and provides comfort to visitors in all seasons.
The Depew Park forest is in a fragile condition. Current blights, such as the woolly adelgid [Adelges tsugae (Annand)], a nonnative insect, has decimated the once-proud hemlock groves in the woods. The loss of the hemlock reduces the park’s biodiversity and impairs its ecological function by reducing the variety of habitat. As stands of native trees are lost, opportunistic nonnative trees such as Ailanthus and Norway Maple take over the sunlit floors and shade out native trees. Exacerbating this invasion, the burgeoning deer population favors the young seedlings of native trees. The next generation of mature forest is decimated. The forest is an integrated whole. Each native species of insect, amphibian, fish, bird, mammal, and plant is dependent on others. Studies have shown that native insects do not have the chemical
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makeup to digest nonnative vegetation; the same is true for birds and mammals. Once the cycle of life has been disrupted, it’s as if we have toppled the first of many dominoes.
Nonnative trees have been exported and imported all over the world since the beginning of agriculture. The Hudson River Valley has played an important role in horticultural trade since early colonial times. The Van Cortlandt family, for example, brought ornamental plants from Europe to grace their home and sent Hudson Valley plants back to Europe. Pierre Van Cortlandt sent the sweet shrub to the queen of the Netherlands as a remedy, prescribed by our native people, for her migraines. Indeed, the trade in plants has benefited world cultures in terms of forestry, agriculture, and medicine. The problematic nonnative plants are those that seed and reproduce freely while choking out entire species of native plants that serve as a vital cog in the local wheel of life.
Depew Park needs an aggressive forest management plan with the following components:
• Provide forest understory, vine, and forest stand management. • Remove all invasive nonnative plants such as Barberry, Euonymus, Tree of Heaven, Norway Maple, etc. The highest density of nonnative plant invasive species occurs along the edges of the forest or, recently, in areas where there have been blow downs. Blow downs or dead groves such as the hemlock grove permit more sunlight to reach the forest floor, which is where nonnatives most quickly take root. • Replant native plants and trees • The 1931–32 Irish survey clearly identifies the trees that once existed. To maintain the historic spirit of the park, the following mid-19th century nonnative ornamental trees should be planted to replace lost trees and for the enjoyment of future generations:
Norway Spruce Serbian Spruce Weeping Silver Fir Nordmann Fir Bristlecone Pine Swiss Stone Pine English Oak American and European Hornbeam Jacquemonti Birch American Elm (DED resistant variety) Fullmoon Japanese Maple Red Flowering Horsechestnut Bottlebrush Buckeye Golden Willow
• Undertake habitat improvements. • Manage the whitetail deer population.
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FOREST UNDERSTORY, VINE AND FOREST STAND MANAGEMENT
Forest Understory Understory trees and shrubs are critical in the forest structure, as saplings provide replacement trees for the canopy and shrubs supply resources for birds and other wildlife. Vegetation with high wildlife value, such as the native flowering dogwood, Cornus florida, should be preserved and encouraged. Flowering dogwood occurs occasionally in the forest interior and offers useful singing perches, nest sites, and, in the fall, a high-fat food that is eaten by at least 36 species of song birds. This tree is extremely useful as the fruit ripens in the fall just when it is needed to help fuel migration for thrushes, vireos, and tanagers.
Shrubs such as spicebush, Lindera benzoin, and chokeberry, Aronia arbutifolia, also have high wildlife value and should be encouraged to flourish by controlling invasive species such as Japanese barberry, Berberis thunbergii, and winged euonymous, Euonymus alata. Japanese barberry and winged euonymous can become so abundant that they crowd out and replace a more valuable mix of native shrubs that benefit wildlife throughout the year.
Selective removal of overhanging branches, to allow additional light, and reduction of competition from undesirable species will encourage diversity in the understory and a healthy system. Current deer populations in Westchester County may make the task of increasing biodiversity difficult as heavy browsing and associated trampling of the soil increases plant mortality while decreasing seedling survival.
Vines Vines connect the layers of the forest into a cohesive whole. Native vines such as wild grape, Vitis spp. and Virginia creeper, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, should be protected as these provide valuable places for nesting and roosting, food, and materials for building nests. At least 52 species of eastern forest and edge birds eat the fruits of wild grape, and at least 35 species of birds eat Virginia creeper berries. Wild grape is especially valuable as a nesting material, with at least 16 species of birds using the bark to twine their nests together.
Poison ivy, Rhus radicans, is a common climbing vine. Despite its toxic effect, poison ivy is a valuable wildlife plant. It provides abundant crops of nutritious fruit in fall, just when birds need food to build reserves for migration. Poison ivy vines should be preserved where they are not an immediate hazard to people using the area.
Forest Stand Fallen trees and other vegetation should not be removed from the site, except where these materials pose a hazard to human safety, or block trails. Trees should be left to
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decompose naturally thereby returning their nutrients to the local ecosystem. Fallen timber provides shelter and feeding places for salamanders (especially spotted and red- backed), mice, shrews, and other creatures of the forest floor. Large dead trees left on the ground provide necessary drumming perches for roughed grouse. Standing dead trees (snags) provide drumming sites for woodpeckers, locations for roosting, and nesting cavities for cavity nesting birds such as chickadees, titmice, and the great crested flycatcher. Snags should be left standing unless they pose a safety concern. Branch pyramids should be erected around planted tree seedlings to protect the trees from browsing. Periodic removal of flammable materials is also warranted within a 25- to 50- foot-wide strip along trails.
Similarly, no pesticides or insecticides should be applied on the site except to protect public health, safety, and welfare. Except as described in the preceding section, vegetation in this area should self- regulate naturally, without human intervention. Planners and visitors, however, must anticipate that over time the park’s appearance will change in response to natural forces.
Invasive Species Management Several exotic species present in the park present competition for more desirable native species. By eliminating the exotic shrubs, nearby native plants will have more resources for their own growth. All invasive nonnative plants that are detrimental to the ecology and enjoyment of the park will be removed.
Although the park has been encroached upon by several invasive plant species, their numbers are not currently alarming. However, it is important that an invasive species management plan be prepared to monitor the spread of invasive species and that active management strategies are put in place to counter the spread of these unwanted plants.
Following is a list of those plant species that will be removed in all areas that are scheduled for site work and within view of the proposed trails.
Undesirable Plant Species Removal Norway Maple, Acer platanoides Tree-of-Heaven, Ailanthus altissima Garlic Mustard, Alliaria petiolata Porcelainberry, Ampelopsis brevipedunculata Japanese Barberry, Berberis thunbergii Oriental Bittersweet, Celastrus orbiculatus
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Winged Euonymus, Euonymus alatus Japanese Stilt Grass, Microstegium vimeneum Mile-a-Minute, Polygonum perfoliatum The well established nondetrimental ornamental plants, such as Euonymus alatus, will not be removed. The philosophy is that the removal of these ornamental plants would come at an unnecessary resource cost: petroleum-based machines and herbicides would be necessary for their removal.
All new landscaping and restoration of disturbed areas will be accomplished through the use of native plants. These plantings will be implemented in association with mutually beneficial plants to create an enhanced ecosystem.
Invasive species can be removed in several ways, depending on the particular location and plant species:
If a shrub is isolated and its root system is not entwined with those of other plants, it may be mechanically removed. It is important to eliminate as much of the root system as possible, because many invasive species will sprout from root pieces left behind.
If a shrub is growing among other plants, so much so that uprooting it risks disturbance to the surrounding native plants that you want to preserve, the plant will be most safely and effectively killed by chemical means. First it is necessary to cut the plant back to a few stumps and stubs, about 12 inches from the base. Using a concentrated solution of glyphosphate (such as Round-Up ™), the technique is to paint the ends of the stumps with herbicide. This technique is most effective in fall. Note: Proper notification must be made prior to the application of all pesticides at Depew Park.
Highly invasive groundcovers, like Japanese honeysuckle, will be difficult to eliminate because of their habit of rooting along any stem. To remove this plant, it will be sprayed with glyphosphate using very close and targeted application. If it is growing among other herbaceous or shrub material that will be killed by spraying, the glyphosphate may be applied by brush or mechanical removal can be used. Repeated treatments will be necessary to eradicate it.
Highly invasive annuals like garlic mustard are difficult to eliminate, because they grow from seed that is pervasive in the soil seed bank. If an area is targeted for removal of this type of persistent annual (such as deer exclusion areas where wildflowers and native plants have the chance to return), the removal can be accomplished in several ways. First, if the species is growing densely without other plants interspersed, the area may be
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sprayed with glyphosphate, following manufacturer’s recommendations and cautions. Secondly, individual plants may be pulled by hand. Garlic mustard in particular pulls up quite easily from a moist, woodland soil. Both of these treatments should be undertaken before plants set seed. Also the treatment will likely need to be repeated in an area several times over a season, and perhaps for more than one season, before the plant is eliminated. Compacting woodland soils should be avoided by limiting paths in the work area and distributing weight on boards when kneeling.
All of these options will be considered and utilized in various areas of Depew Park as appropriate. (See Appendix G for more information on specific invasive species common to New York State and the northeastern United States.)
Native Plants and Trees to Be Replanted Trees Canadian Hemlock Eastern White Pine Tamarack Northern White Cedar American Basswood River Birch American Chestnut Shagbark Hickory Sugar Maple Red Oak White Oak Flowering Dogwood Shadblow Serviceberry
Shrubs Witch Hazel Maple Leaf Viburnam Arrow Wood American Cranberry Bush Silky Dogwood Spice Bush Aquatic Cardinal Flower Pickerel-weed Burweed Turtlehead Swamp Aster Blue Flag Iris Cinnamon Fern Royal Fern Soft Stem Bulrush White and Yellow Water Lily
Vernal Pool Zigzag Aster Marsh Marigold Gray’s Sedge Tussock Sedge Slender Mannagrass Cardinal Flower Skunk Cabbage (See Appendix H for descriptions of native trees, shrubs, and perennials that should be replanted.)
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HABITAT IMPROVEMENTS Nest boxes, possibly a local Boy Scout service project, should be considered as an addition throughout the property to increase the numbers of cavity-nesting birds. Varying sizes and styles of boxes placed in different habitat locations will be used by different species. For example, the meadows provide good habitat for bluebirds and tree swallows, and the addition of nest boxes will increase the number to available nesting cavities and thereby the populations of these species.
Unless otherwise specified, nest boxes should be sited at least five feet above the ground, and should be placed out of direct sunlight and heavy rain. When establishing nesting sites for bluebirds and tree swallows, the nest boxes should be mounted in pairs, on posts approximately six feet apart. This strategy usually results in one box being occupied by tree swallows and the other by bluebirds, because the tree swallows will defend their territory from their own species but not from others. Old nests need to be cleaned out of the boxes early every spring. Often mice will nest in the boxes during the winter, so fall cleaning may not be adequate.
Dimensions Guide for Nesting Boxes
Species Floor Area Entrance Hole Height to Hole Comments Habitat
Chickadees 4 x 4 in 1 1/8" 7" Line with woodchips Woodland Titmice 4 x 4 in 1 1/4" 7" Line with woodchips Woodland Nuthatches 4 x 4 in 1 3/8" 7" Line with woodchips Woodland House Wren 4 x 4 in 1 1/8" 7" Forest Edge Bluebirds 4 x 4 in 1 3/8" 8" Meadow Tree Swallow 5 x 5 in 1 1/2" 5" Meadow Northern Flicker 7 x 7 in 2 1/2" 15" Line with woodchips Barred Owl, Gray Squirrel 12 x 12 in 6" 18" Line with woodchips Forest Interior Forest Edge Great-Crested Flycatcher 6 x 6 in 1 9/16" 7" Line with woodchips or Interior Forest Edge Screech Owl 8 x 8 in 3" 12" Line with woodchips or Interior Flying Squirrel 4 x 4 in 1 1/2" 8" Line with woodchips Forest Interior Line with woodchips, Wood Duck 10 x 18 in 4" 12-16" Wetlands, Pond 3" min.
WETLANDS The purpose of establishing/revitalizing a wetland is not only to delight the eye with attractive plants, flowers, and visiting wildlife but also to provide many other significant functions.
A wetland provides a haven and a breeding ground for insects, amphibians, birds, and small mammals. They act as bio-filters, purifying the water, reducing sediment load, and
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helping to establish a balanced, sustainable ecosystem. Once invasive species are removed, the native plant species that are essential to a functioning habitat will re- establish themselves. Where necessary, native plant species may need to be re-introduced in order to inhibit the re-occurrence of exotic plants.
WHITETAIL DEER MANAGEMENT Deer browse activity at Depew Park has been an ongoing source of damage to understory vegetation and will continue to be a deterrent to habitat restoration and plant establishment activities.
Relocating the county's deer population to another area within or out of the county is not an option. Not only does relocation cause significant stress upon deer, deaths associated with relocation are numerous. In addition, state regulations prevent the relocating of deer.
Much of the forest understory, which is essential to many species of birds and other mammals, has been destroyed by over browsing. This damage has long-term effects on the forest and on biodiversity.
Physical Exclusion This method, which includes fencing, is the one of the most reliable deer control solutions, and when prorated over animal life spans, fences are often more cost effective than other programs. But appearance, terrain, or sometimes cost may make fencing impractical.
Whatever the strategy and material used, the fence must be firmly attached to the ground, typically via a concrete footer buried below frost depth (at least four feet). Deer will squeeze under or through tight places and are smart enough to knock down a flimsy fence. They will normally attempt to go under or through a fence rather than jump over it.
Netting and Partial Barriers Effective for protecting small plantings, individual plants, or small beds of plants, netting and partial barriers can also be used to surround a planting as a temporary fence. Around a large planting, netting may need to be high enough to prevent being jumped over—6 to 8 feet. (At this point, it’s really a fence.)
Passive-Exclusion Fences Low fences can be successful where the deer can’t see a safe landing zone; the threat of injury is a powerful deterrent. The combination of a four-foot fence and five-foot tall shrubs they can’t see through will work. A woven wire fence must be at least eight feet high, with 12-foot posts placed at 40-foot intervals And the bottom placed at ground level
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so that the deer cannot crawl under it. A fence that slants away from the area to be protected is another successful design because slanting lines seem to confuse deer. If properly built, a wire fence should last about 20 years and need little upkeep.
Rotating Deer Exclusion Zones In disturbed forest areas, deer fencing is installed surrounding disturbed areas for periods of three to ten years, depending on the speed of growth for the native tree seedlings to reach a size too large for deer to browse. Permanent fencing at sensitive areas will allow the native flora to return, thereby increasing the forest’s biodiversity. Key areas to target for this treatment include:
The Chauncey Depew Explorer's Trail
The Lake Mitchell Trail Loop
The Nature Center Interpretive Area
The Rusch Interpretive Area
All of these options will be considered and utilized in various areas of Depew Park as appropriate.
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MEADOW, FIELD, AND LAWN A majority of Depew Park’s ground plane is maintained in lawn. Lawns have a classic aesthetic and are best suited to active use but require a high level of maintenance— maintenance that requires the burning of fossil fuels. In addition, lawns have minimum carbon load absorption value. The sustainable approach is to create five levels of grounds maintenance: • Lawn: Mow frequently to provide uniform healthy turf for active play and passive event gathering.
• Field: Mow periodically to provide turf suitable for occasional active play.
• Meadow: Mow seasonally to maintain open space at the highest ecological and carbon load values.
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• Planting Beds: Maintain these in mulch and ground cover with occasional weeding.
• Forest Floor: Maintain in natural state with seasonal weeding/removal of invasive/nonnative plants.
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Circulation & Parking ......
Refer to Sheets 18 and 19 During this study, a majority of the public expressed concern over the increase in vehicular traffic in the park, particularly during a.m. and p.m. peak traffic hours. The speed of the vehicles only compounds the problem. With the curving roads and the park's natural features, conditions are unsafe for pedestrians.
To ensure pedestrian safety and easy access to parking areas, two guiding principles were determined:
• Identify key vehicular entry points and provide upgraded parking lots.
• Leave the heart of the park free from vehicles.
The plan provides for three distinct vehicle entrances and destinations:
Walnut Street Entrance, the Main Park Entry Walnut Street becomes the main entrance to a gateway plaza. The plaza will contain a 40- space parking lot with two bus spaces as well as access to ADA paths to most amenities in the park. The two-way traffic continues on Walnut Drive to the park office, which will have 11 spaces for office parking. Walnut Drive ends in a cul-de-sac that provides ADA picnic and lake drop-off access.
Union Avenue Entrance Vehicles can enter the park from Union Avenue at Depew Court or Bay Street to access the 60-car parking lot south of the pool area, which will accommodate cars, buses, and service and emergency vehicles. The Nature Center roadway will allow for ADA parking and drop-offs, with parking provided at the pool parking lot below.
Hudson Avenue Entrance* Across from Pomeroy Street Robin Drive will be upgraded for two-way traffic between Hudson Avenue and the Montross Drive Trailhead. The existing triangular junction between Montross and Robin drives will be converted into a 14-car parking area to serve the tennis, basketball, and handball courts and the trail system. Improvements to the existing storm-water
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management basin and outlet will be made to alleviate the flooding problem. Robin Drive will terminate at a new 20-car parking area at the bocce/horseshoe courts with a multiuse playing field that can provide parking for 20 additional cars. Robin Drive also provides direct access to the park's maintenance yard. Montross and Fremont drives (beyond the entrance gate pillars) will remain a pedestrian trail, with vehicular traffic limited to maintenance and emergency vehicles. There will be no change to streets that contain residences or to the names of these streets. To provide pedestrians with a safe and pleasant park experience, certain sections of existing roads will be converted to pedestrian use only; the roads will be reduced in width to 12 feet and will be lined with benches and flowering trees. The new promenades (see the section on trails for more details) are:
• Fremont Drive from Depew Court to Fremont Street.
• Walnut Drive from the new turnaround south of the park's office building to the Veterans' Memorial Pool parking area.
• Robin Drive from Walnut Drive, including the stone fishing bridge, to the new Robin Drive parking area south of the maintenance building.
* Note: When improvement is made, the Parks Office will no longer be located on Robin Drive. The Post Office and 911 should be notified that the Parks Office address is now 1 Walnut Drive.
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Park Facilities ......
Refer to Sheets 20 thru 26 and Project Priority Matrices
Recommended improvements to the park are categorized in rank of importance according to each park precinct. The ranking is based upon performing the base improvements so that the park may be improved in a logical sequence as economically and with as much ecological improvement as possible.
NORTHWEST PRECINCT Serving as the main entrance and providing what should be a welcoming first glimpse, the park's Northwest Precinct is its most important area.
Project NW #1 – Walnut Street Gate/Main Entrance and Parking Area Improve the park's aesthetics, ecology, and safety by designing a unified welcome center to the park. Scope of work includes: Main Entrance Gates • Repair entry gates and provide new bronze signage illuminated by recessed down lighting.
• Add textured pedestrian crosswalk to create a threshold and calm vehicular traffic at the main entrance.
Parking Area • Replace existing expansive impervious pavement with an efficient parking area with bio-swale to accommodate 40 cars and two buses.
• Provide new ADA-compliant paths at both sides of parking lot to connect to Walnut Street sidewalks.
• Provide new Rhododendron Garden near the path to Torpy Field.
• Provide a new access driveway surfaced with porous Eco-Pavers to Torpy Field gate.
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Main Entrance Lawn • Provide new ADA-compliant paths at both sides of the main entrance parking lot.
• Provide new paths through the lawn to the bandstand, the new Overlook Garden (see below), and around the east side of the stadium; restore existing paths.
• Renovate existing lawn with native turf grasses and replant original noninvasive ornamental trees (noted in the Irish survey).
• Add new Overlook Garden and fountain with benches.
Project NW #2 - Restoration of Historic Fremont Street Reservoir • Restore the historic pond at Fremont Street as a storm-water catchment basin and habitat enhancement area; restoration to include historic rock garden and bridge stone walls.
• Provide a new bio-swale connecting to the main entrance (Walnut Drive) parking area bio-swale.
Project NW #3 - Union Brook Restoration • Mitigate groundwater problems by creating a bio-swale north of the Fremont Drive.
• Restore Union Brook and the rock gardens between Fremont Street and Union Avenue. Remove Army Corps-style drainage channel. Add a stone veneer to the facade of the concrete culvert wall at Union Avenue.
Project NW #4 - Fremont Drive and Abraham Depew Promenade • Convert the former road between Depew Court and the entrances at Fremont Street and Walnut Street to a pedestrian promenade; reduce the paved area to 12 feet; restrict to pedestrians and service and emergency vehicles.
• Provide textured pavement at street intersections.
• Plant an allée of flowering trees.
• Repair and repaint the bandstand where necessary.
• Restore the stone entry gates at Fremont Street.
• Provide new period benches and lighting.
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Project NW #5 - Union Avenue Entrance and Depew Court Enhancement • Restore the stone entry gate piers and wall.
• Provide pedestrian path at the Union Avenue entry gate wall with textured paving; provide crosswalk linking this new path to an existing path from Hudson Avenue; renovate existing path.
• Plant new specimen ornamental trees within open areas to frame views and line Depew Court.
Project NW #6 - Overlook Garden Restoration • Restore the Overlook Garden (with historic photo as a model) using period site furniture, lighting, and sidewalk and sitting area surface treatments and landscaping. This restored garden should be ADA-compliant.
• Provide buffer plantings between the Overlook Garden and the track.
Project NW #7 Park Boundary Evergreen Buffer Enhancement • Stabilize existing stone walls along the park's north property line between Union Avenue and Torpy Field.
• Replace unsightly walls and fencing with sympathetic stone and or wood fencing.
• Enhance the historic evergreen screening by inter-planting next-generation evergreen trees and flowering evergreen shrubs along the north property line between Union Avenue and Torpy Field.
Project NW#8 Fremont Pavilion Replication • Construct a replica of the historic Fremont Pavilion and Sitting Garden with period site furniture, lighting, sidewalk and sitting area surface treatments and landscaping. This replica garden should be ADA-compliant.
ATHLETIC PRECINCT The master plan for this precinct, which is intensely developed for active sports such as football, baseball, running, and swimming, attempts to heal or blend the stadium and pool complexes into the park's historic and aesthetic fabric.
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Project A #1 – Walnut Drive and Athletic Trail Walnut Drive and Parking for Parks Office • Wherever practical, increase pedestrian safety by realigning Walnut Drive and the parking area near the park’s office to create a buffer to the stadium and an off-road path. The drive will terminate in a cul-de-sac that provides a drop-off for the picnic area and ADA-compliant access to Lake Mitchell.
• Convert the remainder of the existing Walnut Drive into a pedestrian promenade leading to the existing Veterans' Memorial Pool parking area.
• Create an off-road path around the swimming pool complex to connect to a new off- road trail west and north of the stadium.
• Athletic Trail: New trail extension linking existing path at northwest corner of stadium to the bottom of the concrete bleachers and to the existing sidewalk along Depew Court west of the existing pool complex.
• Edge and resurface track and infields; perform turf maintenance as necessary.
Project A #2 – Veterans' Memorial Pool / Trail Gateway Parking Area • Parking: Create a permeable 60-car parking area for year-round use, plus an overflow 25-car field parking and bus drop-off area.
• Bio-swale drainage: Remove invasive wetland plants; create bio-swales and remediational wetlands to absorb runoff and enhance habitat.
• Provide new site lighting and trailhead sign.
Project A #3 – Veterans' Memorial Pool Complex The swimming pool complex is in dire need of upgrade and renovation. This project is listed last, strictly because it is expensive and the funding resources for the project are limited. A report by Ward Associates of Bohemia, New York, in 2003 (see Appendix C) thoroughly describes the steps necessary to modernize the pool complex, including:
• Improvements to main pool and wading pool.
• New spray ground.
• New slide pool and interactive pool for older children.
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• Sun shelters.
• Privacy screening.
• Lawn expansion.
• Bathhouse improvements and modernization.
Once funding becomes available, the Ward report should be reviewed in the light of pool conditions and trends in pool facilities prevailing at that time. At present, it is unsafe to walk past the pool complex, and the pool’s topographic relationship to the parking area makes ADA compliant access negligible.
Project A #4 - Nature Center Improve access drive and cul-de-sac with stabilized, vegetated slopes; a pedestrian path; permeable paving; and ADA-compliant parking.
Project A #5 – Nature Center Adventure Play Area Create a new thematic nature adventure play area and a nature adventure trail of approximately 0.2 miles in length to complement the Nature Center and provide an outdoor educational facility for children.
Project A #6 - Frolf (Frisbee Golf) Course Directly southwest of the Pool and Trail Gateway parking area, create a challenging new nine-station frisbee–golf course, weaving it within existing woodland. Frolf, also known as disk golf, was invented in the late 1960s and is growing in popularity around the world; the object of the game is to move along a course, throwing a disk into metal basket or at a target; the player who gets from beginning to end with the fewest number of throws of the disc.
PARK CENTER PRECINCT Iconic Lake Mitchell, combined with the playground, is the heart of Depew Park.
Project PC #1 - Lake Mitchell Improvements Lake Mitchell has been thoroughly studied by a leading aquatic systems analyst, New England Environmental, of Amherst, Massachusetts. The firm's scientific report (see Appendix B) outlines the following actions as necessary to restore the lake to ecological health.
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• Restore the lake inlet: Clean the sediment-laden inlet to Lake Mitchell to natural contours and provide a sediment forebay along the inlet cove at the northeast corner of the lake. This forebay will aid in capturing and collecting suspended sediment from contributing areas draining to the lake and in turn will reduce the lake's annual maintenance and improve its ecology. The forebay would be formed by a stone weir at the west end of the cove.
• Sediment removal: Mechanically remove accumulated sediment from the lake bottom.
• Lakeshore stabilization: Stabilize several areas of shoreline via bio-logs, reinforced with stone and/or planted with appropriate vegetation. This will reduce sedimentation, increase biodiversity, improve public use of the lake, and contribute to geese control.
• Aquatic habitat: As part of the shoreline restoration, construct an aquatic shelf in several areas around the lake. Plant these shelves with emergent wetland plants to create habitat, improve the lake's aesthetic quality, and discourage geese access.
• Repairs to existing equipment: Make all three existing aerators operational.
• Chemical treatments: Provide a limited application of algaecide, herbicide, and buffered alum as needed.
• Outlet Cove waterfall: To improve water quality in this restricted area of the lake; create a recirculating waterfall at the cove's northwestern boulder slope. The cascade will provide drama while providing much-needed aeration and water circulation.
• New stone culvert bridge at lake inlet: Create a pedestrian bio-swale crossing bridge with spectacular views out over Lake Mitchell and beyond to the west side of the Hudson River.
• Create a new Council Ring and trailhead at the southern end of the lake to serve as a destination and gathering location.
• Rock Point: Restore the historic rock fishing point with rockery and lakeshore enhancement plantings.
• Lake Mitchell Loop Trail extension: Extend the Lake Mitchell trail around the southwest end of the lake. Connect this trail to the new Walnut Drive turnaround.
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• Senior Gathering Area: Provide a new small sitting area with shade trees and game tables at the northwest side of the lake, north of the picnic pavilion.
• Restored island: To increase the surface area and improve lake aesthetics, reclaim the historic island by creating a natural channel around the island.
• Restore the original fountain and add a recirculating waterfall to aerate the lake water.
• Restored island bridges: Historic postcards show two pedestrian bridges, one wooden and one stone, which lead to and from the historic island. Restore these bridges. Each will offer unique views of the park and the lake.
• Stone dock: Provide a new ADA-accessible pedestrian fishing dock located on the southwestern shore of the lake near the laurel garden.
• Laurel Garden: As part of the lakeshore stabilization, plant the southwest shoreline with different varieties of laurel for seasonal interest.
Project PC #2 - Abraham Depew Promenade Reduce the existing road between the playground and the maintenance building to 12 feet in width and ban all vehicular traffic except emergency and maintenance vehicles, thereby creating a promenade for strolling and jogging, bicycling, and fishing from the stone bridge. A dedicated five-foot-wide pedestrian path will run parallel to the 12-foot path, with a five-foot-wide bio-swale between them.
Project PC #3 - Depew Playground • Add a new ceremonial playground entrance arbor and locking gate and decorative fencing.
• Restore the Dever Council Ring: Repair stonework and add landscaping and three sculptural benches to complete the ring; raise the surrounding grade to permit universal access.
• Chauncey Depew Explorer's Trail: Create a new interactive trail between the Dever Council Ring and a new Discovery Garden (see below), looping around the Chauncey Depew statue at the top of the knoll. The trail would continue to a covered pavilion or bird blind for viewing into forest wetland.
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• Discovery Garden: Transform the knoll, former wading pool, and forested wetland into an intensive discovery garden that invites children and adults to interact directly with nature. Extending down to a new wetland bridge, the garden would include interactive play, sculptures, and interpretive signage describing local geology, history, and biodiversity and would be enhanced with native plant species. Views would encompass the lake and the new waterfall.
Project PC #4 - Fishing Bridge Improve the existing stone bridge. Direct surface drainage more quickly off the bridge; repair cracks in the abutments caused by drainage problems. Remove the asphalt pavement and replace it with appropriate drainage and historic-style pavers. This will restore the structure of the bridge and emphasize its primary use as a gathering place.
Project PC #5 - Historic Monuments • Senator Chauncey Depew Statue: This statue is in good condition but needs cleaning. Regrade the ground surrounding the stone benches, where serious erosion has affected the benches' stability; reset the benches on an appropriate sub-base and provide new stone ashlar paving in limited areas surrounding the benches and statue. • James J. Dever Council Ring: Repair the mortar of the monument stone work. A stone apron would improve access and ground conditions at the entry to the council ring. • James W. Husted Statue: This statue, which is showing signs of pitting, needs cleaning and proper protection. Repair the stone work and paving mortar. • Lt. Edmund Charles Clinton Genet: Clean this monument, which is in good condition.
NORTH PRECINCT The north precinct is important because of its concentration of active recreational facilities. Currently, most access is by car on the way out of the park; pedestrian access from the adjoining neighborhood is negligible. The Sustainable Master Plan proposes to create two-way vehicular access to a new parking area at the Montross Drive trailhead and to an improved parking area at the bocce/horseshoe pits. Also, paths from Hudson Avenue will dramatically improve pedestrian access.
Project N #1 – Montross /Robin Drive Parking Area • To accommodate two-way traffic, reconstruct the eastern pier of the Robin Drive gateway; restore the stonework.
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• Widen and narrow Robin Drive to create a two-way drive uniformly 18 feet wide extending to the existing parking area at the bocce/horseshoe pits. • Create a 14-car tennis and trail parking area at the existing Montross Drive— Robin Drive intersection. • Provide an improved outlet and expanded catchment area to help control overflow from the existing retention basin to eliminate road surface flooding. • Provide a continuous bio-swale and a five-foot-wide pedestrian trail along the eastern side of the drive. • New trail crossing at the Montross parking area to link to Hudson Avenue and the path to the tennis courts.
Project N #2 - Chauncey Depew Explorer Trail (North Section) Create a trailhead at Hudson Avenue that will also serve the tennis courts and continue to the basketball courts, the Rotary Knoll picnic area, and the Lake Mitchell Dam. This trail will contain a bird blind (a screened gazebo and feeding station) at the woodland wetland and a deer exclusion zone to aid in the restoration of some unique ecological communities. Interpretive signage will also be included to expand the trail’s use as an educational tool. Also included in this project will be a new path and steps from Rotary Knoll to Robin Drive.
Project N #3 - Robin Drive Parking Area The existing parking area near the bocce/horseshoe pits is located on a former pasture and wetland. The expansive gravel pavement is awkward and unstable, and contributes to flooding along the perimeter. • Create a permeable 20-car parking area with a multiuse grass playing field that can be used as an overflow parking area for 20 additional vehicles.
• Install a bio-swale south of the bocce courts and horseshoe pits.
• Construct a new bocce court and upgrade the horseshoe pits.
• Design a new 'green' senior citizen pavilion with ecological restrooms, possible seasonal snack bar, and/or sports equipment rental space.
• Create a new path to the existing Lake Mitchell Trail with stone footbridge over new lake wetland at the eastern inlet of the Lake Mitchell bio-swale.
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Project N #4 - Parks Maintenance Facility The park's maintenance facility is now highly visible to the park users. Improvements to the yard will better organize and define the limits of the maintenance operations and material/equipment storage while improving the safety of workers and park visitors. To enhance the overall aesthetics of this conflicting use, provide clearly defined edge treatments and landscape screening and fencing.
Project N #5 – New Handball Court at Hudson Avenue Tennis Courts To enhance the active sports theme already established in the north central portion of Depew Park, create a new handball court in the open area just east of the existing tennis courts. A handball court consists of a hard surface court with pavement markings similar to a tennis court with a solid wall at one end.
NORTHEAST PRECINCT This precinct experiences the most active pedestrian access between the neighborhood and the park woodlands.
Project NE #1 - Montross Drive / Ferris Drive Improvements • Replace damaged sections of asphalt drive with porous asphalt measuring at least 20 feet in length by 18 feet in width.
• Repair the shoulders with structural meadow that can support occasional service vehicles.
• Improve the road drainage ditch as a natural bio-swale/restored stream system to slow flow and control erosion.
Project NE #2 - Compost Yard Screening • Screen and fence the compost facility from neighbors and Ferris Drive.
• Eliminate compost seepage into streams and wetlands.
• Restore the woodland wetland adjoining the compost yard.
• Consider expanding screen fencing as a deer exclusion habitat zone.
Project NE #3 - Rusch Natural Area • Renovate existing trails, signage, and benches.
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• Create a new interpretive trail loop on the parcel donated by Rusch and Scenic Hudson.
• Expand the site's biodiversity by establishing a deer exclusion zone around and out of view of the interpretive trail loop.
RECOMMENDED IMPROVEMENTS AFFECTING ALL PRECINCTS
Lighting The master plan contemplates the initiation of a park-wide site-lighting program. As master plan projects are implemented, existing site lighting should be systematically replaced with replica early 20th-century post-mounted and bollard lighting.
Site Furniture The Sustainable Master Plan contemplates the initiation of a park-wide site-furniture program. Existing site furniture should be systematically replaced with replica early 20th-century park benches, trash receptacles, and bollards. This is most important in the Northwest, Park Center, and North precincts, the precincts that contain the majority of the park’s historical fabric.
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Trails & Trail Signage ......
PEDESTRIAN PARK ENTRANCES Depew Park is bordered on three sides by large residential neighborhoods and is easily accessible by foot from downtown. For that reason, dedicated pedestrian paths need to connect every street gateway to city sidewalks. Beginning from west to south in a clockwise direction, the park will be accessed by foot on dedicated paths at these locations: • Woodside Nature Trail/Boundary Trail from the end of Union Avenue and Woodside School.
• Depew Court Gateway at Union Avenue.
• Fremont Gateway at Fremont Street.
• Walnut Gateway at Walnut Street.
• Hudson Avenue Gateway at tennis courts.
• Robin Drive Gateway opposite Pomeroy Street.
• Hudson Trail Gateway off Hudson Avenue.
• Montross Gateway at Montross Avenue.
• Ferris Gateway at Ferris Street.
• Boundary Trail from Maple Avenue in Blue Mountain Reservation.
TRAIL PROBLEMS Trail users may not be able to articulate what a “perfect” trail looks like, but almost everyone can list the characteristics of a “bad” trail. The following are some characteristics that create less-than-optimal trails
• Deep trenching: The trail is so sunken that hikers feel as if they are walking in the bottom of a half-pipe, and equestrians drag their spurs.
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• Widening: The trail has widened from a single or double track to an unsightly wilderness.
• Short cuts: Knowing that shortest distance between two points is a straight line, users create a web of trails, most of which are steep and erosive.
• Tripping hazards: Regular use and erosion ultimately expose tree roots and rocks that become tripping hazards.
• Steepness: If a trail is too steep over a long distance, some people will not use the trail and those who do will not enjoy their excursion.
• Impact on natural/cultural resources: Erosive trails and multiple trails can adversely affect rare plants and archaeological sites.
All these problems can be tied to one or more of the following causes:
• Moving water: The foremost cause of trail problems, the movement of water causes erosion and deep trenches. It also exposes tripping hazards.
• Poor initial trail design: Even regular maintenance can rarely overcome this.
• Inadequate or inappropriate maintenance: This wastes valuable crew time and can sometimes increase trail problems.
Off-road vehicles are not allowed anywhere in New York State except with the explicit permission of the landowner. They are illegal on all New York public parklands. Large rocks or posts at trailheads and an occasional large blow down along the trail will discourage most off-road vehicles. In areas that are infrequently used or have a low overall user population, ATV presence is almost unavoidable. City of Peekskill police ticket illegal users when they are witnessed committing the offense but caution that staffing for this purpose is limited. In extreme cases, a reroute of the trail may be necessary to avoid proximity to residential areas/properties where these users might be entering the trail system.
MAPPING TRAIL IMPROVEMENTS During 2008, the park's entire trail system was evaluated. Both official and trespass trails were analyzed for their usability, function, ecological and historical
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resources, and limitations. As a result, two park maps were prepared for Depew Park. The first map represents existing trails, documenting the official trail names, bridges, and parking areas. Any trails not shown on the map should be closed and returned to their native state per Appalachian Trail standards, which prescribe the creation of tree branch barrier piles, etc.
The second map is the Sustainable Master Plan recommendation for trails that should be added to enhance the recreational, ecological, and historical appreciation of Depew Park. These trails can be cleared and marked as funds and/or volunteer groups become available. The following text describes existing and proposed trails. Each map clearly identifies junction posts, which follow the system used in the adjacent Blue Mountain Reservation in order to help orient users on the trails.
EXISTING TRAILS Refer to Depew Park Existing Trail Map • Abraham Depew Promenade/Trail (currently Robin Drive): Senator Chauncey Depew's great grandfather, Abraham Depew, organized and financed a militia for the colonial army during the American Revolution. Because of the expense, he was forced to sell this property, which he had acquired directly from the Native Americans. Three years later, in 1797, he repurchased the property; it was ultimately inherited by Senator Depew. The most prominent park trail is named in this Peekskill patriot's honor. It runs between the Union Avenue Gateway and the Ferris Street Gateway, past Fremont and Walnut streets, and along Robin, Montross, and Ferris drives on sidewalks and/or road surfaces.
• Hudson Trail: This trail starts on Hudson Avenue and runs directly south to the Rosie Trail at junction 24. It crosses the Abraham Depew Promenade/Trail and the Snake Hill Trail at junction 41.
• Boundary Trail: Depew Park's southern most trail, bordering Blue Mountain Reservation, runs the entire width of the park from the Woodside School trailhead, past junction 35, to Maple Avenue. Other access points from Depew Park to Blue Mountain Reservation are at junction 36 to the Blue Mountain Crossover Trail, junction 37 to Blue Mountain Dickey Brook Trail,
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and junction 39 to the Blue Mountain Parking Area. The Boundary Trail connects Depew's Blue Mountain Reservation Summit Trail in the east and Blue Mountain Access Trail in the west.
• Blue Mountain Access Trail: This provides direct access from the Veterans' Memorial Pool parking area south to the Blue Mountain Reservation.
• Blue Mountain Summit Trail: This provides direct neighborhood access from the Abraham Depew Trail at Ferris Drive south to Blue Mountain Reservation along the eastern boundary of Depew Park.
• Lake Mitchell Trail: The existing trail begins at Walnut Drive near the Veterans' Memorial Pool parking and continues along the wooded southeastern shore of Lake Mitchell to the parking at the bocce/horseshoe courts.
• Snake Hill Trail: This begins opposite the basketball courts at Robin Drive and parallels Montross Drive, heading into the woods at Ferris Drive to connect with the Upland Trail.
• Ruth Rusch Interpretive Trail: A short interpretive nature trail, created by Ruth Rusch to educate visitors. It loops off Ferris Drive near the Blue Mountain Summit Trail.
• Rosie Trail: Beginning at the northeastern edge of Lake Mitchell, the Rosie Trail heads east to connect to the Abraham Depew Promenade/Trail at Ferris Drive. Along the way, it connects with the Bryan Trail at junction 23, the Snake Hill Trail at junction 27, and the Hiking Loop Trail at junction 28.
• Nature Center Trail: From the Nature Center, this trail heads southwest to the Blue Mountain Access Trail. It crosses the Singleton Trail at junction 4 and joins the Singleton Trail between junction 5 and 6.
• El Capitan: This short loop begins at junction 30 and ends at junction 32 on the Blue Mountain Summit Trail.
• Bryan Trail: This trail begins in two separate locations: at junction 2 near Lake Mitchell and at the Nature Center Access Drive. It intersects with the Singleton Trail at junction 3 and the Beecher Trail at junction 16 before ending on the Upland Trail at junction 23.
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• Singleton Trail: This winding trail crosses and joins with the Nature Center Trail before ending on the Blue Mountain Access Trail at junction 9.
• Beecher Trail: This long trail winds north and south through the central portion of the park. It begins on the Blue Summit Trail at junction 31 and ends on the Bryan Trail at junction 16.
• Hawley Green Trail: This short loop connects the Ruth Rusch Interpretive Trail to the Upland Trail, crossing the Blue Mountain Summit Trail at junction 29.
• Rock Ledge Loop: This loop also begins and ends on the Blue Mountain Summit Trail. It starts at junction 32 and winds south to end at junction 33.
PROPOSED TRAILS Refer to Depew Park Trail Master Plan • Lake Mitchell Trail Extension: The existing trail will continue around the north side of the lake to a proposed Council Ring at the south end of the lake. It will follow the lake edge, cross a proposed bridge to the re-created island, and cross another proposed bridge to continue along the shoreline.
• Ruth Rusch Trail Extension: This loop will be added to the northeastern portion of the existing interpretive trail and will highlight natural features in the area near Ferris Drive.
• Kitchewank Climb: This loop will begin on the Rosie Trail at junction 24, where the Hudson Trail ends, and join the Beecher Trail for a short distance before heading into and looping around steep hills and boulders.
• Harriet Green Trail: This short climb up a small knoll will begin on the Hiking Loop Trail and should offer views of the small stream to the east.
• Hidden Pond Trail: This short trail will connect the Snake Hill and Hudson Trails and will pass by a small pond.
• Wetlands Trail: This starts on the Boundary Trail and heads in a generally northwesterly direction to the Beecher Trail.
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• Peterson Trail: This trail starts at the Lake Mitchell Trail and winds around several wetlands before intersecting with the Bryan Trail and continuing through the forest, crossing one more wetland, where it will end at the Singleton Trail.
• Sherwood Trail: This short loop will start on the Rosie Trail and end on the proposed Peterson Trail. The trial divides in the middle to offer both an easier and a more challenging route.
• Woodside Tree Trail: This trail will begin and end on the Boundary Trail. It is meant as an educational trail for the students at Woodside School. It will loop around a wetland before winding back and forth up the slopes to the Beecher Trail. It will intersect the Beecher Trail twice and join with it for a short distance before heading southeast to the Boundary Trail.
• Drake Trail: This short trail will start on the Lake Mitchell Trail and climb a small knoll to a proposed pavilion overlooking Lake Mitchell.
• Chauncey Depew Explorer’s Trail: This interpretive trail will start at the existing playground, loop around the Wading Pool and the statue of Chauncey Depew, and overlook the proposed waterfall at the north end of Lake Mitchell. The trail will continue down a slope to cross the existing wetland on a proposed bridge and then will pass by the proposed Bird Blind, then continue up a gentle slope, where it will branch into two segments. One segment will head east to the Rotary Pavilion, picnic area, and basketball courts and the other will travel toward the tennis courts and Hudson Avenue.
• Athletic Trail: This loop will encircle the existing track and pool facilities. It will start at the pool parking lot and head west along Bay Street and then north along Depew Court. Then it will go behind the track grandstands, pass by a small proposed gathering area, stay north of the track, and then follow Walnut Drive back to the pool parking lot.
ADJACENT TRAIL NETWORK The extensive trail system in Blue Mountain Reservation, to the south of Depew Park, connects to the Peekskill-Briarcliff Trailway to southern Westchester County and the Bronx.
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TRAIL SIGNAGE
Pedestrian Park Entrances Depew Park is bordered on the north, east, and west sides by large residential urban neighborhoods and to the south by Westchester County's Blue Mountain Reservation. Depew Park is easily accessible by foot, and the current trailhead at the southern end of Lake Mitchell is not sufficient access. There should be trailheads at major trail intersections and at all parking areas.
The Sustainable Master Plan recommends that existing trails be marked with standard Appalachian Trail blazes to complement the existing trail map. Two types of trail signs will be used in the park: trailhead signs and trail intersection signs.
Trailhead Signs The trailhead signs will be made of aluminum on a steel I-beam set on top of a small fieldstone wall. They will include the trail map and will have removable seasonal inserts that illustrate animal and plant species that can be found along the trails as well as local history facts. The trail heads will be located at the following locations:
• The existing Veteran’s Memorial Pool parking area.
• The renovated Robin Drive parking area south of the maintenance facility.
• The new Montross Drive Trailhead/Tennis Court Parking Area.
• The Ferris Drive entrance.
• The south end of Lake Mitchell near the proposed Council Ring.
• Near the existing playground.
• At the intersection of the Blue Mountain Access Trail and the Boundary Trail.
• At the intersection of the Blue Mountain Summit Trail and the Boundary Trail.
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Trail Intersection Signs Refer to Depew Park Trail Master Plan for locations The trail junction signs will be made of concrete with a galvanized steel band and medallion. The steel band will name the trails with arrows pointing in the direction of the trails and the medallion will be inscribed with the intersection number corresponding to that on the trail map.
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Trailhead Sign (Alt. 1)
Trailhead Sign (Alt. 2)
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Trail Intersection Monument
Depew Park Sustainable Master Plan February 28, 2009