Scenic Hudson’s Long Dock Park

On a rugged spur of land reaching out into the Hudson at Beacon, New York, this regional park recuperates a brownfield into a resilient landscape for first-hand contact with the river through recreation, art installations, and environmental education.

We’re leading the ongoing transformation of a former industrial railroad siding and hazardous dumping site into healthy, resilient parkland that redefines the Hudson Valley’s new embrace of its waterfronts. The project’s first phase, opened in 2009, included a boardwalk and a site-specific work by the artist George Trakas sponsored by the Dia Foundation. The next phase, completed in 2011, saw construction of two buildings, both by ARO: the River Center, an arts and environmental education center renovated from Long Dock’s historic red barn and a new pavilion for kayak storage and rentals was constructed at the center of the cove. Arcing circulation paths and tall, crested landforms distinguish the park landscape itself, framing views of the mountains and the Hudson River.

Among the original set of pilot projects for the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES), Scenic Hudson’s Long Dock Park certified successfully, ranking three out of four stars, in the summer of 2013.