Memorial Park Projects set to breakground - January 18, 2024 Please join us at Memorial Park on Thursday, January 18, 2024 at 2pm.
The Village of Nyack is delighted to announce that we will be implementing an extensive yearlong restoration and set of improvements to our most treasured asset — Memorial Park along the Hudson River waterfront. Unfortunately, this work will close parts of the park for much of the 2024 year, but the investments that we make this year will pay off for Nyack and Rockland County residents for years to come.
We will be having a public event celebrating the groundbreaking of the work at Memorial Park on January 18th, 2024 at 2PM at the Gazebo, and will be joined by representatives of the County government that provided the funding for the work, including our County Executive Ed Day, as well as members of our Village Government and the wonderful volunteer members of our Nyack Parks Commission and Nyack Parks Conservancy.
Here is an overview of the projected, presented as a FAQ for all aspects of the restoration.
Q. What improvements are we making?
The work we are doing is extensive, making the following improvements:
1. Great Lawn Restoration
The Great Lawn, which is the largest and most important feature in the park, has gotten really rough and beaten down. We are performing a complete restoration of the lawn, including a “to the roots” re-seeding of the lawn. This will include the entire lawn, including the small baseball field and the “goat path” from Piermont Avenue down to the lawn. This is going to be the most disruptive part of the restoration, because we need to do the re-seeding in the early spring and keep people off the lawn for several months to let the new seed take root.
2. ADA Access Road and Entry Gate
We installed a new entry gate at Depew Avenue to provide pedestrian access to the park in June 2023. This year, we will be creating a new access road from the parking lot to the playground and bathrooms that will be ADA compliant and include an ADA pathway to the Splash Pad.
3. Playground Resurfacing Project
Parts of the playground will have safety surfacing installed, some areas will still have woodchips, but all fall zones will have safety surfacing installed.
4. Playground Equipment
A new playground for 2–5-year-olds will be installed, the entry gate to the playground will be relocated and a new ADA asphalt walkway inside the playground area will be constructed.
Q. What parts of the park will remain open during the work?
While the work is going on, the public will still have access to many of the features of Memorial Park, including:
- The entire upper park lawn along Piermont Avenue.
- The public bathrooms adjacent to the Playground.
- The basketball court.
- The skatepark.
- The gazebo.
- The waterfront picnic area.
- The viewing pier.
- The pathway entrance from the Marina Parking Lot.
Access to some of these features might be compromised from time to time during the construction process, but we hope to keep them open for most of the year.
Q. Which parts of the park will be closed, and for how long?
The Great Lawn will be closed when construction begins in that area, that will be determined by weather. Seeding is scheduled for after April 15, 2024, and then the lawn area will be closed until at least September to allow the seed to take root. The exact date of the reopening will depend on the weather, how well the grass takes root, and other variables that we can’t predict in advance.
The Playground will be closed in mid-January, and will probably be closed until April or May. Hopefully, we can have it open by the time we start getting better weather.
Although we will be working aggressively to complete the work on schedule, we all know that construction projects can be delayed by any number of complications, including weather. We will provide updates during the year in our weekly newsletter to advise about any changes to the schedule.
Q. What about the Fourth of July Fireworks?
We do not expect the Great Lawn to be open for the Fourth of July fireworks, but we will be making a major change to the fireworks show by moving it offshore to a barge in the Hudson. This will allow for a larger viewing area, allowing people to watch the fireworks from Memorial Park waterfront picnic area, the Memorial Park parking lot, the basketball court, the skatepark, the Playground, and parts of the Marina Parking Lot. By moving the fireworks offshore, we should also make them more visible from the upper lawn of the park, which will be open all year.
Q. What about the weekly summer “Music on the Hudson” concerts by the Nyack Parks Conservancy?
The Music on the Hudson series will likely continue this summer, but only on the upper lawn of Memorial Park.
Q. How’s it being paid for?
The work is being entirely funded by the county’s Rockland Resilient Recreation Grant Program, which itself was funded by the federal American Rescue Plan Act. The County awarded the Village of Nyack almost $795,000 in ARPA funds to Memorial Park Improvements, which have been allocated as follows:
- $200,000 for the Great Lawn Restoration
- $200,000 for the ADA Access Road and Entry Gate
- $200,000 for safety surfacing
- $195,000 for new Playground equipment and pathway
We are grateful to County Executive Ed Day, the County Legislature, and everyone at the County of Rockland for awarding these funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.
Q. Who is doing the work?
The work was subject to competitive bidding, which was won by Paladino Concrete Creations. The design work was provided by H2M Architects and Engineers.
Q. Who made the decisions about the work?
The decisions about all the Memorial Park improvements were made by the Village administration, the Village Board, and the Nyack Parks Commission in coordination with the Rockland County government that funded the projects. The work was discussed at multiple public Village Board meetings throughout 2023, where the board received significant input from members of the public that guided our decisions.
You can contact us at (845) 358-0548, or visit www.Nyack-NY.gov.
