Sojourner Truth State Park in Ulster County gets facelift

KINGSTON, N.Y. — Four months ago, construction crews began a $5 million facelift at a sprawling waterfront landscape to turn it into a bona fide New York state park along the Hudson River.

The work is a collaborative effort among the state Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, and Scenic Hudson, a Poughkeepsie-based environmental group with a focus on protecting open spaces from potential development.

The renovations at Sojourner Truth State Park — a 519-acre site once considered for a large-scale housing complex — include a variety of amenities and “has progressed with great momentum,” Scenic Hudson Director of Communications Riley Johndonnell said.

He said the project involves the creation of an “inviting” gathering space, including a shade pavilion, waterfront railing, seating, landscaping, interpretive signage, and an accessible trail. The work was awarded to Baker Brothers/Kingston Equipment Rental, Inc., in West Hurley, “assuring seamless construction coordination,” Johndonnell said.

“Extreme heat and extraordinary rainfalls made for unexpected challenges, but construction remains on track for completion this fall,” Johndonnell said in an email.

Scenic Hudson said, “Work on the River Pavilion Trail has been substantially roughed out to create the ADA-compliant trail connecting with the Empire State Trail at the north. The new trail will provide elevated views of the river with a side overlook before continuing downward toward the riverfront.”

This portion of the trail will be paved by late this month.

Substantially advancing Scenic Hudson’s work at the waterfront, steel framing for the future 2,000-square-foot pavilion has been installed, giving shape to the riverfront platform.

“A unique timber ceiling will provide a solid shade cover over picnic tables and bench seating,” Scenic Hudson said. “In an area with few trees, the pavilion will be a welcome destination and respite from sun and rain.”

During the next few weeks, the contractor will be working to complete the concrete riverfront platform and set salvaged boulders and reclaimed granite (secured by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission) that will serve as informal seating and an edge for native plantings at the river’s edge, the organization said.

The granite was salvaged from the former James A. Farley Post Office building in Manhattan as part of the redevelopment of Penn Station.

The platform will be outfitted with a new guardrail to allow “safe access for fishing and a place to watch boats and wildlife on the active river,” Scenic Hudson said. “As weather cools in early fall, native plantings, meadow and lawn areas will be established across the entire construction site,” the environmental group said. “A stone dust plaza will be one of the final touches in completing the new park attraction.”

In addition to the waterfront improvements, Scenic Hudson will be installing benches and interpretive signs at various overlook locations along trails already open for hiking. Interpretive themes will touch on the brick and cement manufacturing history, the land’s dramatic morphological change, and the resulting ecological recovery.

Scenic Hudson has committed $3.8 million to this project and New York state has committed $1.1 million. In addition, the state is designing future improvements to the park.

In 2019, Scenic Hudson purchased the land from AVR Realty of Yonkers, then sold it to the state.

The most recent Scenic Hudson purchase came earlier this year with the acquisition of 180 acres in the town of Ulster at the Hudson River waterfront. Scenic Hudson purchased the property for $4.9 million from Kingston Capital Group, according to Scenic Hudson and town of Ulster officials.

The newly protected land is located directly north of Sojourner Truth State Park.

Scenic Hudson’s recent purchase of the waterfront land in the town of Ulster bolstered the environmental group’s funded portfolio to nearly 22,000 acres of forever-protected land in Ulster and Dutchess counties, the organization has said.

Photos: Continued construction of Sojourner Truth State Park

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