Walkway Over the Hudson has been awarded a $500,000 New York State Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) grant to help finance the local nonprofit’s ambitious goal of transforming the historic Poughkeepsie Highland Railroad Bridge into the world’s longest elevated pedestrian park by 2009.
On Nov. 29, Governor Eliot Spitzer announced $25.3 million in EPF grants awarded to local communities and organizations across New York State to assist with waterfront revitalization projects, historic preservation efforts, expanding open space, and increasing access to public lands. Walkway’s ongoing effort to preserve and transform the historic structure spanning the Hudson River in time for the 2009 Henry Hudson Quadricentennial Celebration received a $500,000 EPF grant.
“We are extremely gratified at the state’s growing enthusiasm for this project,” said Walkway Executive Director Amy Husten in a statement after learning of the award. “We’d like to thank Governor Spitzer and New York State for sharing our lofty but reachable vision for the Poughkeepsie Highland Railroad Bridge.”
“This vital funding helps make cultural and recreational opportunities available to all New Yorkers and countless visitors, and contributes to the economic revitalization of our state,” said Gov. Spitzer in a statement. “Funding for local communities and organizations to undertake these important environmental projects will preserve and protect our valuable natural resources and promote New York’s rich historic and cultural tradition.”
Walkway Chairman Fred Schaeffer explained that turning the Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge into a public cycling and pedestrian park would bring enormous benefits to the communities on both sides of the Hudson River. “Along with preserving an important part of America’s history, we expect that both Dutchess and Ulster counties will reap significant economic benefits from increased tourism, job creation, added taxes and so forth,” said Schaeffer.
The EPF, created in 1993, is primarily funded through the real estate transfer tax and provides a dedicated source of funding for a variety of environmental projects and programs administered by the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Department of Agriculture and Markets.
When it was completed in 1888, the Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge was the longest bridge in the world. A 6,767-foot engineering marvel, it was the first Hudson River bridge to be built between Albany and New York City, opening a new vein of commerce between New England and the Western states. After the 1974 fire led to its demise as a railroad bridge, it went unattended until the mid-1990s when Walkway Over the Hudson commenced its grassroots preservation effort.
Walkway Over the Hudson can be reached at 845-790-6334 or by e-mail at walkway@walkway.org. Walkway Over the Hudson maintains an office in the Cunneen-Hackett Cultural Center at 9 Vassar Street, Poughkeepsie.