For a lot of people, large purchases are a matter of cobbling together cash from many different sources – a loan from Grandma, selling some stuff on eBay, working extra hours.
Walkway Over the Hudson is going through a similar process in its drive to turn the Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge into a pedestrian walkway. The Money Fairy isn’t just going to drop the estimated $30 million needed for the project in organizers’ laps, so the Walkway people have been talking to a lot of different sources – the state and federal government, local agencies and private donors. And they’ve been getting results.
Last week, the Dutchess County Industrial Development Agency announced they would present Walkway with a $500,000 grant. The news was welcome to the group, which is about at the halfway point in their campaign. Nearly $14 million in state, federal, local and private funds have been committed, and the group is expecting an additional $8 million in next year’s state budget.
Steve Densmore, press liaison for the Dyson Foundation, which has ponied up $2 million for the project, said the group is working hard to close the fund gap. “Writing grants, pursuing funds from private, government and corporate sources,” is a major part of the effort, Densmore said. He added that naming-rights opportunities will be looked at, and specific grants will be sought for specific aspects of the project, like the elevator envisioned for the Poughkeepsie side, estimated at $1.6 million. “There are a lot of opportunities that we very confident that, if we pursue them, we can realize our goal,” said Densmore.
Support will continue
“The Dutchess County IDA is 100 percent behind Walkway Over the Hudson and the refurbishment of the railroad bridge. We feel that it will be the centerpiece of Dutchess County tourism for generations to come,” Dutchess County IDA Chairman Michael Tomkovitch, stated in a release, adding that the funds would become available immediately to help with pending construction costs at the 120-year-old railroad bridge
Walkway Chairman Fred Schaeffer was grateful. “I want to thank Mike Tomkovitch and the Dutchess County IDA for supporting Walkway with such a significant investment at such a key time,” said Schaeffer.
Walkway’s plan is to have the bridge all set for next year’s Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration. Walkway officials announced that bids for the initial demolition phase of the project have been received and that contracts would soon be completed. “We’ll be able to announce the date of our groundbreaking ceremony soon,” said Walkway Executive Director Amy Husten. “It will be an event culminating more than a decade of struggle to preserve and find an exciting new use for this historic treasure spanning the Hudson River.”