Save the Dates
Stewart Park Rehabilitation Action Plan Public Meeting
The Tompkins Chamber of Commerce and City of Ithaca are working to rehabilitate Stewart Park and it's time for your ideas to be heard! Come to the Large Pavilion to discuss a collective vision for Stewart Park. For more information, see below!
For a Stewart Park Survey Form to share your ideas about the park, click here for pdf file. Or email info@cayugawaterfronttrail.com and we will email you the file. Specify whether you want pdf or MS Word format. Thank you for your input.
Stewart Park Rehabilitation Action Plan Begins
Stewart Park at the turn of the 20th century was both a quiet lakeside park and a popular waterfront gathering place for both City residents and visitors. New and elegantly designed facilities, including the picnic and dance pavilions, water tower, bandstand, Renwick Pier, and the Cascadilla Boathouse were linked to the City by the Ithaca Street Railway and to many popular lake resorts by steamboats. While still a very popular waterfront destination, many park buildings and landscapes are in need of rehabilitation.
The Strategic Tourism Planning Board awarded CWTI $15,000 to develop the Stewart Park Rehabilitation Action Plan (SPRAP). SPRAP will engage our community in a visioning process for Stewart Park so that it can once again become a source of civic pride for residents and an attractive waterfront destination for visitors. Project goals are to:
Develop a prioritized action plan of park rehabilitation and enhancements projects
Explore long-term management strategies for our waterfront parks and trails
A public meeting to solicit public input about the park will be held on Tuesday, July 29 at the Large Pavilion in Stewart Park.
Cayuga Waterfront Trail
Ithaca is in the process of planning and building a great Waterfront Trail. We encourage you to get out and enjoy the first phase of the Cayuga Waterfront Trail, a 2-mile loop in Cass Park. Click here for more information on the completed section of the Cayuga Waterfront Trail in Cass Park. When all three phases are finished, the Cayuga Waterfront Trail will be a 6-mile multi-use trail that links Ithaca’s favorite waterfront destinations including Cass Park, Inlet Island, the Ithaca Farmers Market, Newman Municipal Golf Course, Stewart Park, and the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce and the Ithaca/Tompkins County Convention and Visitors Bureau
Phase 2 , a 1.5 mile trail linking Cass Park to Ithaca's amazing Farmers Market, is now in the design and easement acquisition phase. No timetable has been established for completing the easement acquisition phase, but it is hoped that this can be sorted out this year so that construction can occur in 2009 or 2010. The Cayuga Waterfront Trail Initiative is raising $75,000 to meet its $200,000 Phase 2 fundraising goal to match a federal $488,000 TEA 21 Enhancement Grant and $112,000 City funding. To learn more or to get involved in our Phase 2 trail development effort, click here .
Phase 3 of Cayuga Waterfront Trail will be a 2.5 mile section connecting the Ithaca Farmers Market to Stewart Park and the Tompkins County Visitor Center. The City has hired a consultant team to prepare construction drawings for Phase 3 and is planning for 2009 construction. Special thanks to Representative Maurice Hinchey who recently announced that he had secured $960,000 for Phase 3 in the 2006 Federal Transportation Bill (SAFETEA - Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act). This is great news for the trail and will allow us to complete the first three phases by 2010.
The Cayuga Waterfront Trail Initiative (CWTI) is a partnership between the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce Foundation and the City of Ithaca to develop the Cayuga Waterfront Trail.
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