Yeah. So once we get I think it's slide 18 or something. Once we get there, I'll just hand it off to you guys, and you can
• Great.
• Okay. You can explain if that if that works. So that way, don't have to switch screen shares or whatever.
• Hey, Carl. Hey. How are you? Frank, how are doing tonight?
• Hey, guys.
• Thank you everyone for joining us tonight. I'm Brian Healy, village manager for Croton On Hudson,
• and I'm joined here by, trustee Norrell Nicholson
• and superintendent of public works, Frank Balby,
• as well as John Sullivan and Carl Ackerman from Sullivan Architecture.
• And so we're having this Zoom meeting tonight to go over,
• Govea Park, kind of give a a history of the park, a brief history of the park,
• what has been done in the years since the village,
• took
• ownership of the of the property.
• And then,
• we have some
• slides that show the future vision
• for the park. And then we'll have a question and answer period,
• after the slides are done, and, you know, we look forward to
• getting some feedback from the public.
• So with that being said, I will start going through the slides here.
• So this is just a brief overview
• of the agenda,
• giving the overview of the terms of the gift, the park today, the vision for tomorrow,
• the financials, what we spent to date, and
• what is remaining in the endowment,
• public comment, and then next steps.
• So Govea Park, located at 1300 Albany Post Road in Cronin And Hudson is the former home of John and Laurel Govea.
• It is a 15.69
• acre property,
• and the house on the property was built in 1967
• and gifted to the village, through the, the will of,
• Laurel Coveia in 2013.
• After some necessary site work was done, the park was opened to the public in 2017.
• The terms of the gift, which again was done through the the last will and testament of missus Govea,
• was that the property is required to be kept as a public park,
• and the property cannot be closed off to the public. It has to remain open to the public.
• The property has to maintain the name Govea Park
• and maintain certain statues on the property.
• And along with the gift of the property,
• missus Koveya donated a $1,000,000
• endowment
• for the care and upkeep of the property.
• So Akuvaya Park today, you're there are a number of walking trails.
• It's open green space for passive recreation
• as well as a sledding hill, which I have heard has been very popular this
• year with all the snow.
• In 2024, the board of trustees amended the law to allow dogs on leash in Govea Park. It's one of three parks in the village that allow dogs on leash.
• There's also a number of picnic
• benches
• for picnicking.
• Some recreation program has taken place there.
• Most recently, we have a partnership with the Rewilding School to do a number of programs.
• This this winter, one of the programs they were doing is maple tapping, how to get maple sugar
• out of the trees.
• There is a portable restroom there during the
• on season or the the open season for those sorts of things.
• And then,
• generally, the park is open dawn dusk all year round.
• So over the years, there's been three
• separate
• groups or committees that have looked at Kouvea Park.
• Shortly after the property was acquired in 2014, an initial ad hoc committee was formed. A second committee,
• came about in 2018 and 2019 to plan community uses for the property.
• And then lastly, in 2024, a working group of, for Govea was formed.
• And that initial ad hoc committee was created to advise on compatible uses for the property within the terms of the will.
• It recommended accessibility,
• parking, signage, landscaping, and security upgrades for the property,
• and emphasized the need to have continued community engagement.
• And then the second ad hoc committee in 2018, 2019,
• conducted extensive stakeholder outreach to members of the community.
• It built upon the work that was done in the 2015 report that came out of the 2014
• committee
• and then established a vision for Govea as a center for art and culture.
• And so that 2019 report,
• you know, we made a word cloud out of the report that showed
• what were the biggest themes in there. And so as you can see, the larger the words, the bigger
• the the more times that they were used in the report showing their
• showing the the importance of them. So, you know, the house at Kovea,
• people saw it as a place for performances,
• comedy, retreats, classes, events, meetings.
• And then for the property, they saw it for workshops,
• outdoor events,
• classes,
• trails,
• gardens, playgrounds, and art and theater.
• So taking those two reports,
• you know, what's envisioned for the house is
• programming,
• arts programming, performances, workshops, community meetings, and private events.
• And then the outdoors will consist of trails, potentially a sculpture garden, a natural playground,
• a meadow habitat,
• markets, and performances.
• And these would be a mix of free and revenue generating
• events to support support the sustainability of the property.
• So based off those two reports,
• as well as the work of the working group in 2024,
• a Friends of Croton Parks is in the process of being established.
• And this nonprofit group,
• which is separate from the village,
• would be,
• fundraising
• and seeking out grants for work at the property.
• The village board hired an architect to
• plan the house conversion,
• and there was a commitment to continued public dialogue such as we're doing this evening.
• So just as a a recap in the ten years,
• for little bit more than ten years since the property was acquired, there was an environmental assessment of the property
• that was done prior to the transfer in 2013 as well as some repairs and remediation based on that assessment.
• In the phase two of the project in 2016,
• the gravel parking lot was constructed. There was tree maintenance done on the property,
• various repairs on the property, which cost about $315,000
• from the endowment.
• And then in phase three in 2024,
• three outbuildings on the property,
• which were, a caretaker's
• office and,
• two garages,
• were taken down due to safety reasons, and that cost about $13,000
• from the endowment.
• So currently,
• in this, current year, the board of trustees has approved spending a $100,000 on design work, and that money is coming from the endowment.
• So to date, we've spent about $42,500
• with Sullivan Architecture,
• and the board has approved a proposal
• from
• Imbiano Quigley Landscape Architects
• for $23,500.
• That work has not yet begun.
• And then in regards to site improvements, the board has authorized $500,000
• from the endowment.
• As I mentioned, the removal of the outbuildings,
• that work has been completed.
• The construction of a sewer main
• from Albany Post Road to the property,
• that was about $50,000,
• and that work has been completed.
• And then the site work for 2026
• includes updating and replacing the driveway to the house, drainage, fencing, lighting on the property,
• and that's all estimated to cost about $400,000.
• And then lastly, there's asbestos and lead paint
• testing for the house,
• which is pending currently, and that's about $5,000.
• So the current balance in the endowment as of yesterday,
• basically, is $662,000.
• The board approved expenditures on the property in the twenty twenty five, twenty twenty six capital plan, as I just mentioned.
• This work will begin in the coming months, and that's the $400,000
• that was mentioned on the previous slide. So the endowment will have roughly $260,000
• left in it
• accounting for,
• these expenditures as well. So the endowment is growing with the interest that it earns, so, you know, it does replenish some of the money that we spend.
• So suggestions and possible future work for the property,
• and this is where the landscape architect will come in to kind of help with some of these potential ideas.
• The pond on the property is in need of some maintenance
• to return it to its former
• former glory.
• The bridge and gazebo or
• portico that is near the pond, those will either need to be fixed or removed.
• There's been discussion about installing a three season structure somewhat like the pavilion that we have at
• Senasqua to allow for
• three season use at the in the park itself.
• The Quonset Hut,
• discussion on potentially replacing that with,
• an all weather structure for some sort of,
• pottery studio,
• perhaps a kiln or some other space for,
• art classes.
• Add a bathroom to the property, which is,
• obviously a needed a needed thing
• for any sustained use.
• Improve the trails.
• There's a lot of property here as you'll see on one of the, following slides. The the properties, it you know, it's six almost 16 acres, so it's quite it's quite large. So it has room to have its own trail network.
• Potentially, a space for a community garden. The village has two community gardens already at the municipal building and Silver Lake Park, and there's usually a waiting list for those
• spaces.
• So there would seem to be a need for some additional community garden space
• and potentially relocating the dog park.
• Either relocating the dog park to Govee or perhaps opening a second dog park area
• is something that can be looked at as well. So as it says down here, no money has been allocated for these projects at this point. This is all something that the, as I said, the landscape architect is gonna look at, get some community input,
• have discussion with direct department,
• the village board, the RAC,
• and try to come up with a plan for the for the grounds.
• So the house on the property,
• that has been renamed in honor of Angeli, our longtime
• former village trustee and deputy mayor. It's the Angeli REAL Center, and REAL stands for recreation, events, arts, and learning.
• And this the building itself will have
• arts and culture programming, classes, community events, be available for rent rental for
• community events as well, as well as family parties,
• conferences,
• whatever whatever
• could potentially
• need a space in the village.
• And it will be the home the future home of the recreation department on the Ground Floor.
• Okay. And so I'm gonna hand it over to Sullivan now to kind of walk us through
• the
• schematic designs that they've put together. As it says here, Sullivan was hired by the village last year to start working on the house
• plans. We previously worked for Sullivan before on
• the renovations to the Harmon Firehouse, and so we were very pleased with their work, and we're happy to bring them on board for this project.
• You know, the scope was to try to design a functional community space out of what was a private residence.
• So certainly not an easy task to do,
• as well as,
• figuring out a comfortable working space for the recreation department,
• upgrading the house to be ADA compliant,
• and, you know, they've they've really put together,
• what I think is a good plan for that for the space and,
• being able to accomplish all these goals. So with that said, I will hand it over to John and Carl.
• As introduced, I'm John Sullivan. Sorry. I'm a little bit in the dark here. Guess the lighting in my home isn't quite what it should be for for this. But, I'm also joined with my colleague, Carl Ackerman,
• who will, two of us will run you through a little bit what we've prepared for the village.
• First of all, I will say as architects,
• this is an awesome awesome building.
• As I'm sure many of you know, and you can probably even see from this one image that's up on here,
• this was, as we stated, an existing residence initially,
• and it's an all glass building on the upper level.
• Many of you may be familiar with or not, but with the infamous glass house that was originally designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, this is very much on par with that type of building.
• So
• it actually makes for a very interesting,
• structure
• for this intended purpose,
• a community space,
• an arts facility.
• It lends itself wonderfully for that type of activity.
• If you guys wanted to make a theater out of this, well, then we would probably have to, like, get rid of all that glass. But in any event, it's it's a nice opportunity for us. So,
• let's go to the next slide.
• So what we have done is that we've looked at that's the site plan. Brian mentioned a moment ago that it's an interesting piece of property with lots of terrain changes, and our colleagues at IQ,
• and John and began on particularly, who's quite familiar with this site,
• It will be brought on to help with generate the site plan for this. But as you guys can see,
• the house is situated in almost in the center of the property,
• but all the way at the left edge of the of the of the property line,
• you can see it almost in the center right there with a with a an existing driveway that leads up to that. There's very, very, very little parking
• today because it was a residence. It didn't need
• community parking or large parking areas. So finding locations
• for parking,
• which is shown here a little bit on this plan, is at least an initial step as to seeing how that could be incorporated into this property
• along with rooks, you know, paths and so on to get from one place to another. So this will be looked at, quite a bit in the future. It but it's a pretty awesome site to lend itself for this type of use.
• The next the next slide shows
• our elevations
• of the building.
• Well, I think we jumped all the way up to four here. We skipped over the plan
• for for some reason.
• But I want to just talk about the lower level plan if we could. Carl, I don't know. Are you controlling the the slides here? Brian has it. Yep. Oh, Brian has it. Sorry. Is this where you're looking for this one? Yeah. Yep. Go. Perfect. There
• Thanks, Brian. Yep.
• This is a floor plan of the of the lower level of the building.
• And the area that you guys see that's in shade
• is at approximately a 675
• square foot addition
• to the left or what is the south side of the building
• and
• on the lower level as well as on the upper level.
• Predominantly because
• this shaded area here with its own separate entrance will serve as the entrance for the parks department offices.
• We've laid it out.
• The layout of their office space certainly is open to discussion. It's really drawn
• as a as a diagram to show them what can be, you know, achieved within that space in terms of office space,
• an entry area,
• a a new separate entry.
• So if people are coming there, for example, to sign up
• for camp or for for other activities,
• the whole building doesn't need to be opened.
• So we maintain some level of security,
• not that that's, I would think, an important aspect, but it gives some separation between
• the parks department operations and offices on a daily basis, and then the rest of the building that may be used for public purposes and for arts facilities.
• It's a pretty unique building. It's gonna require, as you can see right in the middle of that plan. I don't if we can point to it or not. Maybe we can blow it up a little bit,
• you guys. But the building will need an elevator
• to be installed to connect the Ground Floor Level with the Upper Floor to make it obviously handicap accessible,
• along with restrooms that will have to be,
• constructed for those purposes.
• And then the 2nd Floor of the plan
• really,
• is all about the arts spaces.
• Can we jump to that next floor plan there, Brian? There you go. Yep. You can see to the left, the shaded area is the same floor area of what's below.
• So there's multiple spaces here
• that could be used for
• public
• presentations,
• art exhibits,
• art classes,
• whatever,
• you know, that
• organization wants to use the space for.
• It needs new bathrooms.
• The decks we are proposing to make, particularly on the, West Side, which overlooks the the Hudson River, which you can see on the top of the page here, enhance that deck area for outdoor purposes.
• So you've got really a pretty a pretty pretty nice opportunity here to make this building both from a from an operational's point of view, I e, the parks department,
• as well as into
• other parks uses and arts affiliates and and organizations that could use it.
• The elevations, which you guys can see in the next few slides,
• we've just, put together at this point to just show some of the alterations.
• Now that's a roof plan. Nobody wants to be bothered with dealing with that right now. But
• you you can see here yeah. We we need to do that for a lot of reasons. Right? Technical reasons.
• But in any event, the building obviously needs work from a building code point of view and,
• you know, compliance with energy code, etcetera, particularly when we're dealing with an all glass of building.
• So,
• there's gonna be some adjustments to this. Well, we believe we can achieve all of that and still maintain the architectural character of this building as it existed today, which we
• admittedly,
• as architects, feel very strong about wanting to do. I mean, it's a what a wonderful opportunity to have all of this light in a in a space such as this.
• So,
• you know, the building really,
• I mean, Carl, if you wanna expand on this a bit more, can can really,
• expand and and provide the village
• with a with a with an opportunity.
• And that's how we like to look at this. We like to look at where does the opportunity exist
• for the community.
• And as long as we can hit that goal,
• then that's our job.
• And if we're
• not looking at this in the right way, then you guys tell us that. And, you know, for example, if you wanted to make it into a blacks black box theater, we would lose all the glass. But if that's what the community wanted, then, well, then we can look at the opportunity to do that.
• So,
Cole, you wanna add anything to this? Yeah. But, basically, the the roof right now has a mansard on it that
• is pretty beat up, and, the roof needs some major work. So we're proposing overhangs that would cover the existing
• wraparound porch.
• That's a great opportunity on this building. That's where we're showing the new cable rails. The building right now has no railings.
• So I don't know how it existed that way, but someone could fall off. But
• we're we're showing all new railings,
• and then that same railing in this deck would connect to the back deck. So it's gonna be a really nice
• walk around the building to look at the views and see people coming, going. It'd be really nice. And the the back porch with those amazing views.
• The the building will be
• designed to meet, obviously, the it's new building codes now, but it was stretch code. So the super insulated addition, and we would look to put a lot of insulation in the roof in the lower level so we can really work on keeping as much glass as possible on the upwell.
I just wanna contribute that. The existing building, by the way Right. Is about is about
• just
• under 2,200
• square feet on a floor.
• I'm
• sorry. 1,100 square feet on floor. So the existing building is about 2,200
• square feet, and we're getting about 1,350.
• So when we're done with this with this plan that we're showing you today, you'd have a building that's about 3,544
• square feet total on two floors.
• That that's quite an that's quite a nice enhancement, particularly for a public use such as this, and there could be a a lot of potential
• for that size of a building. It's not that big, but it's also functional in terms of what its intended uses are.
• So
• what else we have to show here?
Yeah. I I think I think that's it. But that that Brian and and everyone, that's pretty much an an upshot of where we are at this point. And, you know, any contributions that, the village and the parks department and any of the commune committees wanna provide for us as we move forward with this, we'll incorporate into this building.
• as to next steps,
• right, in 2026,
• the the grounds will be under construction
• for a good part of the year as we get some of those upgrades done that we talked about.
• We'll also be working with the landscape architect to get further feedback from the public
• on the potential improvements on the grounds.
• We're going to be looking at whatever grant opportunities there are for the village to,
• apply for to support the house and the property use.
• There will be some capital considerations from the board of trustees for phased improvements on the property,
• and we'll be working with the newly formed Friends of Gordon Parks as,
• a new nonprofit.
• They're partnered with the Westchester Parks Foundation
• to independently fundraise for Govea and all our parks.
• And we hope to have more programming there to get people to the park, whether it's concerts, movie nights, photography classes.
• As I mentioned, the rewilding school does programs there
• most of the year.
• There's a lot of opportunities for people to
• to visit the property.
• So,
• before I open it up for,
• public comment,
• trustee Nicholson, do you have anything you wanna add?
Thanks, Brian. Thank you everyone for being here. You know, I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone for, coming out and listening.
• You know, this is a work in progress
• for the village. So, you know, we're we're here to hear your feedback.
• There's still a lot of decisions that need to be made going forward,
• but, you we wanted to get everyone's eyes on the opportunities
• that could exist at the at Quabaya Park in the future.
• So thank you.
• Okay.
• So,
• we'll open it up now to public
• public feedback.
• If you'd like to,
• ask a question
• or give a comment, please use the raise hand feature
• on Zoom,
• and we will
• invite you to comment.
• Okay. So we have our first hand
• raised by Michael Balter.
• Mister Balter, go ahead.
Yeah. Could you just say a little bit more about the new Friends of Croton Parks?
• Are there people involved in it that, you know, names
• we would know?
• And how would people go about joining that new group?
• and we are just starting to form the organization
• now. So we've got two
• two folks that are
• will are leading the organization, but we've got several community members that are part of the organization.
• It is a separate entity from the village. It's it's going to be physically sponsored by the Westchester Parks Foundation,
• and they are meeting monthly.
• So, if anyone would like to or is interested,
• I can certainly put you in contact with the
• with the people that are running that group.
• Right? Yes. Yeah. So we'll have that information. Meeting, via Zoom, so stay tuned for that.
• Okay.
• Joel Gingold is next. Go ahead, mister Gingold.
• Can you hear me? Yes. We can.
• I I should preface everything by saying
• I'm a Govea Park skeptic and have been since day
• excuse me, day one.
• But just to get started,
• you indicated in the introduction there would be a
• fiscal review,
• which we haven't heard. Have number one, have any estimates been made of the cost
• of all of these things you're planning to do?
• And if so, what is it?
• And finally, where do you expect to get the money from?
• Are you proposing
• all grants and so forth?
• And will you actually start work on the property
• before the money is raised?
• The
• second point,
• and I think the whole thing is being done backwards.
• I think the thing that was needed to be done was to decide,
• in general, what would the facility be used for
• almost on a week by week basis,
• at which point the architects
• can focus
• on that. And
• what I'm getting to in this is
• we already have several venues in the village. We have performances.
• We have concerts.
• We have art shows. We have film showings
• on and on and on and on in churches,
• in the temple,
• in the library,
• in the high school,
• in the council on the arts,
• space
• underneath the black cow and so on.
• Are you basically saying you're gonna throw all that away? You're gonna cancel everything and bring everything here to Govea
• so that whatever
• types of functions
• we're gonna have will be here out of Govea, which, let's be honest, is a horribly inconvenient
• space.
• So I'll I'll try to answer your questions in order.
• The,
• sorry. Hold on.
• So the the site work has been estimated to cost about $400,000.
• Right? That work is gonna be undertaken by DPW,
• super you know, supervised and partially undertaken by DPW this year.
• We have gotten some rough estimates for the work on the house. It exceeds what we have in the endowment.
• So the village has been
• trying to seek out grants for that work. We applied for two grants
• during the 2025 calendar year,
• both to New York State. One was through the office of state parks,
• and one was through the consolidated funding application.
• We the village was unsuccessful
• with both of those grants,
• and we continue to
• seek out grant funding. And that's partially the reason why
• we've worked with some of our residents to create this Friends of Gordon Parks group because they're able to independently
• seek out
• funds
• and
• apply for certain grants that the village is not eligible for as a municipality
• in hopes of being able to raise the funds needed
• for this for this work.
• don't I don't have it in front of me.
Do you happen to have it there? I I we had the billing initially estimated at about 2,300,000.
• Okay. And that that could be that that this was done
• I mean, going on almost a year ago now, Brian. So Yeah. By the time we get to this, it clearly it could be more judging how economy is. But,
• all
• all said and done, it's it's probably about a 2 and a half million dollar project.
• or would you begin work in the hopes of getting the money later?
No. I I think I mean, speaking for myself is the I would hope that we would have a
• defined funding source before we before we move forward.
• about whether or not we could phase the work on the house,
• and it was strongly recommended that we not phase
• the work on the house, that it all be done in one shot. So we would need to find the funds for the house,
• before we started work there. Frank wanted to comment on that. I'll I'll
• have him chime in.
• there's no real easy way,
• to phase that work.
• And
• phasing it really wouldn't save save any money or or or,
• sort of help us,
• you know, operationally.
• So it doesn't really make sense, unfortunately, to to to phase this this project. We would have to start it and and and,
• you know,
• do the whole plan at once.
• around the property?
• I know that came up a couple of years ago.
• I'm not sure I know what you mean by a ring road. In other words, it'd be a road a one way road that went in and all the way around and and out.
Well, so, you know, we we haven't started with the landscape architect yet. That's one of the that's that's, you know, that's the initial design that we came up with. But once we once he's on board and we start working with him,
• you know, the reason we have him is because we sort of wanna get a plan of what the entire property is gonna look like and and the best way to develop it.
• So I will say, yes, that was our initial design,
• but I can't say for sure that that's how it's how it's gonna how the final what the final design is gonna look like.
• Thank you, Joel.
• I had my other question.
• plays and concerts and art exhibitions
• and so on? Because you're talking it sounds like moving everything
• up to Govea,
• which kinda leaves these people hanging.
Well, I mean, you know, a lot a lot of the venues you mentioned, the village doesn't control. Right? Whether they're the churches or the private
• Broaden Academy of the Arts and so on. So, you know, we don't control those. People are welcome to
• stay
• to keep their regular plans. They don't have to they can continue doing what they're doing.
• You know, the the village recreation department is stymied a bit by a lack of space.
• There are
• constant requests for additional programming,
• whether it's for
• youths or
• for some adult programming,
• some additional arts programming,
• outdoor nature classes.
• You know, these are all things that with some additional space,
• the village would be able to offer,
• to the residents. And so I think that a lot of the a lot of the space there will be, used by recreation programs.
• And then, like I said, it will also be available for people who want to who want to rent it, whether it's somebody who,
• wants to get married on the grounds of the park and has their reception in the house or is having a sixtieth birthday party or, you know, whatever it might be, the, you know, the facility would be available,
• for residents to to rent.
• Okay. So we're gonna go on to our next next
• commenter
• here.
• Alright. Judy Rayer, please go ahead.
• I guess what I I'm kind of representing Croton Council on the Arts
• in this respect.
• Croton Council on the Arts is not under the black cow, as was previously stated. Croton Council on the Arts does not
• have a specific location
• in town at all.
• We
• when we do
• our art shows, art exhibits, we try to find spaces within the town to show art. Could be the library. It could be Symphony Knoll.
• It could be at the Black Cow.
• It it could be many places, but I think it would really be wonderful if we would be able to have a space at the at the at this Govea location.
• The thing that I do see about the the windows is that for a gallery for an art gallery, you need to have walls, but that could be taken up by panels.
• We used to have there used to be
• a place up at the furnace dock, the Cook pool,
• which was the Croton
• arts
• location
• where
• children could go or anybody could go and and take art lessons, and so that burnt down. There really isn't another place unless we look at, you know, the high school, etcetera. It would be really nice to be able to have a place in that
• in in that facility.
• And since it's it's by the river and it's within a garden for, like, plein air painting, etcetera, to have more places where we could actually have art classes,
• which that would that would really, really be great so we could combine, you know, nature with art.
• You know, I that's the way I see it. And and I you know, as far as the theater is concerned, I know that the grand is being used for that. But,
• you know, it it's been you know, I've been a volunteer at the Croton Council for the Arts now since probably September,
• October, and we're just, like, looking for places to show art. And it's there's it's few and far between in Croton.
• So I you know, that's something that we would be thinking about if you would consider something like that within
• the
• the building.
• when we were doing the initial work and conversations with Sullivan Architecture,
• that came up because it is a, you know, a window
• completely
• window filled building.
• So we did talk about screens and movable screens
• for showing art
• Yep. So if we if we even go back to that design of the 1st Floor,
• you can see
• I'll let the architect speak to it.
I mean, we we planned originally to to specify an elevator that it's really high cab.
• So if our panels were purchased,
• they'd be able to move them up and down between the floors if they were stored in the lower level and then brought upstairs, and then it would be set up to block the windows
• so you could use the perimeter of these spaces. Sorry.
• we were the architects for the Westchester Arts Council, Arts Westchester, and the and the conversion of the building. Actually, our offices are on the 7th Floor of that building and have been for twenty one years. But we did we did that building. And what was the originally, a large bank floor. Yeah. Today is their presentation floor for predominantly
• that the use of of panels, sliding panels,
• they they really have an interesting way
• of of multipurposing
• that space
• for the varying presentations that they use. So we're kinda familiar with what to do with that, and we knew we would have to engage in that here. And you know what? At the end of the day, if if we need to
• remove
• some of the of the glass walls for, you know, for functional purposes,
then, okay, then that's what we'll have to do. But there's solution to that. Yeah. Great. I I was just at that location actually last weekend, and it it's beautiful. You did a great job. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Yep.
• Thank you.
• Alright.
• Go ahead, Sherry.
• You can unmute yourself, Sherry.
• I'm just wondering whether you have considered
• pairing up the art
• arts and humanities
• advisory council,
• artists like Judy herself,
• with the people who are
• filling out
• funding applications.
• Because I think
• get funding for an
• arts building,
• you need to highlight
• all of the possibilities.
• And on a previous slide,
• we saw all of the possibilities
• for this space.
• And I I think it has to be part of your application
• to make it look
• attractive.
• You know, these funds
• these fund applications are very competitive.
• And we
• have, as the architects
• told us,
• a tremendous opportunity here.
• So I think if if, the artist had a part of it,
• we might be able to
• create a,
• more attractive
• application.
Yep. Thank you, Sherry. I think that's a great idea. We worked with our, our grant writer,
• in the village on the previous applications,
• but,
• giving a giving an opportunity for the arts and humanities advisory council to
• chime in would be
• would be helpful.
• You have to unmute yourself, Valerie.
• Nope.
• Maybe she changed her mind.
• Okay.
• We'll go to John Sasso.
• Go ahead, John.
• I have a question for the architect.
• Two, actually.
• One, the building looks beautiful,
• but I see that all that glass, and I wonder about heating and air conditioning and,
• you know, how you're addressing that issue because the utilities would be, you know, something very important to running the place.
• And, also, when you talk about having a lot of work to do on the roof, is solar being considered?
• So that's one question.
• And the other is
• activity suggestions.
• I think it ought to be considered there's an age group
• from 10 to 14
• other than ball fields
• at a time when kids
• hang around and just need activities. And
• there are
• skate parks and
• bike paths that
• don't take up a lot of space that have, like,
• hills that kids can go up on road bikes and do the little jumps, and they're very popular in a lot of places.
• And I'm just wondering if you're considering any of those.
Yeah. I guess, we we can answer some of those questions for you there. Hey. Listen. You know what? Solo Solo would be an awesome use for this facility. It's a it's a perfect,
• you know,
• function for a building like this that's not necessarily used
• all the time, every day,
• and you and you have a flat roof. You got all the exposure that you want.
• However,
• it is somewhat heavily wooded site,
• so it doesn't necessarily,
• you know, garnish the solar
• sub rays that you want all the time. But, you know, we hadn't looked at it that carefully, and so we will, and we can take a look to see where there's opportunity. For no other reason, then there's also, as I'm sure many of you guys may know, that there's opportunity for some funding. Although that seems to be drying up more and more, whether it was from the federal government or the state. But,
• but there's still opportunity there when we come to it, and we'll we'll look at that for sure.
• But,
• you know, the the other aspect of this is that
• the heating and and and air conditioning you know, glass is a positive sometimes,
• right, in terms of not only light,
• in terms of minimizing your electric consumption,
• depending upon when you're using it.
• But, know, there's also the use of blackout shades
• and and other opportunities
• here. You know, if we were trying to build this building new,
• would I build an old glass building for this purpose?
• Probably not.
• But there's ways of making this building
• pretty interesting in terms of
• other activities that happen there.
• Like I said, with the view corridor, I mean, it's beautiful sometimes looking across, particularly this time of year, looking out across the river.
• So, you know, we have to weigh all of those factors.
• And not all the spaces necessarily need to have the glass shining
• where where it is. As you guys can see, as you're looking at the plan that you may see on the building, that's oriented north south.
• So,
• you know, the the back of the building faces west,
• the river,
• the east to the front.
• So,
• you know, it's it's like where are we gaining the solar gain? Well, it's predominantly from the South and the West. So we can control those
• through shading and other means.
• And if it comes down to it at the end of the day, perhaps through function,
• we just discussed the arts
• uses, for example, and having having walls. Well, maybe some of those spaces that particularly those that face west
• get
• get blocked out,
• and we use the glass in the other areas.
• So,
• you know, as we navigate through this project
• and we listen to all of the potential functions that we're gonna have here as well as, you know, the operational cost, and you're absolutely correct, the operational cost for a building like this that's not a 100% used all the time on old spaces is something that needs to be looked at carefully.
• that's absolutely something that we wanna look at.
• You know,
• depending on we you know, I I'm sure you remember.
• We did have a skate park in the village, right, that k. Was used for a time and then kind of fell out of use. And so I think,
• you know, if we were gonna put in something like a a dirt bike
• park or rails or whatever it might be. That's something we wanna look at carefully, you know, obviously, with the help of the recreation advisory committee and,
• you know, determine if that was in the long term
• best interest
• of the of the village.
Yeah. I understand. I just that it there's so much adult activity that it seems it's being planned for, and I just thought that that it would be considered. Yep. Absolutely.
• Mayor, go ahead.
• Oh, there we are with me and my friend, the.
• Anyway, I wanna thank everyone for coming out tonight, viewing the presentation.
• I know that this has been a long time coming.
• A very wise once told me sometimes it takes an hour to make minute rice,
• and that's definitely
• the feels like the case here. But I think I speak for the entire board when I say we're determined to make this work worth the wait.
• And, you know, the question was raised earlier kind of, is this gonna crowd out,
• you know, other
• kind of cultural venues or existing programming?
• And I I view this and I think the rest of the board does as well, view this as really all as additive,
• and genuinely a force multiplier. I'm not. We have a very creative population,
• and, so I'm not terribly concerned,
• that there's gonna be a dearth of artwork to display
• or a a shortage of, possible programming.
• In fact, I think quite the opposite. And if we do this right,
• this is going to benefit both village residents, but also be a draw for
• visitors from around the region potentially.
• And, again, going back to this being additive and force multiplier,
• A key piece of this is moving
• the recreation department
• from Village Hall
• to the 1st Floor
• of Govea Park,
• and
• there there is some things to keep in mind. One is that the overwhelming majority of rec's,
• you know, operations are handled electronically
• at this stage, and the village hall will be available still,
• to
• process
• the remnant of paperwork that is handled in in person. They will you know, they'll very gladly receive it at the village office and make sure it gets to recreation.
• But by moving recreation,
• we're gonna be creating new public space in the very heart of the village as well. So I think that this is a real two for one opportunity.
• And,
• you know, again, I thank thank the
• presidents who came out tonight or Zoomed in,
• for watching and for their,
• contributions.
• Okay. If there's anybody else that wishes to,
• comment, please use the raise hand
• feature,
• and we will,
• we will call on you to share your thoughts.
• Okay.
• Not seeing any more hands
• at the moment.
• So,
• does anybody anybody on the panel have any final thoughts to share before we,
• before we close this evening?
• to Sullivan arc the architecture firm, Sullivan Architects, for their really thoughtful,
• presentation
• and design.
• I was part of the working group
• that kind of talked through
• the building and the various uses,
• and there were several iterations
• to,
• you know, where we are today. I'm sure there'll be many more to come, but, they were really
• wonderful wonderful partners in this. So I just wanna extend my thanks to them and just encourage all the residents that are on the call to look out for
• Friends at Croton Parks
• and that organization and how they start to build. There'll be some really exciting
• opportunities
• to raise money and support our parks in the future.
• And before we close tonight, I just wanna also thank everybody for attending
• tonight's meeting. And this video or this webinar has been recorded, and the video will be available on the village website tomorrow. So please feel free to let your friends and neighbors know that they can watch this presentation.
• And, also, just a reminder that we do have a project page for Govea Park on our website.
• If you click on projects and initiatives on the village web page,
• and go to parks and recreation,
• projects,
• that will bring you to the Govea Park improvements
• page,
• which has a whole repository of documents related to
• to Govea Park and the different
• ad hoc committees.
• This presentation will be posted on there tomorrow,
• and,
• you know, it will be updated as additional information becomes available.
• So with that being said, just, again, thank you everyone for attending,
• and have a great night.