Daylighting the Saw Mill River in Yonkers
INTRODUCTION
The Saw Mill River Being Covered
In December of 2010, the City of Yonkers broke ground on an imaginative and exciting project—bringing the Saw Mill River back to daylight in the downtown after having buried it in the early 1920’s for flood mitigation and sanitation management by the Army Corp of Engineers. Just before the Saw Mill River reaches the Hudson River in Yonkers, New York, it flows in a concrete flume under a parking lot known as Larkin Plaza. For this project, the base flow of the Saw Mill River will be diverted from the current underground flume into a new natural river bed and into the daylight.
The Saw Mill River Daylighting project is one of the most significant habitat restorations in the country in terms of its ecological, economic and cultural impacts. Comparable projects are rare and none have been done in the northeastern United States. The newly daylighted section of the river has the potential to revitalize a natural resource where it is most visible and will be noticed by thousands of commuters, shoppers and residents daily. The health of the river will be visible in the river’s appearance and educational exhibits hold the promise of teaching the general public about basic important ecological principles, about watersheds and the balance between human development and natural systems—particularly because the project resides in a very urban area.
The focus up until now has been on the habitat plan and critical ecological engineering work to ensure that the newly created habitat will support existing species—including the American eel and possibly other species of fish and wildlife. On the next step, Groundwork Hudson Valley (Groundwork) has partnered with Project for Public Spaces, Inc. (PPS) – to develop concepts for the interpretive elements in the new park that will investigate the Saw Mill River’s history, and how peoples’ actions and decisions have changed its ecology over the last 400 years. The overall goal of this project is to create vibrant public spaces and programs in the new Saw Mill River Park at Larkin Plaza that will engage residents and visitors in a multitude of ways so they will care for and love the park and the river.
A Community-WideDecision Making Process
Since 2007 Groundwork has been collecting ideas for the park’s interpretive elements and activities in a number of workshops and meetings. On December 20, 2010, Groundwork Hudson Valley organized a technical workshop which engaged stakeholders in vetting and refining ideas generated in earlier workshops. The groups were organized around the three themes of Education, Community Gathering and Downtown Revitalization. They were asked to identify programs and activities consistent with their respective themes, as well as events and programs located elsewhere that could be co-located in the new park. Participants also identified physical elements and amenities needed to support the activities and located them on a site plan.
A New Approach to Public Greenspace
While the project will include a richness of environmental lessons, it will not bombard people with information, but will engage them in play, in history and in nature. Creating spaces that the public “owns” through direct experiences encourages people to become stewards of the river. By becoming stewards, they learn how the river is connected to the estuary and how what they do to protect and enhance the river, protects and enhances the estuary. There are plenty of parks which have been designed without this type of engagement in mind that are not welcoming, remain underused and feel empty. Often these are places that are nice to look at, but not comfortable to be in and are thus easily neglected. The interpretive plan is intended to engage a broad crosssection of the public on many levels. It offers both opportunities for large public gatherings, as well as passive areas for quiet reading and contemplation.
1. Station Gateway Plaza- Entry plaza with a fountain and information kiosk. Seating with tables, food trucks and carts
2) Transit Area- A Bus shelter gazebo. Newspapers and flyers about events
3. River Interpretive Zone- Tidal pool and shallow riffles for demonstrations. Daylight Bridge with a narrative about the river
4. Library/Flora Zone - Library reading room and story-telling area. Artistic benches and amenities, DMV waiting area
5. Saw Mill river Stage- Wood dock amphitheater for performances and flexible exhibit area. Grass upper level for seating under trees. Other movable seating and lounge chairs
6. Wildlife Play Area- Play structures in the shape of local fish and animals
7. Industrial Park- Mechanical, hands-on waterplay structures. Gazebo with information
8. Flexible Programming Space- Multi-purpose space when street is closed. Performance area, farmers market, outdoor dining or event area, exhibit space.
9) Overlook Park/Rain Garden- Enslaved Africans’ Rain Garden with Benches overlooking river
10) Downtown Yonkers Gateway to the Park- Vertical elements to announce park. Wayfinding Signage and maps. Umbrellas, tables, movable seating. Vending Carts
Informational Articles about Daylighting in General:
“Giving New Life to Streams: Tales from Two Towns,” from The National Park Service Rivers & Trails Program website: http://www.nps.gov/rtca.
“Daylighting: New Life for Buried Streams,” Richard Pinkham, Rocky Mountain Institute 2000.
Drawings, maps and graphics showing the historical flow of the Saw Mill River and the construction of the flume will be coming soon to this website.
For information contact
Ann-Marie Mitroff
Director of River Programs
Groundwork Hudson Valley/Saw Mill River Coalition
22 Main St., 2nd Floor
Yonkers, NY 10701
(914) 375-2151
Cell: (914) 815-5872
annmarie@groundworkhv.org
