How are we doing?
Translated from dollars to projects that are building a future for The Point, the graph above tells an exciting story.
2018 At the suggestion of Taconic Parks Regional Director Linda Cooper, CVPA sought a Parks & Trails NY (PTNY) Capacity Development Grant to prioritize steps toward saving The Point.
2019 Armed with the PTNY grant, CVPA retained four consultants to set new priorities and outline steps for moving forward.
Jan Hird Pokorny Associates reviewed the numerous studies and assessments that the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation had conducted in the interim since 1963, when the state took possession of The Point, made a new, complete assessment of conditions at the Hoyt main residence and outlined a course of action for the coming decade.
Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects became pro bono consultants for The Point’s Calvert Vaux-designed landscape and recommended that CVPA undertake a Cultural Landscape Report for the site.
Hone Strategic LLC assessed the capacity of CVPA’s Board of Directors. Hone outlined steps to build that capacity to undertake a series of ever larger capital campaigns to restore, redevelop and redeploy The Point’s Vaux-designed principal residence and 91-acre country estate landscape, as well as its early 20th century barn complex, comprising altogether more than 20,000 square feet of interior space.
TR Ravella-Hamilton initiated documentary research to support the development of a Cultural Landscape Report.
2020 With much curtailed by the Covid pandemic, CVPA wrapped up the PTNY grant and hosted a public forum that shared the grant’s findings with more than 100 participants online. A Historic Hudson Valley Landscape Photography Exhibition set in motion pre-pandemic went forward and CVPA then installed it in an online gallery during the pandemic lockdown.
2021 Supported by the Marcia Brady Tucker Foundation, CVPA produced a Cultural Landscape Report Historic Narrative conducted by Kyle Toth and Emily Cooperman from PS&S Architects & Planners. We stabilized the deteriorating South Portico at the Hoyt residence to prevent further degradation. We also sought a Hudson River Valley Greenway Trails Grant to undertake a Historic Structure Report (HSR) for the Hoyt Carriageway Bridge. Closed in 2015 after 103 years of service, the bridge had provided a gateway to the iconic picturesque experience designed by Calvert Vaux for Lydig and Geraldine Livingston Hoyt, and had given visitors and hikers access to Mills Norrie State Park and the Hudson River shoreline. Its loss was much lamented by the Staatsburg community.
2022 Greenway grant in hand, CVPA retained civil engineer Peter Melewski, LLC to complete the HSR engineering assessment for the bridge, and worked with Mr. Melewski to conduct additional engineering reviews and load rating reports needed to develop construction plans for rehabbing the structure. CVPA also conducted a national symposium, Designing the Landscape that Made America: Calvert Vaux and His Peers in the Hudson Valley, co-sponsored by Classic American Homes Preservation Trust with support from The Garden Conservancy. The weekend featured five leading historians speaking on the topic, and was attended by 100 participants. The symposium weekend also featured a special evening at Edgewater and tours of local historic landscapes.
We are happy to report that CVPA is making progress on all fronts! At the end of 2022, CVPA launched Campaign for The Point to support reopening the Hoyt Carriageway Bridge and companion projects crucial to saving the site: Stabilizations for the Hoyt Residence and Creating A Tour Program.
To give feedback on our progress, please let us know your thoughts!
Contact CVPA Chair Jon Lawson, board@calvertvaux.org.
