The idea was a positive spinoff from what many believed was a poor move by the Lloyd Post Office to move out of the hamlet. “That brought 850 people a day into our hamlet,” said Smith. As the president of the Downtown Business Association at the time, he and others were trying to think of something else that might bring people to the hamlet, when someone mentioned that the old fuel oil business was closing up shop and wanting to sell its riverfront property.
“Believe it or not, it was only $200,000 at the time; but it required extensive environmental cleanup, removal of oil tanks…and the Town Board was not willing to spend taxpayers’ money on something that had no other source of funding.” So Smith and others lobbied for alternative funding, and are forever grateful to organizations like Scenic Hudson, which gave them a $275,000 grant towards the project, and then OPRHP, which provided another $250,000. “That allowed us the seed money to go out for and secure more grants,” he said.
With the seed money and grants being awarded and commitments from local architects, engineers, contractors and unions, Smith was able to convince the Town Board to agree to purchase the property for approximately $750,000 five years ago. “Again,” said Smith, “without any taxpayers’ dollars being used.”
Local electricians and plumbers have been busy at work renovating the old 1,200-square-foot brick building to the highest green construction standards that they can. Electricity is now in, as well as heating systems. The building is slated to become an environmental education center where schoolchildren, college students and environmental organizations can come and learn about the river, hydrology, environmental science and much more. “We actually received a grant for almost $8,000 worth of lab equipment, so that the schools don’t have to purchase anything. We have microscopes, nets, you name it…they just have to show up!”
While the installation of the new bulkhead, dock and boat launch is at the heart of the Hudson River Landing project, the future phases will only serve to enhance the beautiful riverfront public park. There are plans for landscaping, an outdoor pavilion, an elaborate brick riverwalk with a sundial, a guided historic walking tour and hopefully contracts with commercial boats that come up and down the river needing a place to dock and take their clients to land-based attractions.
“I get calls every two weeks from commercial boat companies that ask when our dock will be ready,” said Smith. “These boats will dock, bring their own transportation, take their clients to the Walkway over the Hudson or antiquing or whatever they’re interested in. The boat launch also provides economic possibilities for bait-and-tackle shops, boat rentals, kayak and canoe rentals, fishing tournaments…”
Even in its rougher state right now, the Bob Shepard Highland Landing Park will be host to thousands of July Fourth fireworks enthusiasts, who can come down to the green square, sit on picnic benches, pack their own picnics and chairs and get a riverside view of a spectacular fireworks show, jointly hosted by the Town of Lloyd, the City of Poughkeepsie and Walkway Over the Hudson and launched from a barge in the middle of the river.
To learn more, go to the Town of Lloyd website at www.townoflloyd.com. ++
