An enthusiastic standing room only crowd including long standing members, interested non-members, elected representatives, state park officials and babes in arms packed the Irvington Library program room for the Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct on Sunday, April 27. Speakers presented plans for exhibition rooms in the interior of the Keeper’s House, as well as a review of the work that will start soon on the basic structure of the Keeper’s House which suffered more damage during the harsh winter.
President Mavis Cain welcomed the crowd and delivered a brief review of the evolution of the project. She called out the Puffin Foundation and Parks and Trails New York for supporting the Friends film project. She cited the award from the Greater Hudson Heritage Network given to the Friends for excellent outreach work. Cain announced that The Westchester Historical Society, at their annual meeting at Lyndhurst on June 22, will award FOCA the new Sy Schulman History Award. Two new board members, Diane Alden and Daniel Shure, were elected.
Steve Tilly, Principal, Tilly Architects, discussed the house’s Italianate style and showed interior drawings and photos depicting the current condition of the house. The main thrust of the work will be to ensure basic functionality and water tightness. The house will include office space for the New York State staff of Old Croton Aqueduct State Historical Park. The 10-year history of the project was recapped by FOCA Vice President Bob Kornfeld, followed by a pictorial presentation of historical objects to be included in the interactive displays.
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Designer Laurel Marx showed graphics and design elements for the exhibition rooms in the House interior, including touch screen displays, historical artifacts, engravings and child-directed activity games. She showed suggested uses for the old manhole covers from the 1800’s and detailed ways to explain how the Catskill and Delaware Water Systems added to the Old Croton Aqueduct System. Member and supporter Leola Specht commended the design team for “their creativity, like the sound of water moving through the Aqueduct, that make the displays interactive and make them come alive.”
The organization is inaugurating a “patch “program to reward walkers or runners for completion of either the Westchester section or the entire route of the Aqueduct down to 42nd Street in New York City. An effort to reduce invasive species will kick off on June 3 with an “I Love My Park Day” event on the Trail between Ossining and Croton.
