A late July morning shower did not dampen enthusiasm at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson, municipal sponsor for the Manor’s multi-million-dollar site restoration project.
Historic Hudson Valley welcomed Croton Village Manager Bryan Healy, as well as local and New York State officials, to announce the makeover of the 36-acre property best known as home of The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze.
The restoration will reflect a distinctly modern sensibility, honoring the historical significance of the Van Cortlandt family and their property, while also paying homage to the enslaved people who maintained the property, as part of an exploration of life following the Revolutionary War.
“The Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council is happy to be here to launch the start of Historic Hudson Valley’s restoration project,” said Dr. Marsha Gordon, Co-Chair of Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council, and CEO of Business Council of Westchester. “As Westchester County’s largest cultural organization, Historic Hudson Valley educates and entertains hundreds of thousands of visitors a year through school programs, tours of National Historic Landmarks, and large-scale events, striking a balance between tradition and vision, from preserving the past to contextualizing it in creative ways for 21st century audiences.”
The restoration project received a 2.2-million-dollar appropriation from the Federal Highway Administration through New York State Department of Transit, the Indian Point Community Fund, and an Empire State Development grant of $600,000.
There also is support by way of New York State Senator Pete Harckham ($100,000) and Assemblymember Dana Levenberg ($125,000), both of whom secured those amounts through a state Community Resiliency, Economic Sustainability, and Technology Program.
Built around pedestrian and vehicular safety at the property’s cul-de-sac main entrance, the project will address ease of visitor accessibility, most notably through the 800-foot brick path approach to the house and modernizing an underground pedestrian walkway between the historic site and Metro North. Also planned is the addition of electric car-charging stations and extensive landscape maintenance.
Karen Clark, Historic Hudson Valley Director of Marketing, said she is looking forward to the “expanded attractions and play strategies that the restoration will provide for school children. Visitors to the updated historic site will be able to explore life after the Revolutionary War.
Addressing the media from the elevated porch of the Manor House, amidst native greenery and lamp-post-lined brick pathways, public officials expressed their enthusiastic support for the project and for Historic Hudson Valley’s vision for the future.
New York State Lt. Governor Antonio Delgado pointed out that the Manor House where he stood addressing attendees was the residence of New York State’s first Lt. Governor, Pierre Van Cortlandt, in the late 1700s.
Assemblywoman Dana Levenberg embraced “celebrating history,” and said that facts and stories of slavery have been overlooked. Deputy Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins added, “It is important to tell accurate history—good or bad.”
Tree maintenance throughout the site is underway. “There will be a pause in the project for The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze, as it celebrates its 20th year in 2024,” Waddell Stillman, President of Historic Hudson Valley,” told River Journal. “Restoration and site maintenance will resume at year’s end and is expected to ramp up at the start of the new year.”
Estimated completion date for the project is 2026.
- hudsonvalley.org
Donna Landi, a resident of Sleepy Hollow, has contributed to River Journal, Hudson Valley magazine and other publications.
