Teatown Lake Reservation broke ground Thursday, Oct. 9, on a $26 million project that includes adding a state-of-the-art education center, renovating the Nature Center, making trails more accessible and relocating parking areas.
The ceremony, which drew a crowd of several dozen Teatown executives, staffers, elected officials and supporters, kickstarted a construction project that’s estimated to take 12–16 months.
The gathering took place at the site of what will become a 5,400-square-foot, leaf-shaped education center that will feature teaching and learning spaces in its interior, an exterior deck and a green roof.
“Connecting with nature is good for people,” Teatown Executive Director Kevin Carter told the crowd. “It’s good for our minds, it’s good for our souls. It certainly is good for the planet to start young and get people to have a relationship with the natural world and understand that the choices we make are really important.”
He added: “As Teatown has evolved, in order to stay relevant we’ve had to change. But we’ve always gone back to that kernel of an idea that it’s joyful to have a relationship with the natural world and it’s part of leading a really good life.”
Carter said the nonprofit nature preserve had raised about $23 million toward the renovation, the majority of which had come from foundations and individual donations. About $3 million more came via state grants. “And now we’re looking for the community to help us in large volume to bring it home and we’re confident that they will,” he said.
The project to transform the 1,000-acre campus into a more accessible, ecologically enhanced, pedestrian-friendly place is being led by the firm nARCHITECTS working with landscape architect Starr Whitehouse.
Eric Bunge of nArchitects called Teatown “a very magical place and a magical community and I think our first charge was to keep that as it is, but hopefully enhance it where we can.”
He called the education center “a piece of landscape more than a piece of architecture. You’ll be able to walk up around the entire perimeter of the leaf and reach an educational rooftop which will be planted with beautiful native plants but also provide another platform for education. Within it will be three classrooms and a multipurpose space.”
The three-story Nature Center, a 15,000-square-foot, 1920s Tudor-style building, will be renovated to accommodate galleries, a nature store, offices and a new home to Teatown’s “animal ambassadors,” including porcupines, rabbits, owls, crows and vultures. A new pavilion and maintenance building are also being added.
State Sen. Pete Harckham and Assembly member Dana Levenberg, who helped secure grants for Teatown, spoke of the important role the preserve plays in offering educational opportunities to children who’ll become the next generation of scientists and naturalists.
Also on hand at the ceremony was Cameron Swope, whose family donated their estate to create the preserve in 1963. He visits Teatown from his home in Manhattan to go birdwatching and for the popular annual Eaglefest
“I’m very excited that there’s a commitment toward education for the next generation,” Swope said. “Walking around this preserve is just such a wonderful environment and seeing so many species that we don’t see in the city.”
Teatown, the largest nonprofit community-supported nature preserve in Westchester County, includes a two-acre island refuge for more than 230 species of native wildflowers, wildlife exhibits, science and stewardship projects, nature classes and camps. The preserve has an Ossining address but the portion of the campus earmarked for renovation falls within Yorktown.
What can visitors expect?
- The Nature Center closed for renovations in October. A temporary reception trailer will be located in the main parking lot. Portable restrooms and the composting toilet will be available.
- Some areas within Teatown’s 15 miles of trails will be closed during the renovation. A map detailing the changes can be found on the reservation’s website, teatown.org.
- Parking: The south gravel lot will be expanded this fall. Once complete, the main lot will close and be restored as a native wildflower meadow with accessible trail access. The front of the Blinn Road parking lot remains open pending final approvals from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. Once site work begins (approximately in mid-November) the Blinn Road lot will be closed for the duration of the project.
- During renovations, wildlife housed in the Nature Center and Raptor Loop will be relocated. They will not be on public view daily but can still be seen during some programs.
Teatown history
The nature preserve grew out of a 194-acre donation from the heirs of G.E. Chairman Gerard Swope to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in 1963. Teatown was incorporated as a separate entity in 1971, and the partnership with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden was eventually dissolved.
The name “Teatown” dates back to 1776 when tea was scarce due to British taxation. A man named John Arthur moved to the area with a chest full of tea that he planned to sell at a huge profit. His plot was discovered and he was forced to sell the tea at a fair price.
