IQ Landscape Architects worked with the County of Dutchess on the creation of a new urban waterfront park in Poughkeepsie, New York. The entire site once served as a water filtration and sewage treatment facility for the historic Hudson River Psychiatric Center.
Its colorful history includes the site of a former Navy barracks and other buildings which served a very active rowing community. IQ’s plans for restoring the park included an interpretive area acting as an outdoor museum, commemorating the birthplace of collegiate rowing. Other park components included native trails, kayak launches, and an observatory. Several of the buildings were reused for community use.
One structure was proposed as a field station/laboratory to study the ecology of the mid-Hudson River. IQ worked closely with the NYDEC in implementing ‘soft’ shoreline stabilization methods, incorporating native upland and tidal plantings.
