It was a terrific day when the city of Peekskill was awarded a $10 million grant from New York State from its Downtown Revitalization Initiative. The purpose of this grant is to improve Peekskill’s downtown and waterfront, benefitting the community as a whole. We at HVH2O have a similar goal, to create a space where people can learn about and recreate in the Hudson River. Since the city was calling for public proposals for this grant money, several of our board members attended the October DRI planning meeting.
We decided our proposal is to create a permanent boat rack on the Peekskill Landing site. The boat rack’s primary purpose is to provide space for people to store their kayaks/paddleboards/ canoes at the waterfront. This has been done already at Long Dock Park in Beacon, with smaller racks in Croton and Sleepy Hollow. The seasonal storage in Beacon is so successful that Scenic Hudson has to have a lottery for the spaces. We also like the roofed, lockable cage model used in Long Dock: the boats are safe from theft and vandalism and the shaded roof protects them from the elements.
Alongside the boat rack we would like a kiosk. This would be a base of operations for HVH2O. From here we would offer rental boats, conduct lessons, hold classes, and teach camps, helping turn that Peekskill Landing area into a watersports center. Storing our equipment on site would help us do more activities and riverfront science. We also think a friendly kiosk would help anchor the Peekskill waterfront community we’re trying to create.
Lastly, we would like a lockable changing room. While most boaters don’t plan on getting wet, it happens. Paddleboarders fall all the time — it’s part of the sport, especially when you’re learning! Kayaks flip, and even stable canoes go under. We want a place where people can change into bathing suits and board shorts as well as go from wet clothes to dry.
We think the riverfront will strongly benefit from these additions. That part of the park is lovely but less trafficked than other sections. The expanded Peekskill Landing site would also bring increased foot traffic. Strollers along the RiverWalk will no doubt be interested in the local boating scene (and hopefully be tempted to try). The onsite storage would bring boaters from outside the community to Peekskill. More traffic means more economic activity to the area.
In the end, we hope this development will encourage people to come and “hang out” with us. Really! We envision HVH2O at Peekskill Landing as a social destination, part of a village square. We would like to be a gathering space, a place where Peekskill comes together out of a love for the river, nature, or just being together. Peekskill is special among the big river towns because our riverfront is close to the downtown. HVH2O would like to expand its offerings and make it even better.