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November Revitalization Updates

November Revitalization Updates

November Revitalization Updates
In the Park and on the Waterfront Trail

This lovely fall weather has been great for work going on in the park! Construction on the Picnic Pavilion Addition is ahead of schedule! The DPW installed four new interpretive signs on the park’s historic buildings. Thanks to City Forester Jeanne Grace, shade trees will soon be planted around the park, including several at the playground. Read on for details.

Cutting the ribbon for new historic Interpretive panels in Stewart Park. Pictured: Fred Cowett (Cayuga Heights Forester and Planning Board Chair), Mike Sigler (TC Legislator), Jodi LaPierre (Visitor Experience Director), Diana Riesman (WSM Executive Director and FSP Board President), Kayla Matos (Ithaca Common Councilmember/1st Ward) Peter Grossman (Board President/Legacy Foundation), Perri LoPinto (Legacy Foundation), Janelle Alvstad-Mattson (FSP Communications Director), Nancy Malina (FSP Board), and Rick Manning (FSP Executive Director).

On Monday, November 18th, under sunny skies and the beautiful blueness of Cayuga Lake, Friends of Stewart Park and Wharton Studio Museum cut the ribbon for new updated interpretive signs on the four historic buildings in the park: the Picnic Pavilion, Wharton Studio Building, Tea Pavilion and Cascadilla Boathouse. The panels replace signs installed in 2014 as a way to engage the public in Stewart Park's history and show people that the park was being cared for and revitalized.


After a decade of large and small improvement projects in the park, it was time to update the signs to reflect all the revitalization projects that have been completed. The signs were designed by Joe Lamarre/ Uncommonplace, who also designed the original signs. Content was updated by Diana Riesman, Janelle Alvstad-Mattson and Tonya VanCamp of Friends of Stewart Park and Wharton Studio Museum. These updated panels include even more history, as well as some new visuals.


The sign project was made possible by Legacy Foundation of Tompkins County. Thanks also go to the City of Ithaca, Historic Ithaca, and everyone who contributed to the project, including Pat Longoria, Christine O’Mally and Lauren Loiacono, for their review and edits.

Picnic Pavilion Addition Progress

There's been a lot of progress on the Picnic Pavilion Addition! Thanks to terrific work by W.L. Kline Inc., construction is projected for completion by the end of the month!


This 925 sq. ft. addition to the back of the Picnic “Large" Pavilion will serve as storage for the Ithaca Youth Bureau's Stewart Park Day Camp and consolidate the camp's operation in one building, enhancing camper safety and providing easier access to boats, bikes and other equipment through a large garage door. A door within the Picnic Pavilion will facilitate access to space for smaller daily supplies and arts & crafts materials. Built-in cubbies with hooks are being added by the side door to the building for the benefit of campers, camp staff, and those renting the pavilion. The new addition, designed by Bero Architecture with engineering work by Andrew Sciarabba Engineering and Taitem Engineering, will also greatly enhance the aesthetic of the south facade of the pavilion.


The storage location frees up 1000 sq. ft. in the lake-facing section of the historic Wharton Studio/DPW Building, paving the way to build the Wharton Studio & Café, a year-round cultural and recreational destination featuring exhibits about the film studio and Ithaca' s role in early American moviemaking. The WS&C will be a nice spot to grab a snack while sitting on terraces looking onto Cayuga Lake.


This project is made possible with NYS funding from Assemblymember Anna Kelles and State Senator Lea Webb, individual donors, and Friends of the Ithaca Youth Bureau.

Grant for New Wayfinding Signs & More

Stewart Park Hats

We have new hats in three different styles! A Stewart Park hat is a great way to show your love for the park, and they make a great gift for Christmas or Hanukkah.


A hat can be yours with a $25 dollar donation to Friends of Stewart Park. Hats can be picked up at the FSP office in the Aeroplane Factory Building at 120 Brindley Street. Shipping or delivery may be available in certain situations. Message info@friendsofstewartpark.org to arrange.

Tree Planting in Stewart Park

We’re happy to share that the Department of Works was able to plant four new trees in Stewart Park this week, three of which will create wonderful shade for picnic areas near the playground and Splash Pad, and one near the osprey nest on the northeast side of the park. City of Ithaca Forester Jeanne Grace chose to plant “Powder Keg” Sugar Maples, which grow up to fifty feet tall and have beautiful bright red/orange color in the fall. Thank you to our tree sponsors for making these plantings possible!

Furnishing Sponsorship Opportunities

Sponsor a bench or glider and help FSP enhance the park to make it as comfortable, inviting and accessible as possible! These furnishings are beautiful and sturdy -- and made from recyclable material! Every sponsored furnishing includes a custom dedication on a plaque! Park furnishing sponsorships also include shade trees like the ones mentioned above.


Click below to learn more about furnishing sponsorship options.

🍁Autumn, Auroras, Additions and More!🍂

🍁Autumn, Auroras, Additions and More!🍂

Autumn in Stewart Park and on the Trail

Colors are popping in the trees and in the sky! Read on for updates on what’s happening in Stewart Park, the Waterfront Trail, and with our partner organizations. Enjoy these beautiful fall pictures!

Stewart Park was the place to be for Aurora Borealis sightings! What a treat to to see the Northern Lights over multiple evenings this October. Here are some of the beautiful pictures taken.


Photo Credit: Maya Haley (top, bottom right), Chris Ray (bottom left), and Todd Kurzweil (bottom middle)

Thank you Volunteers!

Friends of Stewart Park has recently hosted two large groups of volunteers in the park. Ithaca High School’s Code Red Robotics Team 639 (above) brought 43 teens who trimmed the lakeshore, picked up trash, de-cobwebbed the Cascadilla Boathouse, and raked on the playground for two hours on October 8. Then on October 19, Cornell University Glee Club (below) brought 21 students who did more lakeshore trimming and trash pick up, and even oiled squeaky chains on the bench swings!

Picnic Pavilion Addition Construction

On Monday, Sept. 23, Friends of Stewart Park and Wharton Studio Museum held a Groundbreaking to mark the beginning of construction of a new Addition to the back of the historic Picnic "Large" Pavilion.


Progress on the Addition is visible! WL Kline, the construction company, has been working hard! The project is being managed by Jennifer Ahrens of Bero Architecture in Rochester, who also led the Cascadilla Boathouse restoration in 2021 and is the lead architect on the Wharton Studio & Cafe project. The Addition is slated for completion by spring 2025 in time for the camp and rental season.


In the summer, the Picnic Pavilion home base for Ithaca Youth Bureau’s Stewart Park Summer Day Camp which has operated out of the building for over 60 years. This new Addition creates safer and more accessible storage for equipment and supplies for Ithaca Youth Bureau’s Camp staff and campers.


The project also paves the way for the future Wharton Studio & Café in the Wharton Studio Building across the way, where camp equipment and supplies are currently housed. Learn more about the project here.

Colors of Fall

Frank Muller is our Park and Trail Gardener and a skilled and dedicated horticulturalist. He is also a talented photographer. He has taken all these images this October. Follow Frank on Instagram at frankmullerphoto.

Grant for New Wayfinding Signs & More

Hats for Sale

Caps for sale! Friends of Stewart Park has new hats for sale in three different styles. A Stewart Park hat is a great way to show your love for the park. They make a great gift for the upcoming holidays, or a great costume if you plan to dress as Rick Manning for Halloween!


Hats can purchased online and picked up at the FSP office in the Aeroplane Factory Building at 120 Brindley Street. Shipping or delivery may be available in certain situations. Message info@friendsofstewartpark.org to arrange.

Furnishing Sponsorship Opportunities

Help FSP enhance the park to make it as comfortable, inviting and accessible as possible by sponsoring a beautiful high-quality furnishing -- perhaps a new glider, a new playground bench, or a new Waterfront Trail bench like the one pictured here!


Click below to learn more about furnishing sponsorship options. Every sponsored furnishing includes a custom dedication!

From Wharton Studio Museum

From Wharton Studio Museum, our partners in park revitalization:


It's been a lively Silent Movie Month and we're now in the home stretch with two more not-to-be-missed screenings, both featuring Clara Bow, It Girl of the 1920s.


Saturday, October 26th at 4pm, Cornell Cinema presents a double feature of the film It from 1927 and a short from 1923, The Pill Pounder. Accompaniment on piano by Philip Carli, one of the world's most celebrated composers for silent film. Please visit cinema.cornell.edu for tickets. Co-sponsored by Wharton Studio Museum.


And on Monday, October 28th, Cinemapolis, Wharton Studio Museum and Cornell Cinema present Dancing Mothers, a silent drama produced in 1926. 8pm at Cinemapolis. The screening is FREE!

Happy Fall, Ya’ll!

Volunteer Highlight

You can help in the park like Code Red Robotics.
Learn more >>

Project Highlight

aquatix-splashpad-7.jpg

We built a new Splash Pad!
Learn more >>

Sponsor the Carousel

You can provide free summer carousel rides! Learn more >>