Progressing Prison Transformation Buoys People and Pollinators
The metamorphosis of Mid-Orange Correctional Facility that has enlivened Warwick continues.
By Geoff Howard
Closed in 2011, the 750-acre Mid-Orange Correctional Facility, which looked and felt more like the campus of a private school than a prison, was transferred, after three years of negotiations, from New York State to Warwick ownership. The site was divided into two areas — roughly 150 acres for eventual commercial development, priced at $3.7 million, and 600 acres with a large lake and some of the most beautiful land in Orange County, at a cost of $1!
Now, 12 years on, the fruits of that acquisition include multiple tax-paying businesses, offering hundreds of good jobs, and Wickham Woodlands Park. The latest addition to the Park area has just been announced: an irregularly shaped, unused and overgrown strip of land of about 10 acres, will be opened up to make room for "Transformation Trails":
— an arboretum with hundreds of native trees;
— meadows planted to attract birds and pollinators;
— a sculpture garden;
— pathways that wind through the area, some incorporating exercise stations;
— a possible small amphitheater for outdoor concerts and events.
This artist’s rendering provides some sense of where this new area is situated and how the various components will fit together. The dark areas are the fields and buildings of the Hudson Sports Complex. The green areas will be the arboretum, planted with hundreds of carefully selected trees. The yellow areas will be the pollinator meadows flanking the amphitheater and sculpture gardens, which have views of both Wickham Lake and Sugarloaf Mountain.
The transformation of this project from a vague idea on paper to something real coming to fruition is the result of a productive collaboration between Town officials, Warwick community groups and local business owners. Warwick Town Supervisor Michael Sweeton, Warwick DPW, the Shade Tree Commission, Sustainable Warwick, Agrisculpture, and Fox Soccer Academy were all involved.
The official opening
To kick off this addition to the Park, an opening celebration will be held at the site that will feature a ceremonial planting of the first five trees and a full description of how the area will evolve, telling the story of how things will look in 10, 20, and 50 years — the future of this burgeoning Warwick story. In addition, an opportunity for Warwick residents or businesses to “adopt” future trees will be announced, a program that is already attracting people who want to see their family or business name displayed on a tree that will be seen for many decades to come.
The opening will be on Saturday, April 29 — Arbor Day — and those who would like to attend should go to Wickham Woodlands and then follow signs to the event.
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