City of Rochester
News Release
(Friday, Aug. 26, 2011) – Mayor Thomas S. Richards announced today that the City has been awarded a $552,000 State grant to upgrade the public-use facilities at
Turning Point Park in
Northwest Rochester.
“Turning Point Park has established itself as a true gem of the City’s park system and is helping our citizens reengage with the Genesee River, ” said Mayor Richards. “These funds give us the ability to make significant improvements on an already tremendous facility and create another example of what makes Rochester such a great place to raise a family.”
The grant will fund up to 90 percent of a planned renovation and expansion of Turning Point Park’s existing public facilities. The project calls for the construction of additional parking using permeable pavement and storm drainage consisting of rain garden bio-infiltration areas. It will include construction of a new "green" restroom building with water and energy conservation features, new educational informational signage to describe the concepts and benefits of the on-site examples of green infrastructure to park users, and associated improvements to sidewalk, trails and a scenic overlook.
The grant is from the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation Green Innovation Grant Program (GIGP), a highly competitive grant program that uses funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and is administered under the New York State Clean Water Revolving Fund Program. The program provides funding for projects that spur green innovation, build green capacity and facilitate technology transfer across New York.
Located in the
Charlotte neighborhood a few miles south of Lake Ontario, Turning Point Park covers 275 wooded acres along the banks of the Genesee River. In 2006, a two mile long trail with a boardwalk over the river was constructed to link Turning Point Park to the City’s Genesee Riverway Trail and citywide trail system, which dramatically increased the park’s use as an entrance to the trail and a canoe and kayak launching site. This project will spur increased use of the park and demonstrate the City commitment to green infrastructure and environmental quality.
Construction is expected to break ground in August 2012 and the project is expected to conclude in the early spring of 2013.
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News Media: For more information, contact Anne Spaulding, 428-7474.