Follow Up on the News

Landmarks and BAR Meet on 9/11 Memorial

While the proposed 9/11 Memorial and Bridge, on and across the landmarked Village Green, has not yet been formally presented to the Board of Architectural Review (BAR), it has been informally discussed at their and Landmarks Advisory Committee meetings for over two years. With the goal of moving the project ahead, the two committees held a joint meeting March 12.

Landmarks Chair Sid Burke said he had written the 9/11 Memorial Committee asking them to scale the memorial down further and restudy it but had not yet received a response. “A year ago, five members of Landmarks were in favor of a bridge only,” said member Richard Hourahan. “We've moved quite a bit on this project.”

Recently, Landmarks members reviewed the project from the vantage point of the Boston Post Road and concluded that the memorial needs further scaling back. While they “don't want to design the memorial” for the 9/11 group and its architects, they recommend removing the outer posts of the seating wall and lowering the inner posts at the end of the bridge by at least one foot.

BAR Chair Eugene McGuire agreed that the posts of the proposed seating wall could be lower. “Height has nothing to do with reinforcement. Aesthetically, I can see why the posts are in the plan. Having a place to sit by the edge of the brook is pleasant.” Member Peter Jovanovich suggested setting maximum height limits for any posts.

Both BAR and Landmarks members agreed that at this point it was important to get back to the 9/11 committee with specific suggestions. McGuire said he would draft a response to the 9/11 committee. The memorial project is on the BAR's March 26 agenda.

— Robin Jovanovich

Manursing Lake Restoration

Westchester County has been awarded a $400,000 grant from the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation to help restore the ecological health of Manursing Lake. The county will contribute an additional $482,000 to the project, which involves the installation of tidal gates to open up the lake for fish access for breeding and the growth of native vegetation, and to minimize invasive reeds and sediment exposure during low tides.

County Executive Andy Spano said restoration of the 87-acre saltwater lake “is important to our ecosystem. This project protects migrating birds, spawning fish and native vegetation.”

County Legislator Judy Myers added, “Improvements to Manursing Lake help the Edith Read Sanctuary and Playland Park, both of which are important neighbors in the Rye community.”

Manursing Lake was dredged and impounded in the 1920s for the development of Playland Amusement Park.

— Rye Record staff

Fire Headquarters Close to Reopening

After nearly two and a half years of renovation, Locust Avenue Fire Headquarters is scheduled to reopen in the next four to five weeks, according to Chief John Wickham. “We're at the punch list stage now,” he said. “The project is on budget and close to being on time.”

How difficult was it for the Fire Department to operate out of just one building since November 2004? “It hasn't been all that difficult,” said Wickham. “There's a 60-second response time difference between the Milton and Locust firehouses.”

While only 300 square feet have been added on to headquarters, to meet safety and A.D.A. requirements, the Department lost at least five parking spaces on Haviland Lane. The building has been entirely updated, sprinklered and alarmed and conforms to Homeland Security regulations. Like the Milton Firehouse, Locust will be a lock down, visitors must ring a bell to enter the building.

– Robin Jovanovich