Town discusses Bristol Beach
The town is discussing the 165-acre site being ready for public use.
SAUGERTIES, N.Y. >> Efforts over the past 25 years to have Bristol Beach be taken seriously as a Hudson River ecological gem, historic landmark and recreational treasure are expected to continue in 2024 with discussions about how to deal with the ruins of a oncethriving brick industry.
Supervisor Fred Costello following a Town Board meeting Wednesday said the 165-acre site is ready for public use except for remnants of buildings that site owner Palisades Interstate Park Commission wants to have sealed or avoided due to safety issues.
“Some of the old brickmaking structures that I like and want to celebrate is something they feel poses a risk and they want to make sure that nobody can climb on them or pieces of those structures can’t fall and accidentally injure someone,” he said.
“We want to redouble our efforts to build some walking trails and formally open that area to some hiking and recreation opportunities,” he said. “We’re reviewing the plan that was submitted over a decade ago and trying to pare it down to some of the things that we think are in line with what the Palisades Park and the public has.”
There is currently a milelong trail that goes from a parking lot off of U.S. Route 9W to the Hudson River.
“One of the first things that we think would be important is redeveloping the rail bed for the train that used to carry the raw clay to the kiln area,” Costello said. “If we can do that, we will complete a loop … and create a nice, almost two-mile fairly modest walking trail.”
Ownership of Bristol Beach, which was initially deeded to the town and given to the state, was transferred in 1967 from the state Department of Environmental Conservation to the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. Despite discussions about developing the site in the 1990s, there were no serious aspirations until 2000, when it was one of six Ulster County sites considered for the state-funded Institute for Rivers & Estuaries that ultimately landed in Beacon.
In 2016, the town received grants of $15,000 and $42,000 from Hudson River Valley Greenway, $10,000 from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, and $73,000 from the former Winston Farm Alliance. Those funds were used toward marking and developing the current parking lot and trail, with Costello noting there is still about $40,000 remaining for additional work.
In 2017 a master plan was drafted for the property but has been scaled back to avoid significant impacts on a location that is considered to have significant wildlife uses that includes bald eagles that use trees along the shoreline as perch points.
“We are going (take out) some pretty grandiose uses for the property including an amphitheater,” Costello said.
“We’ll work with Palisades Park to propose something that we think that they would like,” he said. “Their perspective is they would like us to be even more sensitive to the potential wildlife areas and we share that.”