First Annual Centennial Strategy for Gateway National Recreation Area

Sullivan, Barry

Gateway National Recreation Area was established in 1972 to bring the "NPS Experience" to the nation's largest urban area. A mosaic of rare and beautiful natural areas accented with historicially significant landmarks and landscapes, the pak provides a place of refuge for millions of urban residents seeking opportunities for recreation, reflection and learning. Our challenge---by the Centennial Celebration and beyond---is to develop Gateway so that it can without reservation represent National Park Service alues in the nation's center for media, finance, arts and culture. To do so, the par must engage an ever widening network of institutions, agencies, organizations and individuals. Working together we will explore the meaning of nature and history and recreation to people of differing backgrounds, ages and cultures. We will reshape the ark as an urban laboratory for sustainable practices, park-based education, resources stewardship, and life-long health through recreation. We will exemplify the best in ark management. ne of our projects, Rehab of Buildings 272 and 74 on Floyd Bennett Field for ducational Purposes, will create new opportunities to expand the visitor base for the ark, to attract volunteers and junior rangers, and to identify new park partners. evelopment of the project will be done by the Schoolhouse Foundation, a non-profit rganization established specifically to develop buildings for educational purposes. hen complete, the facilities will be used by the NYC Dept. of Education to support teacher-training and science programs in schools throughout the City. ur second project, Restoration of the Tidal Creek at Floyd Bennett Field, is an illustration of sharing amoung city, state, and federal partners to an unprecedented level the common goal of restoring ecosystem function. The NYC Dept. of Environmental Protection will be a key partner in this effort. Completion of the project will rovide an exterior site for classroom study of diverse plant and animal populations, s well as a location for junior ranger work involving the reversal of long-term ollutants on native habitats.