MEDIA ADVISORY/PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
Thursday, June 6, at the Rumsey Shelter in Delaware Park
Who:
Stephanie Crockatt, Executive Director, Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy
Kevin Murphy, Buffalo Market President, Bank of America
Jim Newman, Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy Board Member and
Rumsey Road Neighbor
New York State Officials
What:
The official opening of the restoration and renovation of the Rumsey Shelter House, a historic structure in Delaware Park, that has been closed to park users for several years.
Where:
The historic Rumsey Shelter House in Rumsey Woods in Delaware Park, on Rumsey Road, at the intersection of Delaware Avenue and Forest Avenue. Parking is available on Rumsey Road.
When:
Thursday, June 6th, 2019, 11:00am
Why:
Bank of America and the Greenway Fund awarded the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy a total of $500,000 to complete the restoration of the Rumsey Shelter House in Delaware Park. The project began in September, 2018 and was completed in Spring, 2019.
The Rumsey Shelter, located at the Delaware Park entrance just off the intersection of Delaware Avenue and Rumsey Road, has long been vacant. The historic building once served as a comfort station, with bathrooms and a small main room featuring a fireplace. Park users would come to the shelter to take a break from jogging, hiking, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing on nearby trails. Most of the original interior tilework remains, as do the original windows, interior doors and fireplace, which has been completely restored. The reconstruction of the mantel shelf was based on the original construction drawings, which survive in the City Hall archives. The Shelter’s hours of operation will be from 7am – 8pm. All shelters in the Olmsted Park system are maintained by the Conservancy.
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About the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy
The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy is the first nonprofit organization in the nation to manage an entire urban park system. With over 850 acres designed by America’s foremost landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted, the system was conceived in 1868 and became the first of its kind in the nation. Today hundreds of thousands of people freely use Buffalo’s historic, award-winning Olmsted Parks annually for recreation, relaxation and rejuvenation. The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy is a membership-based, nonprofit, community organization whose mission is to promote, preserve, restore, enhance, and maintain the Frederick Law Olmsted-designed parks and parkways in the greater Buffalo area for current and future generations. Originating as a Friends group in 1978, the Conservancy today continues its mission and park improvements in conjunction with its 2008 master plan: The Plan for the 21st Century. In partnership with the City of Buffalo, the Conservancy has spent the last 15 years caring for these public spaces which are listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places. Most recently, the American Planning Association recognized Delaware Park as one of the 2014 Great Places in America, The Guardian named the Olmsted park system as one of the best parks in the world, and in 2018 the Conservancy broke the Guinness World Record for the longest line of pink garden flamingos along historic Bidwell Parkway.
The Buffalo Olmsted Park System includes:
Six parks: Cazenovia Park in South Buffalo, Delaware Park in Delaware/Parkside District, Front Park at the Peace Bridge, Martin Luther King, Jr. Park at Fillmore Avenue, Riverside Park at Niagara and Tonawanda Street, and South Park at McKinley Parkway
Seven parkways: Bidwell, Chapin, Lincoln, McKinley, Porter, Red Jacket, and Richmond
Eight landscaped traffic circles: Agassiz, Colonial, Ferry, Gates, McClellan, McKinley, Soldiers, and Symphony
About The Buffalo and Erie County Greenway Fund
The Erie County/City of Buffalo Relicensing Settlement Agreement was reached in support of the application for a new license for the Niagara Power Project. One provision was for the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to support the establishment of The Buffalo and Erie County Greenway Fund with an annual $2 million payment for the life of the license beginning in October 2007. The Fund is administered by a Committee comprised of one member each from the City of Buffalo, Erie County, the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy and NYPA.
The Buffalo and Erie County Greenway Fund Standing Committee has awarded approximately $22 million since its first awards in 2008. Click here for more information on the committee.
About NYPA
NYPA is the largest state public power organization in the nation, operating 16 generating facilities and more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines. More than 70 percent of the electricity NYPA produces is clean renewable hydropower. NYPA uses no tax money or state credit. It finances its operations through the sale of bonds and revenues earned in large part through sales of electricity. For more information visit www.nypa.gov and follow us on Twitter @NYPAenergy, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and LinkedIn.
