Ithaca’s Stewart Park Becomes More Accessible and Works to Cherish its Rich History
Over 100 years ago in 1921, Stewart Park was officially opened as a public park, but it has lived many lives in the past few centuries, even before it became a park. The nonprofit organization Friends of Stewart Park has worked to revitalize the park to bring back its vibrant culture and history while adapting it to modern day community needs.
It is estimated that about a half of a million people visit Stewart Park every year. In recent years, Friends of Stewart Park has done restoration and refurbishing projects to the historic carousel, boat house and pavilions, along with constructing new pathways and playgrounds to make the park more accessible. These projects, often costing over a million dollars, take a lot of community fundraising and grant support.
Less-noticed projects that the organization has worked on that add to the beauty, inclusiveness and attractiveness of the park include upgrading the bathrooms, the organization of several yearly volunteer events that help clean up the waterfront, regular landscaping and plantings of native pollinator species and the restoration of the memorial garden. The park also has Elaine's Lending Library, a small, weather protected box with dozens of free books for children and adults alike to choose from while visiting the park.
Founded in 2011, Rick Manning, co-founder and executive director of Friends of Stewart Park saw the need to establish the organization while working with the city to expand the waterfront trail.
“I was working with the chamber of commerce on the waterfront trail and as we were planning the route through Stewart Park, it became more evident that [the park] needed some attention,” Manning said. “We decided we would create this organization. [...] We did a plan for the whole park, what were the key projects, how we would revitalize the park and the playground rose to the top pretty quickly because it was not accessible.”
Manning added that the other project that came to the forefront as a priority for the park’s revitalization was the historic Wharton Film Studio building.
This year, with hopes to make the park more accessible and fun for children of all ages, Stewart Park is getting a new splash pad. The park previously had a small splash pad, but it was inaccessible and often only used by young children, according to Diana Riesman, president and founding member of the Friends of Stewart Park’s Board.
“This one is going to appeal to little kids but also a little bit older children,” Riesman said. “There will be overhead sprays, it’ll be bigger, and it will be accessible. It’s going to be hugely popular I think.”
Beyond the different types of spray features, the new splash pad will also integrate water conservation measures, including a push start button and timed water shutoff. This will make the new splash pad more environmentally responsible by reducing water waste when it isn’t in use.
Planning for the splash pad began at least four or five years ago, but the organization has had hopes to improve it for much longer. Construction on the splash pad is expected to be done in June or July, and the Friends of Stewart Park plans to hold a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate its opening.
After the splash pad is completed this summer, the next project the park looks to complete is the restoration of the old Wharton Film Studio, which is currently being used as storage for the Ithaca Youth Bureau’s equipment for summer programming at the park.
Riesman is spearheading the project to restore the Wharton Studio, which was once a bustling attraction that brought in some of the most famous actors and actresses of the 1910s.
“The Wharton brothers really put Ithaca on the map as a center of movie making,” Riesman said.
The Wharton building will be restored into a cafe and an exhibit space within the building with outdoor terraces, showcasing the history of the building. Friends of Stewart Park has already started to fundraise for the Wharton Studio Museum project, hoping to start work within the next year.
“We really want to make sure that the history of the building lives on, because there are only like five studios from this era still standing in the entire country,” Riesman said. “We are so lucky to have this really cool building here, and we believe that the building deserves a better fate.”
As of May 2023, the entire park has been put on the national registry of historic places, a testament to the historical and cultural significance of the park. This distinction allows the park to be eligible for state historic preservation matching grants, further boosting its restoration projects.
“It’s a nice feather in the cap for the park and for us,” Riesman said. “It also opens opportunities for federal funding when you have that designation.”
Riesman believes that preserving historic buildings is critical to preserving history overall, which Stewart Park has plenty of.
“We just feel that it's really important that the park be maintained but also improved and enhanced,” Riesman said. “Also to guarantee that these historic buildings live on. If you do not take care of historic buildings, they literally fall down or the roofs let in water and then you’re losing these important pieces of history.”
Riesman said the revitalization of the park overall is important to continue to serve the Ithaca community for generations to come. She says that she has seen firsthand the multigenerational impact of the park, with people who take their grandchildren to Stewart Park because they remember going to the park when they were children.
“The importance is really the park itself, which has so much abounding natural beauty, incredible history, and is such a beloved destination for people,” Riesman said. “The park serves so many people, it has a wonderful purpose, it brings people together. It is one of the places where you see maybe the greatest mixture of people playing together and hanging out together in Ithaca.”
Summer events at the park, besides the ribbon-cutting to celebrate the opening of the splash pad, include The 6th Annual Ithaca Reggae Fest at Stewart Park on June 21-22, Watermusic and Dancing on the Waterfront Trail on Sunday, August 4 at 5 p.m. and the Ninth Annual Party for the Park on Saturday, September 21. For more information on upcoming events, visit https://www.friendsofstewartpark.org/events.
