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Residents near the crumbling station say they like the idea of preserving and redeveloping the aging buildings – but not if their beloved Trevor Park is disrupted to make room for parking spaces.
“There are not a lot of parks in Yonkers,” said Teri Dazewell, who called any changes to the park a “travesty.”
“This is our Central Park. This is our neighborhood park. Leave it alone.”
Dazewell was among dozens of neighbors who turned out Wednesday night for a standing-room-only meeting of the city’s Planning Board.
Developers hoping to secure various special-use permits presented their $200 million vision for the old Glenwood Power Station.
In it, all three of the power plant's iconic buildings would be restored, with the southernmost smokestack room transformed into a restaurant and 72-room hotel.
Next to that, in the turbine room, would be an exhibition hall for potential conferences. In the third building, the switch room, a second small hotel would be placed, this one with 42 rooms.
Linda Shaw, lawyer for developer Glenwood POH, said there is a possibility several cafes and even a health spa could be added to the 105-year-old complex.
The only problem, Shaw said, is there is no room for parking along the cramped Hudson River waterfront. So what Glenwood POH has proposed in preliminary drawings is to bury an 870-space parking garage in a hilltop inside the adjacent Trevor Park.
On top of the garage, developers say, an even bigger park would be built, as the hill would be leveled and AstroTurf ball fields would be put on top of the parking area.
But that is exactly what many residents, some displaying “Leave Trevor Park Alone” signs, said they do not want to see happen.
“The heart of our neighborhood is Trevor Park,” said Charley Hensley, adding that “playing fields are not a park.”
Ravine Avenue resident Denise Holden said she was not opposed to the redevelopment of the power station. But she was very much against the idea of any plan that disrupted the park.
“At this point in time, to take away our park that enhances the community would be very detrimental to every one of us who resides in the city of Yonkers and this community,” she said.
Shaw stressed to neighbors that Glenwood POH’s plans were still in the preliminary stages and said they will seek community input as they move forward in the planning process.
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