Tompkins Weekly

Freeville’s Station Park highlights village history


An elevated view of Station Park in the village of Freeville, showing the far side where a series of panels details Freeville’s railroad history. Photo by Greg Parker.

A finished project in the village of Freeville is looking to provide “an attractive gathering place for village residents” while “increasing public awareness of local history,” said David Fogel.

Dryden Dispatch by Kevin L. Smith

Fogel, the village’s former mayor who is now a member of the Board of Trustees, speaks of Station Park, which was completed in spring of this year.

According to Fogel, Station Park is a history-themed pocket park and bus stop located on a village-owned parcel within the old Lehigh Valley Railroad right-of-way, which is at the intersection of Route 38 and Factory Street (see tinyurl.com/y9lmse4s).

“It was very gratifying to see it finished,” Fogel said, noting that it was completed just as his final term as mayor was wrapping up.

The park, Fogel said, honors Freeville’s “rich history.”

“[It honors the history] as an important regional railroad junction in the late 1800s and early 1900s, with architectural and landscape elements designed to evoke the train station that once stood about 200 feet east of the site, across Railroad Street,” he added.

The Village Board of Trustees began talks about creating the park “about 10 years ago,” Fogel said.

“[This was] shortly after our DPW demolished the old octagonal Lehigh Valley water tower, a much-loved but deteriorating landmark that had stood at the site for more than a hundred years,” he added.

The park’s design started to take shape in 2014 and was presented to the community as a scale model, which was on display “for several months,” Fogel said. Following praise for the project, construction began in 2015.

The project itself hit a few snags prior to 2019, Fogel said.

“Before we could begin building the various elements of the park, we had to install underground drainage to eliminate a large area of standing water caused by the natural spring that once fed into the water tower, build an 80-foot section of sidewalk along Railroad Street and grade and level the sloping site,” he added.

Fogel noted that in 2019 and beyond, the project “gained momentum.”

“[This is] thanks to the efforts of community volunteers and the infusion of significant grant funding, which allowed us to make steady progress throughout the pandemic,” he said.

The project as a whole cost about $65,000, Fogel said, which he added was funded by the village through “several annual budget cycles.”

“We received two grants from Tompkins County through the Department of Planning and Sustainability and the county’s tourism program,” Fogel said, as he mentioned the rest of the project’s funding sources. “The Dryden Rotary Club secured a Rotary District Community Grant for landscaping at the park, work that the group took on as a club project. We also received two very generous private donations from three area residents.”

As the project neared its finish line, the budget for it was “nearly exhausted,” Fogel said. But TCAT provided funding for different parts of the park, including the fabrication of the two benches in the bus shelter, the solar lighting for the shelter and the walkway from the sidewalk on Railroad Street to the Route 38 roadway.

An important function of the park, Fogel said, is a bus stop for two TCAT lines through the village.

“The 15-foot-long bus shelter is modeled on the passenger depot that stood near the crossing from 1910 to 1940 and includes six large display panels examining the history of Freeville and its railroads,” he added.

Fogel said there are also three additional panels, which are “mounted on a kiosk at the end of a 30-foot-long section of track,” a donation given to the village by Owego & Harford Railway Company.

“There are seven benches for bus riders and visitors to the park,” he added.

The park’s surroundings make it an “integral part” of the town of Dryden’s Rail Trail.

“It’s located near the point where the trail turns sharply from one old railbed to another,” Fogel said. “Once the section that traverses the village is completed, a short spur will connect the trail to the park, which will become a sort of way station for trail users.”

The park in its entirety, Fogel said, serves as a “much-needed focal point” for the Railroad Street neighborhood, which is south of the four corners.

“[It is] a somewhat marginalized area characterized by multi-unit rental properties,” he added. “A community can only be as healthy as its most neglected neighborhood. It’s our hope that the park will help foster a greater sense of community and improve the quality of life in that part of town.”

Dryden Dispatch appears every Wednesday in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@VizellaMedia.com.

In brief:

Town of Dryden Recreation offering registration for fall youth sports

Registration is available from the Town of Dryden Recreation for youth sports during the fall season.

The sports programs available this fall are flag football, junior and senior football, youth soccer and youth cheerleading.

Those interested can register at drydenrec.recdesk.com. For more information, contact the recreation department at recreation@dryden.ny.us, or (607) 844-8888 (ext. 228).

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