NYS Parks to Invest $3.2 Million in Clarkson's Beacon Institute

As part of a public-private partnership with Clarkson and its Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation is investing $3.2 million in Hudson Highlands State Park Preserve to convert an abandoned paperclip factory into a formal Visitors’ Welcome Center and the Beatrice G. Donofrio Environmental Education Complex. The project aims to showcase the rich history of the park’s Denning’s Point in Beacon, as well as the ecological diversity of the Hudson River Estuary.

Spending the last day of his 19-year presidency at the event on June 30, ANTHONY G. COLLINS and new Clarkson President MARC P. CHRISTENSEN, Ph.D. P.E., recognized the power of the partnership with New York state to bring together world-relevant healthy water research, innovation, education and recreation for the public good. The leaders also recognized NICK DONOFRIO and his family for their support of the Beatrice G. Donofrio Environmental Education Complex — an extension of the Visitors’ Welcome Center — which honors their mother, Beatrice, in the Beacon community she called home.

President Christensen thanked Gov. Kathy Hochul, who “is nationally recognized for her bold leadership to address environmental issues and climate change with sustainable solutions. With parks and trail systems in New York state setting new records in community usage, this public-private collaboration at Denning’s Point provides direct access for all learners — regardless of age, resources or financial capacity — to engage in community science alongside scientific experts and advocate for the natural environment in new and meaningful ways that matter to our future.”

The work will complete the transformation of the first floor of a former industrial plant to its repurposed use for research and education. Earlier stages of work to the structural and exterior building shell were completed in 2021. This next stage of work will finish the interior to create a welcome center with classrooms and collaborative and supporting spaces, including accessible restrooms and an elevator that leads to an open floor plan on the second level. Exterior work will provide utility connections, parking and pathways, all enhanced by site furnishings and selective landscaping.