The Island

I am taking a business trip this coming week to Connecticut. In making my plane and lodging accomodations, I realized I will be less than 20 miles from David's Island and Ft. Slocum in New York state where many of us spent several weeks over two summers (in 1967 &'68) as a part of the World Sing-Out Festivals held there.

It made we wonder what's going on there today, including the nearby city of New Rochelle, NY.

New Rochelle, NY has about the same size population now at 73,260 as it did back in the late 1960s (75,385 in 1970 census) when it was the host city for the World Sing-Out Festivals. It is still the seventh largest city in the State of New York and is listed by the American Podiatric Medical Association as one of the best cities to walk in the nation. In November, 2008, New Rochelle was also named by BUSINESS WEEK magazine as of the best places nationally to raise children.

Long known as a town with a significant amount of single-family residential developments, including some communities that were listed by FORBES Magazine in 2006 as among the "most expensive zip codes" in the country,the downtown area had a significant revitalization in the late 1990s with a $190 million entertainment center. It is located near the former Macy's and Mall which had be built and opened in 1968.

According to Wikipedia, New Rochelle is also known for its impressive collection of parklands and nature preserves, but the city has had a long struggle when it comes to similar efforts regarding David Island's.

David's Island has had many names over the years. Its current name comes from an ink manufacturer, Thaddeus Davids, who was a longtime resident of New Rochelle and owner of the island back in the 18th century.

Rented by the federal government during the Civil War and used as a hospital for wounded prisoners, Davids Island was later purchased by Congress and used for a variety of purposes over the years including as a recruitment depot, an army base,and as a costal artillery post to defend New York harbor. In the late 1950s, it was also the site for a Nike Ajax air-defense battery. During its time in World War II as a recruiting and training base, the famous "Sound off,, one, two" miltary cadence was reportedly invented there.

The installation built on Davids Island was given the name, Ft. Slocum, in honor of Major General Henry Slocum, one of the youngest generals to fight in the Civil War and later a New York congressman. The facility was also once home of the U.S. Army Chaplain School and the U.S. Information School where Army and Air Force personnel were trained in journalism, public affairs and photography.

After being deactivated as military installation, there were reportedly plans by Con Edison to build a nuclear plant there before the island was sold to the city of New Rochelle in 1967.

After lying more or less unused for several years, during the summer of 2008, the city of New Rochelle reportedly demolished every remaining structure on the Island including the iconic water tower which was on the northern end of the Island (as seen above).

Unfortunately, progress in developing a park on Davids Island continues to be difficult. Acording to a posting on the City of New Rochelle website, during his recent State of the City speech on March 11,2010, New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson (seen above) talked about the matter, and "to the surprise and delight of many in his audience of citizens and civic leaders," announced a new focus on the project, "envisioning development with sustainable design of world class quality and global demonstration value, to benefit the Island's unique status and potential." (Don't some of those adjectives that sound like something Blanton Belk would have said during one of our conferences? LOL)

Continuing to quote from the City of New Rochelle's website and Mayor Bramson's remarks, "In announcing a fresh approach to Davids Island, Mayor Branson refocuses attention on a site that has both enraptured and frustrated community leaders for decades. Bramson's proposal entails a city-directed planning analysis as a precursor to the selection of a master developer--with significant public access, reasonable and limited scale, and above all, cutting edge sustainable design serving as the guiding principals for any project."

I don't fully know the reasons for concerns, but the Mayor's speech talks about his plan resolving "long standing tensions between economic and environmental goals surrounding the project." More specifically, I have seen reports that the Island today is home to a variety of plants, birds and animals, including an endangered sea turtle, and rare birds such as the osprey and least terns. Davids Island also reportedly supports valuable wetlands, rare rocky intertidal areas and sandy beaches. The waters surrounding the Island are home to Winter Flounder, Atlantic Herring and Atlantic Silversides.

I believe the road above is the one we used to go over to the Island by ferry during our World Sing-Out Festivals. It would have been great during my business trip to steal some time away to go over again by ferry to visit the new park. But as Mayor Bramson says: "Davids Island is a tough nut to crack." Indeed. But he also believes recent federal funds "secured by local Congresswoman Nita Lowey, together with evolving building and design standards, (will create) new options for progress."

I sure hope so, and I suspect so do thousands of former UWP and Sing-Out alumni from all over the world who remember fondly the days we spent on Davids Island so many years ago.