“A Gateway to the Catskills”: Project Regeneration's Vision for Green Space in the Heart of Woodstock

When you walk along Tinker Street in Woodstock, you might notice a shift in the view as you pass the former library and proceed west. The storefronts give way to a large open lawn, also known as the Forever Green, a beloved community gathering space in front of the former library building. Now part of the Project Regeneration property, the lawn continues onto the adjoining property - the old “Lasher” former funeral home. And the backdrop will give you pause: 1,200 vertical feet of lush Catskill peaks.

“It’s a gateway to the Catskills,” says Ian Troxell, Project Regeneration’s Chief Operating Officer. “It’s a reminder that being in Woodstock means standing at the foothills of the Catskills.”

While Woodstock is famous for its rural locale, its closeness to the Catskill Mountains can be overlooked by people on the street who are busy visiting the shops and cafés that cluster around the town’s central artery.

Project Regeneration aims to change that with a plan to create a park by both expanding and reshaping the green space, while taking advantage of the spectacular views and natural beauty it contains. As part of the larger plan to boost economic dynamism in the town, the park can provide a premium location for businesses that want their workers to have a good work-life balance with exceptional views.

Ian compares the future park to New York City’s famous High Line, an elevated public park built entirely on a repurposed freight rail line and seeded with thousands of native plants. The High Line’s plan for the adaptive reuse of a long-abandoned eyesore proved highly successful, drawing curious tourists eager to enjoy a slice of outstanding natural beauty in an urban setting, while stimulating impressive economic growth on Manhattan’s West Side.

Project Regeneration aims to change that with a plan to create a park by both expanding and reshaping the green space, while taking advantage of the spectacular views and natural beauty it contains. As part of the larger plan to boost economic dynamism in the town, the park can provide a premium location for businesses that want their workers to have a good work-life balance with exceptional views.

Ian compares the future park to New York City’s famous High Line, an elevated public park built entirely on a repurposed freight rail line and seeded with thousands of native plants. The High Line’s plan for the adaptive reuse of a long-abandoned eyesore proved highly successful, drawing curious tourists eager to enjoy a slice of outstanding natural beauty in an urban setting, while stimulating impressive economic growth on Manhattan’s West Side.

“Counter Agriculture”: Using Permaculture to Expand Woodstock’s Forever Green

Woodstock is famous, of course, for the counterculture movement that gave birth to its legendary 1969 music and arts festival. Project Regeneration’s vision for green space echoes that spirit, rooting it in the land itself. The design philosophy guiding the park is permaculture, an approach that Ian thinks of as “counter agriculture,” in the sense that it is a deliberate reversal of past habits we can all confess to: lawn monoculture, ecological indifference, and undervaluing the land.

Project Regeneration’s green space plan also aligns perfectly with the project’s proposal to update and repurpose the six buildings that populate Project Regeneration’s 3.5 acres. “In the sense that we're regenerating the use of these old buildings, we're regenerating the use of the physical land by caring for it better,” says Troxell. As the team of engineers and designers adapts the buildings to be structurally sound and energy efficient, they will also use age-old principles of permaculture to respectfully steward the land underneath them.

This green space is not just being designed; it is being expanded. Currently, the property’s entrance driveway cuts straight through the front of the campus at 100 Tinker Street. Project Regeneration hopes to relocate the vehicle entrance westward to the space between 100 and 106 Tinker Street, from where it will loop around to the back of the property. The current driveway and traffic circle will then be returned to green space, providing a much larger area for greenery and permaculture water designs.

A Living Ecosystem at the Center of Town: Bioswales, Microguilds, and Apple Trees

The campus has a remarkable secret running beneath it: a natural spring fed by water filtered through the Catskill Mountains, which gathers in a small wetland at the back of the property. Due to the outdated external plumbing system still in place, the water is funneled into a steel pipe buried under the library lawn before flowing away from Woodstock and into the Kingston water supply.

Pristine water like this is precious, so the project team will use permaculture designs to slow it down, using it to nourish the green space and contribute to Woodstock’s natural aquifer. This includes creating a network of bioswales, natural channels carved into the landscape and designed to capture stormwater runoff and funnel it back into the soil.

The team also plans to alter the topography of the flat lawn so it features slight undulations, gentle mounds, and curved berms that slow water runoff while creating distinct “microguilds” for different types of native plants. In the lower, wetter pockets, there will be reeds and wetland species. The mounds will feature flowers and pollinator plants, while the higher ridges will host shrubs and fruit trees, including apple, hazelnut, and pawpaw. Each tier will support the others while feeding the soil. The contoured land shapes will also invite people to wander along paths that follow the soft curves of the land, creating a natural labyrinth for walkers to enjoy.

The two ponds at the back of the property already provide a thriving wildlife sanctuary that project designers plan to preserve and accentuate. In early spring, thousands of frog eggs appear in the larger pond, hatching into tadpoles that draw water snakes to the surface. Box turtles live around the edges. Moorhens and ducks nest under the trees, and praying mantis egg cases have appeared in the surrounding vegetation - one of the clearest signs ecologists know of a genuinely healthy ecosystem.

A Commitment to History and Ecology

The team’s philosophy of adaptive reuse, honoring both the history and the ecology of the site, is reflected in its decision regarding what to do about a massive maple tree that stands guard over the site’s former library. Estimated to be approximately 246 years old, the tree predates every building in Woodstock and is almost as old as the United States itself.

During planning discussions, a proposal emerged to remove the tree because its roots encroached on the bathroom structure it has been growing beside for decades. The decision was made to instead move the bathrooms to another location so the historic tree can remain.

“Getting rid of that one bathroom isn't a big deal to us, and it saves one of the most beautiful trees on the campus,” says Troxell. “It's amazing, considering our country's 250 years old. And you don't want to just chop that down because it's in the way of two toilets. That's ridiculous.”

What Comes Next

The green space transformation will unfold in stages as the broader site plan works its way through the town approval process. But even before work begins on the buildings, there are places on the campus where planting can begin immediately: around the Victorian house, along the library edge, and near the barns. Early plantings may start this summer, and the full permaculture design - the bioswales, microguilds, redirected water systems, and returned driveway space - will take shape over several years.

Permaculture, just like the repurposing and updating of buildings, is patient work. The apple trees will take years to bear fruit, and the native grasses will need seasons to establish their root systems. But the vision is clear, and it is already beginning: a gateway to the Catskills, open to everyone, right on Tinker Street. A place where Woodstockers can see their mountains, breathe their air, and remember exactly where they are.

Next time...

Permaculture, just like the repurposing and updating of buildings, is patient work. The apple trees will take years to bear fruit, and the native grasses will need seasons to establish their root systems. But the vision is clear, and it is already beginning: a gateway to the Catskills, open to everyone, right on Tinker Street. A place where Woodstockers can see their mountains, breathe their air, and remember exactly where they are.

And speaking of apple trees, they will play an important role in the park's future ecosystem and food-producing landscape. In next month's blog, we'll take a closer look at the varieties planned for the site, their role in the permaculture design, and a fascinating local connection: did you know that Johnny Appleseed himself is believed to have planted apple trees in Woodstock? It's a story that perfectly reflects the project's commitment to honoring both the land's history and its future.

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