The Friends of Rye Town Park has raised more than $450,000 to restore its tower building, the group announced Friday morning.
The nonprofit volunteer group launched a fundraising campaign for its Tower Building Restoration Project back on April 12 — with an initial goal of raising $350,000. But things changed in May, after the Friends group received a $200,000 matching grant from the Sue and Edgar Wachenheim Foundation.
The group has raised more than $250,000 on its own to trigger the matching grant.
“We are overjoyed by the way the community has rallied around us, especially in helping us meet the Wachenheim challenge grant opportunity,” Friends President Diana Page said in Friday’s announcement. “People have supported us in every possible way – they’ve donated, secured employer matching gifts, held fundraisers, encouraged their friends to donate, spread the word on social media, written news stories and cheered us on.
“We are so deeply grateful.”
Located on Forest and Dearborn avenues, Rye Town Park is a 63-acre pavilion and greenspace overlooking the Long Island Sound that is co-owned by the city and town of Rye. It provides one of very few public access points to the water in Rye, and welcomes about 90,000 visitors each year.
The park’s tower building — in its Spanish mission style design — was first opened in 1909 and sits on the national and state historical registries. But the building has fallen into a state of disrepair.
The park’s pavilion and bathrooms have also recently been subject to repairs, as many of Rye Town Park’s buildings have sustained extreme wear and tear.
The Tower Building Restoration Project details plans to repair the stucco exterior of the tower building, restore the quatrefoil windows, and rebuild the wall that runs from the building toward Dearborn Avenue. Any additional funds will be used for other exterior restoration work, according to the Friends of Rye Town Park.
“We are already thinking about the next phase of what’s possible for this building,” Friends Treasurer Chris Meier said in the announcement. “The success of this fundraising effort proves that our community cares about the Tower Building and wants to see it revitalized.”
The Friends group doesn’t yet have a timeline for beginning the tower rehab, since it will require city permits. However, the group estimates that once it starts the project it will be completed in 12-14 weeks.
