Low Impact Development and Ecological Restoration Concept Plan
Newburgh Wise Use Eco-Industrial Park, NY

F. X. Browne, Inc. prepared a low-impact development and ecological restoration concept plan for the proposed Newburgh Wise-use Eco-Industrial Park.  Currently a superfund site, the 49-acre site, when developed, will bring hundreds of new manufacturing jobs to an economically depressed area. 

Based on the goal to develop the site in a way that integrates environmental and sustainable approaches to architecture and site design, F. X. Browne, Inc. developed a conceptual plan that minimized impervious cover and maximized stormwater infiltration and treatment through the use of innovative BMPs such as porous pavement, constructed wetlands, and bioinfiltration systems. 

F. X. Browne, Inc.’s design retained almost half of the site as a natural area, the centerpiece of which is a fully restored stretch of the Gidneytown Creek, a badly degraded creek that currently runs along the western edge of the site. F. X. Browne, Inc.’s stream restoration team developed a restoration plan for reintegrating the Gidneytown Creek into the site as well as improving habitat quality and stream stability.  Our conceptual design also included the design of a linear park, environmental signage, a nature and walking trail network, and a linear sound barrier to block noise pollution from nearby I-84. 

F. X. Browne, Inc. also developed a cost estimate for the conceptual plan, identified funding strategies, and assisted the client in preparing a grant application for the project.