Conservancy Projects

Current Projects

Planning a New Playground

The Conservancy has been actively planning a new playground since 2017.  Over the last two years, in spite of the challenges imposed by Covid-19, we’ve made significant progress, working with community stakeholders and representatives of the City.  Follow our progress on this exciting project HERE 

150 Years of Washington Park: A History

Retired SUNY Professor and Conservancy member John Pipkin and Jessica Fisher Neidl, who has worked as a senior writer/editor for the NYS Museum, SUNY, and Mount Ida Press, are developing a book on the history of Washington Park. The manuscript will be submitted to SUNY Press this year.

RECENTLY COMPLETED!

King Fountain Lighting

The Conservancy has worked with the City over the last several years on repairs and improvements to the area surrounding the King Fountain, with a special emphasis on upgrading lighting with historically appropriate light fixtures to improve the illumination of the area.  The new lighting is finally installed and we are all thrilled at the results! This project was funded in part by a grant from the Bender Family Foundation.  Read more

Other Recent Projects

Since 2012 the Conservancy has completed and contributed to projects including:

  • Twelve new markers highlighting the history and uses of various sections, elements and now-missing structures in the Park
  • Support for skateboard park near Washington Park’s south-west corner
  • A new fence at the east end of the Lake
  • A two-year restoration of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument
  • Restoration of the bridge over Washington Park Lake
  • Treatment of 28 ash trees in the Park against the ravages of the Emerald Ash borer, an invasive beetle originally from Asia which first appeared in Albany in 2014