News & Events
Architectural Technology Students Recognized by Upstate Communities
City Tech architectural technology students Lucas Nachmens and Billy James Abela were recognized for their outstanding contributions to the Town of Warwick and Village of Greenwood Lake in upstate New York’s Orange County, during a video presentation spotlighting an unusual partnership between the two communities and a downstate City University of New York college. The video, produced by City Tech’s Department of Architectural Technology CLT Felix Baez, was featured at a dedication concert marking the opening of the new Thomas P. Morahan Waterfront Park.
Previously, department students had been presented with cash awards and citations by the communities in appreciation for their work on a major project involving complete re-landscaping and property reconfiguration of a former marina located on ten-mile-long Greenwood Lake, a site that had been purchased with funds allocated for the preservation of open spaces. Local officials presented the awards at a town meeting also attended by New York State representatives. An earlier event in May 2005 included presentation of the students’ renderings, architectural models and animations to a jury of Warwick and Greenwood Lake officials and other representatives of state and local government.
Named for New York State Senator Thomas P. Morahan, a well-respected Republican who represents all of Rockland County and part of Orange County, the new waterfront park incorporates approved features of the design work earlier provided by Nachmens, Abela and other City Tech architectural technology students and faculty. The department’s participation was at the invitation of City Tech’s former Acting President Emilie A. Cozzi, a member of the Greenwood Lake Beach Visioning Committee.
The students, under the guidance of Professor Agustin Maldonado, a registered architect and department chair, embarked on the project two years ago. Plans included major alterations in topography, designs for the construction of an outdoor concert stage and an adjoining sloped area for concert viewing, roadside access and parking areas, as well as plans for bulkhead removal and the refashioning of the lakefront beach, picnic and playground areas, and walking trails. The students’ work also included designs for a future building complex.
Local officials had estimated that the value of the City Tech student and faculty in-kind contributions to the project exceeded $100,000 and area professionals and other businesspeople followed suit by donating sod, landfill, other landscaping materials and time and labor to assist in bringing the project to fruition. Warwick Town Councilman Leonard DeBuck and Greenwood Lake Trustee Barbara Moore spearheaded the new waterfront park project.
“The Department of Architectural Technology was delighted to be part of this exciting collaboration,” said Professor Maldonado, “because it gave our students yet another opportunity to work on a real-world project in addition to their regular classroom assignments.
“This project, in particular, presented several unusual challenges because of site limitations and also added to the students' perspective because the venue involved forest, lake and mountains rather than the usual urban setting,” Maldonado added.
01/25/07
