$200K Wachenheim Foundation Challenge Grant for Rye Town Park
Friends of Rye Town Park, announced on Monday evening that the Sue and Edgar Wachenheim Foundation has pledged $200,000 toward the group’s tower building restoration project, contingent on the group raising a matching $200,000 from additional sources by June 30, 2025. The Wachenheims have strong ties to Rye, where they have been a long-time residents. Edgar Wachenheim, an investor and philanthropist, is trustee emeritus and former board president of Rye Country Day School (1983 – 1993). In December 2022, the Jay Heritage Center (JHC) on the Boston Post Road in Rye announced the receipt of a $1.5 million gift to open the Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III Exhibit and Performance Center.
“We are deeply grateful to Sue and Ed Wachenheim for their generosity, and we are excited to meet this challenge,” said Diana Page, president of the Friends of Rye Town Park. “The tower building, which first opened in 1909, is registered on the National and New York State historical registries. It has fallen into grave disrepair as a result of decades of neglect. The community is excited to see this work happen, and donations have already begun pouring in!”.
The project includes repairing and restoring the stucco on the exterior of the tower building, restoring the eight quatrefoil “rosette” windows and rebuilding the crumbling wall that runs from the tower building toward Dearborn Ave. The group would like to see this building restored as “a thriving community center by the sea”.
“The rosette windows are a particularly special feature of this building”, added Page. “You see that shape repeated in the building’s entryway pillars, and on the dedication plaque which dates to the Building’s 1909 opening. We found one original rosette window hidden in the basement, and it is exquisitely crafted. We can’t wait for our artisans to restore these windows and the entire building exterior to its original glory.”
The Friends has already raised $63,000 toward the $200,000 match and is actively soliciting the remainder (donations can be made online or by check at Friends of Rye Town Park, PO Box 345 Rye, NY 10580).
“Rye Town Park is one of very few public access points to the Long Island Sound, welcoming roughly 90,000 visitors from all walks of life, every year”, said Page. “Where other communities strive to keep their beach exclusive to their residents, we are open and accessible to all. Our visitors deserve a magnificent space, and our investments in the green spaces and now in the tower building ensure that it will be so.”
