The project to transform the area in front of Munson on Genesee Street in Utica has officially been completed, a milestone celebrated with a ribbon cutting on June 18.
“The Munson Genesee Street project transformed a barren and concrete-heavy landscape to a welcoming, park-like setting with trees, gardens, and community spaces,” Munson President and CEO Anna D’Ambrosio said in a statement. “It will create an accessible front entrance to the Museum of Art, a beautiful setting for events, and will recapture the essential neighborhood environment lost over the last few decades.”
The event was attended by New York State Secretary of State Walter Mosley.
About the DRI project
The $819,000 project, which redesigned the landscaping and outdoor spaces in front of the art museum, the education wing and Fountain Elms, was funded under Utica’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative state grant. Additional funding from several private and foundation donors allowed the project to expand beyond its original parameters to include an ADA-accessible museum entrance facing Genesee Street with a paved garden path and a plaza for both public and private events.
The project traded the huge lawn in front of the museum for a more park-like space with native plants, a space that welcomes visitors and encourages them to hang out.
The project also planted period-appropriate plants around Fountain Elms, the Italianate home of Munson’s founders; recreated, using more appropriate, native plants, the look of the landscaping around the museum designed by architect Philip Johnson; and created a more modern, public garden in front of the education wing.
As part of the project, the newly restored sculpture Three Arches, created in 1963 by renowned sculptor Alexander Calder for a commission from Munson, was placed in front of the museum again.
The project was designed by Steele Landscape Architects, of Fairport.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Munson ribbon cutting: ‘Welcoming, park-like setting’ with native plants, seating, statue
Reporting by Amy Neff Roth, Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
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