Does it matter to you what happens to the site of the original 1969 Woodstock Festival in Bethel New York?

It matters to me that the Gerry Foundation, which bought the land in 1996, is building a Performing Arts Center - I like this.

But I don't like that, with 634 acres designated to become a Performing Arts District, the plans now indicate that a "Core of Activities" is to be placed at the top of the bowl, within the 37.4-acre Festival Field... even though last year they had indicated they would leave the field free of any construction (except for a permanent stage where the original stage stood).

I am a member of the Board of the Woodstock Preservation Alliance... we are attempting to influence this decision. The plans are now at the Draft Environmental Impact Statement phase... so things still may be changed.

Please... If the Woodstock Spirit means anything to you... visit The Woodstock Preservation Alliance website

Read our message board, become a member... read the DEIS, which we put online (hours of work to get this done!) write letters to your senators, congressmen, the Office of Historical Preservation and anyone else you can think of... there are references in our links, too.

We need to leave something to our grandchildren's grandchildren. I pray that they don't have to sing:
"By the time I got to Woodstock - They paved paradise and put up a parking lot"

In these crazy times, a monument to PEACE is needed more than ever! PLEASE!!!

Peace, Love, Music & (((HUGS)))
Wyldflower
<img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/tiedye.gif" width=17 height=17>

This sounds like a job for a yellow Submarine filled with cookies.......and weirdos! <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/smile.gif" width=15 height=15>

I'm against any more development period. That's right, if I were king of the planet, there would be an immediate moratorium on development (a nice word for destruction.)

As a species, we humans have "developed" more than enough of this globe. We have plenty of pavement, plenty of wal-marts, and plenty of us. We need to stabilize or decrease our population, which will allow us to survive nicely within existing development. People who make their livings destroying virgin land can shift their energies to renovating the undesirable urban spaces which exist in and around every major city. All of you who live near large cities know exactly what I'm talking about. You see your suburbs ever expanding outward like the blob, replacing wetlands, forests, and farms with McMansions, malls, and roads roads roads. Doesn't it just piss you off? In places like Atlanta, Mpls, and Houston to name a few, sprawl is occuring at an obscene rate. It's being allowed to happen because money matters more than people and ecosystems to developers and politicians, despite how they ironically love to talk about God and country.

Using logic and savvy planning, we can have sustainable economic growth without the further death of our dwindling wild places. We just need the will to take some action.
Thanks WF for your action!

I'm trying to read up, Wyld. I never have completely understood exactly who wanted what ever since the Gerry Foundation bought it. I was glad about that, too, because it could have been condos or something if things had been different. And I've only been there once. Hard to picture what's being proposed to go where. What kind of activities are going to wind up there?

Good luck! The WOODSTOCK site is sacred land & should be preserved... <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/peace.gif" width=16 height=16>

Sorry it took me so long to reply here, Pat... I've been VERY busy...

Check out this local Sullivan County newspaper article (in which I am quoted).. The River Reporter . It may give a little more perspective on the proposal for the Performing Arts Center

Bottom line... we Woodstock Preservationists would rather see the entire Festival site left open, allowing for the spontaneous reunions that had traditionally happened there until 1996, when the land was purchased by the Gerry Foundation. (Those reunions have taken place within a couple of miles of the Woodstock Site since then.)

Realistically, though, since Gerry owns the land and proposed to build a Performing Arts Center, we concede that there will be development in the area. Therefore we focused our efforts on preserving the 37.4 acres at the corner of Hurd Road and West Shore Road, acknowledged to be the "FESTIVAL FIELD" by all parties.

The people of the Town of Bethel and of Sullivan County generally seem to want the PAC, as it is looked at as a boost to the depressed economy of the area (and in many eyes, it is a preferable option to the Native American casinos that are being considered.)

The Woodstock Preservation Alliance supports the idea of building a performing arts center, which according to the proposals would also include a museum, a small indoor concert venue, a market place and a music school similar to Julliard. The only demand that we are making is that all of the development in the proposed 634 acre Performing Arts District be kept OFF the 37.4 acres.

In the original plans presented last June, the Gerry Foundation respected those wishes. But now they are claiming that they cannot place certain facilities where they wanted, and THEY INTEND TO BUILD A STRIP-MALL ON 1/3 OF THE FESTIVAL FIELD! We strenuously object to this, and we are gathering forces to lobby against this portion of the plan.

I hope this clarifies things a little bit...

Peace, Love, Music & (((HUGS)))
~Wyldflower
<img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/tiedye.gif" width=17 height=17>

Thanks Wyld. It makes it clearer. On reading about it there's a lot of discussion which requires you to know exactly what the difference between something being near 17b and not being near it is. I was only there once and I think we got a little lost on the way anyway, so I'm not even sure what the right way to get there is. We got there, but it was a little round about or something. I guess the area they're talking about putting the shops on is where the vendors were for the Bethel '99 concert? Or not?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by pat:
I guess the area they're talking about putting the shops on is where the vendors were for the Bethel '99 concert? Or not?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I didn't go to the Day in the Garden events in 98 and 99... I was at the reunion down the road... but will check with others... I believe you are right about that... they plan to build at the crest of the hill just above the bowl...

Our opinion is that the whole field... from the intersection to the treeline in both directions... should not be developed... after all there are another 600 acres that they are designating for the Performing Arts District... and we're not even arguing about their plan to put a permanent stage in the same location as the original stage, this would be the PAC's "Festival Stage" (a small outdoor stage for planned Festival dates in addition to the larger pavilion... but there are things about that design we don't like either.

There is much to absorb... and I'm still working on understanding their proposal...

More info will be posted when I can...

Love you guys!
~Wyld

A brief update...

The Gerry Foundation is still planning to build a Performing Arts Center in Bethel, and intends to place the associated "core of activities" including a "marketplace" directly on about
half of the Woodstock Festival Field .

The Woodstock Preservation Alliance is asking all interested people to write to the Town of Bethel, Joint Lead Agency for the PAC, and let them know that ANY building on the Woodstock Site itself is unacceptable.

We would love to see a Performing Arts Center in Bethel... and maybe Arlo would want to perform there... <FONT size="4">BUT</FONT s> we want the 38-acre field to remain undeveloped. Gerry owns over 1300 acres. He does not have to build right on the Site!

This is YOUR Woodstock... Let the Town know that they have the opportunity to either be heroes or villains... and tell them what you want them to do... and that is to keep the buildings off the Woodstock Site.

Here is a link to the text of a Public Service Announcement that the WPA (of which I am one of the Board members) is running in a local newspaper this week and will repeat in a regional paper next week.

The Joint Lead Agency is accepting public comment from ALL interested people... no matter where you live (after all, we are all potential tourists in the Bethel area). They will accept comment up until May 24.

PLEASE write your letters to:

Town of Bethel
Joint Lead Agency for the PAC
P.O. Box 300
White Lake, New York 12786

(And thank you to those who have already written... if you have not addressed a letter directly to these people, please do... they are the decision makers now.)

Peace, Love, Music & FOCUS ON THE SITE
~Wyldflower
<img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/tiedye.gif" width=17 height=17>
<FONT size="1">Edited to repair a link</FONT s>

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by Wyldflower on Apr 18, 2002 ---</FONT></center>

Wyld,

Thank you for keeping us informed. Our letters will go out Monday, and I'll pass the info on to as many others as I can; also will send a local letter to the editor.

Ceas

Hey... time is getting short... do you think the Woodstock Site is worth saving from destruction? We CAN save the Site, and still have a new Performing Arts Center in Bethel!

Please - sign the online Petition ... and if you can, come to the Public Hearing in Bethel, NY on Tuesday, May 14, at 7:30 pm. Please read the info on the Woodstock Preservation Alliance's web page at www.thewoodstockspirit.org

Thanks!
We CAN make a difference!

Peace, Love, Music & FOCUS ON THE SITE!
~Wyldflower
<img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/tiedye.gif" width=17 height=17>

signed and submitted, wyld...good luck!

I was happy to sign, too. coming up to Bethel on a Tuesday isn't possible, but we'll be there in spirit and waiting to hear your report on it, Wyld.Good luck and thanks for all your efforts on everybody's behalf.

Signed and submitted. Thanks, Wyldflower, and good luck at the hearing. I'll be hoping for a favorable report.

SIgned it. Good luck! <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/smile.gif" width=15 height=15>