Peekskill Boatworks (2010 LGAA)

City of Peekskill (Winner)
County: Westchester County
Population: 10,001 to 50,000
City Hall: (914) 734-8418

The Peekskill Boatworks was a hands-on boat building project in the summer of 2009. Eight high school students spent six weeks building a fourteen-foot wooden skill patterned after the rowboats used by Hudson River Fishermen during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The program was initiated by James Taylor, a retired school principal in partnership with the City of Peekskill Youth Bureau.

The project gave the participants a first-time opportunity to create a wooden rowboat using traditional hand tools and small power tools. The participants were required to read plans, select materials and give input on problem solving situations. They also presented the finished boat at the Peekskill Celebration and Youth Bureau Summer Picnic.

This project can be duplicated by other municipalities by providing a useful space in which to build a boat or carry out a similar hands-on youth program. Community members and municipal agencies, such as the Youth Bureau, were able to partner on the project by providing insurance and fiscal oversight, as well as providing funding for the project.

This program greatly affected the residents of Peekskill by creating an opportunity for various diverse groups of the community to work together on one unifying project. Also, participants were able to experience the Hudson River from a different perspective than before, bringing new meaning and understanding to their City. Peekskill Boatworks is developing into an intergenerational, multi-cultural program crossing all social and economic backgrounds. The project brings together community members from all walks of life by way of constructing something tangible, as well as embracing the benefits of the beautiful riverfront green of Peekskill. The investment of the project for long-lasting results was approximately $6,000. In drawing attention to the City's riverfront green, the project has also brought attention to issues of environmental justice awareness.