Architects plot strategy for former Hutton estate

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The entrance to Hubbard County Park in Flanders, which was the focus of a community charrette this past weekend.

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A cross-section of architects, engineers, planners, biologists and concerned citizens gathered at Stony Brook Southampton last weekend to discuss the future of 500 pristine acres of wetlands and forests on Peconic Bay in Flanders that comprise Hubbard County Park.

The land, which abuts some 5,000 acres of the fragile pine barrens, is vitally important to the entire region, as it covers East End aquifers—the source of drinking water.

The Peconic Chapter of the American Institute of Architects hosted the symposium, known as a charrette, on Friday and Saturday, June 13 and 14, at the Southampton campus.

Hubbard County Park is also significant in that it aids in the health of the Peconic Estuary, which is vital for the survival of various shellfish and marine life in the park. Of concern to the organizers of the charrette was the impact of future development on the site to the estuary.

The results of the two-day event will be distilled over the coming weeks and presented to the Suffolk County Department of Parks and Recreation, which holds jurisdiction over the park, at the Green Fair at the Sag Harbor Museum on July 12.

East Hampton architect Eva Growney, the director of the “Duck Project,” which derives its name from the Black Duck lodge, the former hunting lodge of American financier E.F. Hutton located on the property, said the charrette was a glorious success.

“It was very exciting,” Ms. Growney said. “We had an incredible group of experts and community members all interested in protecting and preserving this beautiful piece of property.”

Also taking part were representatives from the Shinnecock Indian Nation who expressed their desire that any future plans for the property include an archeological review of the site to ensure the protection of any remains or artifacts.

“We definitely share that concern,” Ms. Growney said. “Native Americans were here first. We have to acknowledge that.”

Resulting from the intensive gathering, according to Ms. Growney, was an overwhelming consensus to keep the ecologically sensitive land and historic structures as untouched as possible. “We want to keep the site low impact with minimal passive uses,” Ms. Growney said, adding that she would like to see a focus on education. “We want to use this property to show how buildings and human activity affect the earth,” she said. “We want to keep it elegantly self sustaining.”

Once refurbished, Ms. Growney believes the buildings on the property can serve as a model for alternative methods in the construction of environmentally friendly homes and businesses. “It can teach us how to change some of the bad habits we’ve acquired, which can make a significant difference for the planet,” Ms. Growney said.

Uses of non-fossil fuel energy to sustain the park, such as geo-thermal, solar, and wind, are a key aspect in the future vision of the park.

“We would like to see wind turbines and solar panels constructed on a very modest scale,” Ms. Growney said. In her opinion, harnessing the wind, the water, and the sun for energy is nothing new. Rather, it’s a return to the old. “There were likely windmills and water mills on the site at one time,” she said. “Anything that was used by the first peoples on the land we think can be introduced very minimally.”

Some of the passive uses recommended during the charrette include hiking, kayaking, and canoeing.

“We’d like to keep it confined to pedestrian trails,” Ms. Growney said. “The consensus was not to recommend bike trails or to suggest any sort of paving of trails.”

According to Suffolk County park officials, waterfowling and bow hunting for whitetail deer are permissible during the hunting seasons on the property. Ms. Growney said there was no recommendation to stop the hunting on the site, as it is a tradition.

“We want to keep the land the way it was first utilized,” she said. “And hunting is part of that.”

Approached by the county in the summer of 2006 to come up with ideas for revitalizing and preserving the property, Ms. Growney said, “Nothing had been done with the park for years.”

Ms. Growney initially received a $10,000 grant from the county to conduct a study of the park. Since then, “The Duck Project” has raised more than $30,000 in grants. Some of the project’s sponsors include the Long Island Power Authority, AIA National, Group for the East End, Speonk Lumber, and the Town of Southampton. Ms. Growney said it was too early to come up with a financial figure for the recommendations from the charrette.

Peter Arsenault, an Albany based architect and vice president of the National AIA, was the facilitator of the event. “We accomplished our goals of taking multiple points of view and building a consensus for what this park will look like for future generations,” Mr. Arsenault said. “I am looking forward to the results being formulated into a document for the Green Fair in July.”