NEWS RELEASE: Strategic Planning Process Promises Growth, Innovation at Historic Huguenot Street
Changes to Echo Across Ulster County and the Hudson Valley
NEW PALTZ, NY (February 27, 2014) - Historic Huguenot Street announced today a process that will lay the foundation for years of preservation, education, and expansion. With clear goals for evaluating Huguenot Street's mission, programming, and financial development, as well as the physical layout of the site, the strategic planning committee will form a roadmap for a guest experience centered on the people, buildings, and objects of Huguenot Street, New Paltz, and beyond.
"Huguenot Street has a rare opportunity to become a progressive and provocative model for the renaissance of historic sites and museums across the country," said Director of Strategy, Development, and Historic Interpretation Dr. Taylor Stoermer. The committee will consider online and onsite technology, inventive educational tools, and new methods of interpretation to transform Huguenot Street into a destination for history lovers and leisure travelers alike.
With this new direction, Huguenot Street will enlist vital partners in Ulster County and throughout the region.
"I am proud to share in the new vision of Historic Huguenot Street with Dr. Stoermer and the strategic planning committee," said Ulster County Executive Mike Hein. "I look forward to this new focus which will further enhance our cultural history, encompass the surrounding community, and attract visitors to our great county. I encourage Ulster County residents, as well as visitors to the area, to participate and explore Historic Huguenot Street, a magnificent historical treasure."
Backgrounds of strategic planning committee members comprise tourism, site planning and management, and creative programming. Updates to the site will begin right away, with the results of the planning process set for a late-2014 adoption. The committee members are:
- Jay Jason (Chair), Board Trustee, Historic Huguenot Street
- Dr. Taylor Stoermer (Manager), Director of Strategy, Development, and Historic Interpretation, Historic Huguenot Street
- Lisa Berger, Deputy Director, Ulster County Tourism
- Josephine Bloodgood, Executive Director and Curator, Woodstock Artists Association and Museum
- Ray Curran, professional urban planner and developer and local artist
- Rebecca Mackey, Director of Operations, Historic Huguenot Street
- Bill Martin, Director, Valentine Richmond History Center
- Nina Postupack, County Clerk, Ulster County
- Richard Remsnyder, Director, Ulster County Tourism
- Mary Etta Schneider, President and Board Chair, Historic Huguenot Street
- Mary Kay Vrba, Executive Director, Duchess Tourism
- Bill Weldon, Creative Director, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation