Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the completion of a new Visitor Center, improved parking, and enhanced exhibits at Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park, in Great River.

The new 1,600-square-foot Visitor Center will educate visitors about the Cutting family and their historic 60-room Tudor-style mansion; the landscaped grounds with a wide variety of trees, shrubs and plants; and the impact of ongoing climate change on Long Island.

Funding for the $12.2 million project has been sourced from New York Works, Land and Water Conservation Fund, Bayard Cutting Arboretum Board of Trustees via the Natural Heritage Trust, and Environmental Protection Fund.

“This project is the result of years of thoughtful planning by New York State Parks’ Long Island region and the private trustees who supervise an endowment created by Mrs. Cutting when she agreed with Robert Moses to create the arboretum over 80 years ago,” shared Bayard Cutting Arboretum Board of Trustees chair, Scott Wise. “It should greatly enhance the visitor experience and the educational mission of our jewel of a place, which has become one of the highest professionally ranked arboreta in the country. It will now be easier for the public to understand why.”

Now open to the public, the Visitor Center welcomes individuals, families, students, and other groups to discover the parks, walks, gardens, and “collections” of trees that they can experience at Bayard Cutting Arboretum. The Visitor Center features an updated gift shop with official merchandise and prepackaged food offerings; a staffed information desk featuring park navigation information and literature about the arboretum; and illustrated graphic displays and visually compelling exhibitions to support visitors’ enjoyment, learning, and appreciation.

Key Visitor Center exhibit elements include tree specimens that introduce the types and characteristics of the trees that visitors can encounter; an interactive map where visitors can learn about each of the arboretum’s “collections” of trees; an animated, illustrated short film revealing the life processes of a coniferous tree; and an illustrated timeline starting with the indigenous peoples who lived in the area and taking visitors through the land’s long history. The Visitor Center also introduces the impact of climate change and demonstrates Bayard Cutting Arboretum’s efforts to mitigate its effects.

Additionally, the external restrooms are ADA-accessible.

“I applaud every step that our New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation agency does to improve access for people with disabilities,” commended chief disability officer Kimberly Hill Ridley. “All New Yorkers, including those with every type of disability, should have access to utilize and enjoy everything that our amazing parks system has to offer.”

The Visitor Center features a photovoltaic solar power array on its roof. Now fully installed and operational, Bayard Cutting Arboretum is the newest of over 50 solar-powered projects generating renewable electricity in state parks since 2012.  Additional sustainability efforts include LED parking lot lighting and electric vehicle charging stations—six in total, two of which will be ADA accessible

Outside of the Visitor Center, a large map of the property is displayed, and engraved pavers showcase donors. Electrical service at the Cutting mansion—one of last remaining 19th-century great estates on the South Shore—has also been upgraded.

The Visitor Center’s wall windows were installed with an aesthetically pleasing glass treatment intended to reduce bird collisions with buildings.

Two hundred and forty-eight new asphalt-paved and standard-width parking spaces replace the previous array of undersized parking spaces and were designed to improve stormwater drainage and water quality.

“Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park is a historic oasis, and these improvements will make it an even more enriching and enjoyable experience for New Yorkers and out-of-state visitors,” Gov. Hochul said. “The arboretum is a shining example of the great estates on the South Shore of Long Island during the 19th century, and with these upgrades, we are protecting this invaluable public resource and our environment and ensuring generations enjoy it long into the future.”

2023 attendance at the arboretum was 482,508, and since 2003, more than 5.3 million people have visited the 691-acre park situated on the picturesque Connetquot River. Bayard Cutting Arboretum is a Level IV ArbNet-accredited arboretum, one of 43 arboreta in the entire world accredited for management of tree collections for the purpose of tree conservation, and was designed by the noted landscape architectural firm of Frederick Law Olmsted. The park has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973 as a historic district.

Visit the “museum of trees” Tuesday through Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., to see the completed upgrades for yourself.