Delano-Hitch Park

Designing

Nov 23

Written By Shannon Hui

Location
Newburgh, NY

Status
Designing

Construction Completion
2030

Site Area
24.7 acres

Construction Cost
$4M

People Served
28,000

Design Consultants
Saratoga Associates

Special Features
Upgraded recreational facilities, including ADA accessible playground, music garden and sensory trails

Delano-Hitch Park was donated to the city of Newburgh in 1916 by Annie Delano Hitch (aunt of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt) as a “driving park” for horse harness racing. The largest active recreation park in the city, it is home to summer recreation programs, numerous sports leagues, and community events, including National Night Out and the annual Easter Egg Hunt.

Today, despite its central location, much of the park is underutilized. Less than a decade ago, there were six baseball fields in regular use. However, changing demographics have dramatically shifted programmatic needs. The park houses a largely dormant 2,000-capacity baseball stadium, a little league diamond, four popular but worn basketball courts, horseshoe pitches, bocce courts, a soccer/football field, a skateboard park, and a multi-purpose Activity Center.

Efforts are underway for the park’s renewal. A tremendously popular Aquatic Center was completed in 2023. Outdated play equipment and baseball diamonds were removed in the last few years, but nothing has replaced them yet. Large areas of the park are empty grass.

The City of Newburgh has invited New City Parks to work with community organizations and residents to re-envision the park and its many facilities. Work is starting by advancing plans for the city’s first destination playground, transforming approximately 1.2 acres of underutilized open space in the park's northeast quadrant into a fully accessible, ADA-compliant play destination serving Newburgh's 28,000 residents and providing the sensory, physical, and social inclusion features that allow children with disabilities to play alongside their typically developing peers.

Also envisioned are updates to its sports fields, development of soccer mini-pitch facilities, creation of a plaza with benches as well as tables for games and picnicking, shade trees, and walking paths designed to connect Delano-Hitch’s recreational features and community gathering spaces. Future work will include connections with a planned Quassaick Creek Greenway.

In a city where children represent 26% of the population, with one in five children living in poverty, accessible, safe, and modern outdoor recreation space is a quality-of-life necessity. The transformation of Delano-Hitch will make it a modern, crown jewel of the city’s park system, serving all residents.

Community partners include Newburgh Plays, Outdoor Promise, Newburgh’s Latino soccer community, Greater Newburgh Parks Conservancy, Scenic Hudson, and the Newburgh Enlarged City School District.