Governors Island

The following objectives and guidelines are intended to help ensure that as public spaces are planned, developed and opened on Governors Island, they match the special character of the Island, are of high quality, and are truly public in nature. These guidelines have been refined and illustrated in an effort to make them more useful and to help express our preferred vision of the Island’s parks and public spaces.

The Alliance believes that these provisions can be met under a variety of redevelopment programs and overall design objectives. The guidelines are sufficiently flexible so as to enable the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation (GIPEC) and the National Park Service to meet our intent without sacrificing the creativity or flexibility of their respective general project plan and general management plan.

Because the future development program on the Island is unknown, we have not made any assumptions as to the use, type, or scale of the existing or new buildings on the Island. Their possible locations are shown in our diagrams only to distinguish them from our recommendations for the parks and public spaces.

We believe that a public framework of parks and public spaces can become valuable assets for private developers by providing marketable addresses and quality property frontages, and by opening up waterfront views to Building 400 and other historic buildings. Importantly this approach will allow for incremental development and change over time to meet unpredictable market requirements and unforeseeable future events.

The Alliance’s guidelines are intended to provide direction for four critical public space components: Historic Buildings, the Parks and Open Space System, Public Paths and Docks and the Esplanade. Together, this open space framework will ensure public access and allow for a better development process.

These guidelines build on the Briefing Book and Findings prepared by the Alliance as part of our 2004 Parks Planning Workshop. More than 200 citizens worked with professional facilitators to define the uses and activities that be fit the Island’s unique character and location. These documents are available at www.governorsislandalliance.or… GIPEC and the National Park Service have published important statements about their goals and objectives for parks and public spaces on the Island.

GIPEC’s draft General Project Plan and the February 15, 2006 Request for Proposals, including Appendix E: Design Objectives for Buildings and Landscape (February 2006) and the Governors Island Historic District Preservation and Design Manual ( January 2003) are available at www.govisland.com/About_GIPEC/master_planning_rfp.asp. Visit www.nps.gov/gois/ for more information about the Governors Island National Monument.