TOWN OF WAWARSING – The Town of Wawarsing has won a $50,000 state grant to study possible re-use of the Colony Farm project, the 500-acres of former farm land at Eastern Correctional Facility in Napanoch. That is on top of $20,000 granted by the state last month.
John Adams, co-chairman of the Wawarsing Environmental Conservation Commission, said a study of the farmland could recommend a number of future uses.
“Agri-tourism, recreational tourism, possibly a Taste New York store, a dairy – it was a dairy in the past – it could be a dairy in the future and a place where they could manufacture value added products like Greek yogurt, ice cream and artisan cheese,” Adams said.
Once a consultant has been hired, Adams hopes a study could be completed this year.
The farmland was decommissioned by the state in 2008 when it got out of the prison farming business.
Some of the agricultural land since then has been leased out for farming. Other portions of the land are wooded and Adams said they could be used for hiking and mountain biking in the future.
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