Mercy College Announces Dobbs Ferry Campus $4 Million Site Improvement and Beautification Projects

Mercy College today announced it will begin $4 million of site improvement projects to enhance the functionality and aesthetic of its Dobbs Ferry Campus and enrich the campus experience for students, faculty and staff. All site plans were developed in consideration of community input, with respect for the campus regional corridor, and with the goal of preserving and enhancing the natural beauty of campus grounds.

“With these enhancements, Mercy aims to create a campus environment that positively impacts morale and student achievement,” said Thomas Simmonds, Mercy College vice president of operations and facilities. “It is also Mercy’s goal that the improvements lead to increased community engagement of the campus.”

Among the improvements planned for the campus are:

• Redesigning the main entrance into the College, including features such as improved turning radii and circulation, extensive new sustainable landscaping, and new “Mercy College” signs on either side of the entry driveway from Broadway/Route 9
   
• Creation of a new dedicated exit lane to allow for right turns onto Broadway to assist with traffic patterns
   
• Improvements to the entry driveway approaching the guard booth, including a raised pedestrian bridge where the Old Croton Aqueduct (OCA) crosses the entry driveway, a second entry lane to prevent backups of the driveway on occasional high-traffic days, and surface improvements to the OCA trail on the campus
   
• Improvements to the parking lot, including blue light towers with cameras and stormwater management features to promote sustainable practices
   
• Construction of a 4,100 square-foot permanent open-aired pavilion in The Grove area of the campus

Mercy received approvals for site improvements from the Villages of Irvington and Dobbs Ferry in August 2022. The approvals for the changes to the Dobbs Ferry Campus were obtained with the assistance of White Plains law firm McCullough, Goldberger & Staudt, LLP.

“Because the campus resides in both municipalities, approvals were required from land use boards in both villages,” explained Seth Mandelbaum, managing partner for McCullough, Goldberger & Staudt, LLP. “Our team worked diligently with Mercy College and respective boards to ensure each of the projects followed the appropriate regulations and met the requirements for the respective approvals.”

Improvements to the Mercy College Dobbs Ferry Campus are scheduled to begin in September 2022, with a targeted completion of November 2023.