Restoration on tap for garden where FDR played, pool where Churchill swam

HYDE PARK - More than $300,000 is being spent on the restoration of a pool in which British Prime Minister Winston Churchill swam and a garden where President Franklin D. Roosevelt played while growing up.

The National Park Service has announced $15 million in funding for 69 projects in 63 parks, including $285,955 to restore the home garden at the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site; and $31,713 to rehabilitate the historic swimming pool at Eleanor Roosevelt’s Val-Kill. Both sites are in Hyde Park.

Matching funding will come from two partners, the Roosevelt-Vanderbilt Conservancy for the home garden; and the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Partnership, through the support of Jim and Cathy Stone of Boston, for the swimming pool.

As the National Park Service celebrates its centennial this year, funding for the restoration projects will help illustrate the legacy of the nation’s 32nd president and his wife. The National Park Service funding is coming from its Centennial Challenge Program.

FDR was born, lived and is buried in Hyde Park, which is also home to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. Eleanor Roosevelt lived and is buried in Hyde Park.

The National Park Service operates the Roosevelt sites and the Vanderbilt Mansion in Hyde Park. The nation’s first presidential library is operated by the National Archives and Records Administration. Each site helps to anchor the Dutchess County tourism industry.

At the Roosevelt home, the large vegetable garden played a central role for the famous family.

“We think it will draw a lot of people,” Sarah Olson, superintendent of the Roosevelt and Vanderbilt sites, said of the garden. “It’s a whole new area of interest.”

According to www.nps.gov, FDR was fond of the garden’s strawberries. His children and grandchildren helped pull weeds in the garden and they assisted at harvest time.

In 1946, not long after the Roosevelt home opened to the public, the garden was paved over to provide parking. The swimming pool at Val-Kill was a primary gathering place for the Roosevelts and is likely where Eleanor Roosevelt learned to dive.

John W. Barry: jobarry@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4822, Twitter: @JohnBarryPoJo

On the Web

See photo galleries of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, FDR's funeral, papers from FDR's secretary, Grace Tully and more FDR-related videos and stories at http://pojonews.co/fdr.