Ribbon cutting held at Stewart Park for pavilion’s new addition 

On Friday, May 30, Friends of Stewart Park and Wharton Studio Museum hosted a ribbon cutting for the new addition to the Picnic “Large” Pavilion. The new addition will be used for storage for Ithaca Youth Bureau’s Stewart Park Day Camp, consolidating camp function into one building. 

This new, easy to access storage space will open up the space in the lake-facing section of the Wharton Studio Building/DPW to be developed into the Wharton Studio & Cafe. 

Additionally, the new addition is dedicated to the memory of Floyd “Todd” Peterson III. From 1988 to 2018, Peterson led the Ithaca Youth Bureau’s Stewart Park Day Camp with warmth, creativity and a commitment to the arts; forever impacting the lives of thousands of children in Tompkins County. 

A temporary plaque is up in his honor, with a permanent one currently being manufactured. 

Speakers at the Ribbon Cutting included: Friends of Stewart Park Executive Director Meloney McMurry, Wharton Studio Museum Exec. Director and Friends of Stewart Park Board President Diana Riesman, Assemblymember Anna Kelles, State Senator Lea Webb, Ithaca City Mayor Rob Cantelmo, Director of the Ithaca Youth Bureau Gregg Houck, Peterson’s sister Julia Stewart and Joey Steinhagen, director of Running to Places theater company, of which Peterson was the founding choreographer. 

The ribbon cutting was followed by a “sneak peak” into the future cafe, with tables and chairs set up in location of the Wharton Studio & Cafe terrace and refreshments served. Additionally, an exhibition featuring WS&C renderings and history of the building has gone up in the lake-facing windows.