Ladycliff Park
Ladycliff Park is located in the Village of Highland Falls, NY, dedicated to the memory of Ladycliff College. It is situated between the road leading to West Point and Main Street. After the college closed in 1980 and the property sold to the USMA at West Point, Mayor Joe D’Onofrio, thought the unnamed park would be a perfect location to preserve the memory of the college before its history was lost for good, since many campus buildings had been razed. His advocacy, driven in part because his mother, sister and aunt all graduated from Ladycliff, was instrumental in the establishment and maintenance of the park in 1993-94.
A plaque dedicated to Ladycliff was unveiled along with the laying of a memorial wreath while the Ladycliff Alma Mater was sung. The ceremony concluded with remarks by LCAA President Agnes Saffoury and immediate past president Ellen Hernon.
The plaque marking Ladycliff Park contains the logo of the College and contains the following inscription:
IN RECOGNITION OF
Ladycliff Academy 1900-1961
Ladycliff College 1933-1981
Founded, owned and operated
On these grounds by the
Franciscan Missionaries Of the Sacred Heart
Peekskill, New York
In Loving Appreciation
By
Ladycliff College
Alumnae Association
1992
A sign was subsequently ordered and a dedication of Ladycliff Park took place in May, 1995. According to the News of the Highlands (May 10, 1995), the ceremony included singing the National Anthem and other selections by O’Neill High School Band, an invocation by Rev. John Dwyer of Sacred Heart Church, and remarks by Mayor D’Onofrio and Sister Raphael Conlon, provincial of the Franciscan Sisters.
More recently, a brick pathway was added. Bricks that could be inscribed with the name of a graduate or a professor were sold and line the pathway.
Ladycliff Park is maintained by the Village public works crew who mow the grass and take care of the flowers.
In 2001 Mayor D’Onofrio added a gazebo to the park after he noticed a gazebo in an old picture where Mary Hall was later built. The mayor also had a flag made in the colors of Ladycliff that would fly along with the Stars and Stripes on the flagpole that had been donated to the village by a resident.