Main Content
Date of lecture: November 20th, 2024
Bio
Mark V. Mistretta, RLA, ASLA, has served as the Niagara Region Director of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation since May 2018. The region encompasses all of Erie and Niagara Counties and consists of 18 parks, two historic sites, three marinas and one golf course.
As director, Mistretta provides leadership over park capital improvements, operations, maintenance and rehabilitation, land acquisition, planning, development, human resource management, fiscal administration, environmental management and compliance, historic preservation, programs and community services, grants administration and public relations in the region.
Prior to his appointment, Mistretta briefly served as the Capital Facilities Manager for the Niagara and Allegany Regions of State Parks. In that role he was responsible for overseeing the execution of the NYS Parks 2020 state parks revitalization program.
For 32 years prior to his Parks’ service, Mistretta worked in the private sector at two full-service design firms where he was instrumental in the work of hundreds of public and private sector projects including master planning and phased improvements for large parks to a multitude of recreation facilities to waterfronts, shoreline restorations and sustainable landscapes to impactful regionwide initiatives and historic landscapes.
In addition, Mistretta was responsible for marketing and sales of the company’s services, strategic planning and visioning, development of business plans, various committee assignments and quality control.
Mistretta also brings with him experiences gained from founding roles in real estate and landscape contracting firms. Additionally, he was a founding Board Trustee, past Chairman and Trustee Emeritus of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy and currently serves on the Niagara Falls Illumination Board and as Ex-officio on the Artpark and Darwin Martin House Board of Trustees.
Among various recognitions, Mistretta most recently received the ASLA NY Upstate “Distinguished Practitioner Public Practice” Award.
A graduate of St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute in Buffalo, NY and Rutgers University (’79) in New Brunswick, NJ, Mistretta and his wife of 32 years, Barbara Piazza, reside in the Buffalo area.
Abstract
Shepherding America’s Oldest State Park, Niagara Falls
In this session you will learn about the dynamic forces that helped shape America’s Oldest State Park to where it is today—hosting over 9 million visitors per year while balancing the need to be stewards of this sensitive environment and accommodating the recreating masses. You will hear about the challenges and design solutions that have positioned this flagship park well into this century. The role of the landscape architect will be highlighted as you will see some examples of the $188+ million spent on projects to help restore the State Park’s image. And finally you will learn about significant projects currently in construction or being planned for further transformation of Niagara Falls State Park.
