New Guide Offers Visitors a View of Modern Katonah

The thousands of visitors who travel each year to such area destinations as Muscoot Farm, Caramoor, Lasdon Arboretum, the Katonah Museum of Art and John Jay Homestead will now have access to a new Katonah Visitor's Guide with information on shopping, dining and points of interest in town.

"We wanted to have something that shows we're a beautiful historical hamlet but also gives the impression of commerce—it's a piece with a modern emphasis," said Robert Siegel, of Robert Siegel Architects, whose firm designed the guide.

The full-color guide features a map showing how to get to Katonah from local tourist spots, an important component for drivers who may pass by Katonah on the way back to local highways after an event, said Jennifer Cook, Katonah Chamber of Commerce president.

You can read or download the guide posted with this article.

Often out-of-towners attend an event and may want to linger in the area, but don't know where to go, said Cook. The guide lists the Katonah Chamber of Commerce member organizations, including community organizations, cultural attractions, houses of worship, nature centers, professional services, realtors, schools and camps and retailers. It also offers a street map with pleasing colors depicting stores, eateries and historical sites in town.

"The colors were intentional; mapmaking is a selective process," said Siegel. We wanted to emphasize the green space, sidewalks, and of course, the shops and restaurants—this shows contemporary Katonah."

Siegel is not a cartographer, he's an architect who designs large-scale public buildings as well as residential homes in the area. But he thought the town needed a modern piece to show its vibrant commercial district, and provided over 200 pro bono hours through his New York City-based firm to complete the project.

And as the new vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, he said wanted to help Katonah become a more sustainable place to live.

The Chamber recently underwent a strategic planning process, and the guide came out of their desire to "become a Sunday town," he said. Each store in town was surveyed, and historical information was sourced from the Katonah Village Improvement Society Walking Tour brochure.

Ten thousand copies were initially printed, and the guide may be easily updated, with the addition of new stores in town, for example, said Siegel.

In addition to distributing the brochure to their new local partners and tourist destinations, the Chamber is investigating its placement in Grand Central Station to lure weekend visitors.

Measuring its effectiveness will depend on local partners and their volunteeers, and in some cases, Chamber members staffing tables at major events this summer. Cook is hopeful their public relations efforts will pay off.

"Ultimately there are two goals for this brochure: to get people to come into Katonah and then, of course, spend some money in our lovely town," she said.