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A host of Lower Hudson Valley projects will receive state money, including for turning a Sleepy Hollow theater into an arts and community center, improving Cornwall pedestrian connections, enhancing a Port Jervis park, and housing.
Five Sleepy Hollow initiatives are getting the assistance, including to renovate a park and create mixed-use College Avenue affordable housing, Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement Tuesday.
The governor’s office news release said the village of nearly 11,000 residents along the Hudson River will have the following, allocated through the NY Forward program:
- $1.5 million to renovate Strand Theatre into a place for a range of performers and artists. Plans are for a studio space for local artists and arts groups, a gallery and a future Sleepy Hollow Visitors Center.
- $1 million to upgrade W. L. Morse Elementary School’s park with new playground equipment and seating.
- $1.2 million to upgrade Cortlandt Street with new sidewalks and crosswalks, better drainage, trees, lighting, new street furniture and four EV charging stations.
- $500,000 toward building transit-oriented, mixed-use affordable housing at 100 College Avenue.
- $300,000 to start a fund to allow business and property owners to improve building façades, per the Downtown Sleepy Hollow Façade Renovation Design Standards.
NY Forward was launched in 2022 as an effort to revitalize smaller and rural localities.
“Generations of New Yorkers have experienced the historic and vibrant Mid-Hudson downtowns, and we are taking steps to safeguard their future,” Hochul said in a statement. “These major investments will drive economic revitalization for businesses and local communities and create a place where families can thrive.”
Orange County projects include Cornwall, Port Jervis
In Orange County, the news release said, the Town of Cornwall and the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson are also getting NY Forward money. Allocated are:
- $1.13 million to improve sidewalks and crosswalks, add public art, street furniture, public restrooms, street trees and pollinator plantings for a safe pedestrian connection from the Medical Group at Montefiore St. Luke’s Cornwall through the town and village downtowns.
- $773,000 to convert two interior spaces at the Storm King Theater building into a black box theater that serves as a community-oriented space. Plans are for a separate lounge and dinner theater to be integrated into an existing restaurant, the release said.
- $783,000 for additions to Riverlight Park, including an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant walkway with a story walk around Ring’s Pond, ADA-compliant restrooms, an inclusive playground and a new skate park. The project also calls for improving drainage with rain gardens, renovating the icehouse as a public pavilion and renovating Sands Ring Homestead Museum.
- $649,000 to preserve Donahue Farm barn’s exterior and renovate the icehouse for public programming. New restrooms would be built and a visitor kiosk added to help with public use of the site.
- $480,000 to build a 2,500-foot trail for a pedestrian connection among downtown, Donahue Farm and the waterfront. It includes improving 900 linear feet of existing trail, new sidewalks, a crushed-stone pathway and drainage improvements.
- $300,000 to start a small project fund to help with downtown economic development. Projects could include façade and interior improvements that allow for business expansion, and other capital improvements.
- $382,000 to develop a marketing strategy and install signage to raise downtown Cornwall’s visibility and draw new residents, businesses and visitors, the release said.
Port Jervis is receiving state Downtown Revitalization Initiative money for the following:
- $2.65 million to enhance Riverside Park by rebuilding the water tower to include a “Welcome to Port Jervis” sign and developing a new pavilion, an all-inclusive playground, a stage and amphitheater, pickleball courts, a basketball court, a skatepark and a mini-golf course.
- $2 million to build a mixed-use residential and commercial building on an underused Jersey Avenue parking lot and include affordable housing.
- $1.5 million to build a mixed-use apartment building with ground-floor stores at 29 Front Street.
- $707,000 to renovate 46 Front Street's vacant second and third floors for commercial uses and apartments. The roof will be upgraded and a fire escape installed.
- $522,000 to renovate 22 Jersey Avenue's first and second floors to create co-working spaces, studios and event, gallery, retail and café space. Fire protection will be improve for the whole building.
- $300,000 to renovate a vacant building into second- and third-floor apartments and a first-floor commercial space.
- More than $1 million to enhance Jersey Avenue streetscape with changes aimed at calming traffic and improving accessibility for pedestrians and bicyclists.
- $600,000 for several small downtown projects, such as façade improvements, renovations to commercial or mixed-use spaces and equipment acquisition.
- $350,000 for Port Jervis marketing, branding, digital media, signage and other uses.
“This $19 million in funding will increase housing opportunities, spur economic growth, improve recreation, and make the Mid-Hudson and Delaware River Valley regions more attractive for families today and into the future,” RuthAnne Visnauskas, state homes and community renewal commissioner, said in the statement.
Michael P. McKinney covers growth and development in Westchester County and the Lower Hudson Valley for The Journal News/lohud.com and USA Today Network.
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