City not giving up on unfunded projects
Will seek ways to pay for proposals that weren’t chosen to share $10M state grant
KINGSTON, N.Y. » Some of the projects for which the city sought Downtown Revitalization Initiative funding from the state were not included in the final award, but efforts will be made locally to find alternative resources for them, according to Mayor Steve Noble.
“Our draft Strategic Investment Plan had identified over $14 million worth of important projects, with only $9.7 million available through the DRI (Downtown Revitalization Initiative),” Noble said in
an email Tuesday. “However, each of those priority projects, as well as other projects not directly in the DRI, are fully supported by my administration, and we are committed to working to move them forward. The DRI offers us an unprecedented opportunity to leverage nearly $10 million into much more.”
The six projects that received funding from the state were announced Monday morning during an event in Kingston with Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The bulk of the nearly $10 million in state funding to revitalize Uptown Kingston has been earmarked for public amenities related to the planned mixed-use development known as The Kingstonian and to modernizing and enhancing Dietz Stadium and the Andretta Pool.
“I am working with my team now to review each of the projects and develop action plans to use this opportunity to attract additional resources and to make connections with our project partners,” Noble said. “Now that we know which projects are funded,
we can begin to implement the DRI projects while also working to secure alternative resources for the other projects. We have a lot of work ahead of us during this exciting time in Kingston.”
Among the projects not chosen for state funding were:
• Repairing the Volunteer Fireman’s Hall and Museum on Fair Street.
• Improving Academy Green Park with sidewalk replacements, new park furnishings, landscaping and upgrades to electricity and plumbing.
• Creating a coordinated print and digital media marketing campaign.
• Implementing certain recommendations of the Uptown Stockade Transportation Plan.
• Launching a structural investigation and mapping procedure with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to address the recategorization of the Uptown levee.
Of the awarded funding, $3.8 million will go toward public amenities and site preparation related to The Kingstonian, a $48 million project at North Front and Fair streets that’s to include 132 residential units, 8,500 square feet of commercial space, a 34-room hotel and 420 parking spaces, of which 250 would be for public use.
The state funding will be used for such things as parking, open space and pedestrian access, and for site preparation to enable the property to support future development, according to Megan Weiss-Rowe, the city’s director of communications and community engagement.
Another $2.5 million from the state will go toward modernizing and enhancing the 2,000-seat Dietz Stadium and the adjacent Andretta Pool, while $1.3 million will got toward a “wayfinding” program that will include improved pedestrian access and circulation within the city’s Uptown Stockade district.
Another $987,100 will be used to redesign Schwenk Drive, $600,000 will be used to establish a small grants and loans program for the Stockade business district, and $472,500 will be used to create an open, public space along Frog Alley.
The city in March submitted its Strategic Investment Plan for utilizing the funding. The state Department of State had final say over which projects are being awarded money.