After being chosen to receive $10 million from New York state, downtown Oswego will be getting a makeover, which is scheduled to start this summer.
The Downtown Revitalization Initiative is a $100 million grant for 10 select cities in New York to improve infrastructure and boost the economy.
“The DRI aims to transform local neighborhoods across the state into vibrant communities where the next generation of New Yorkers will want to live, work and raise a family,” according to a press release from Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The money given by the state is being used for 12 separate projects, including but not limited to: completing an aesthetic renovation to West Bridge Street, building a mixed-use commercial and residential multi-building on West First Street, constructing an indoor water park, renovating the Children’s Museum of Oswego, improving the riverfront and creating a pocket park on Market Street. These projects vary in cost from $3 million to $20 million.
“The Water Street makeover and construction of the pocket park on Market Street is a direct aim to provide more activities for college students and millenials by giving them reasons to spend time in our down
town and a better area to spend time not only at night, but during the day as well,” said Oswego City Mayor Billy Barlow.
Barlow said Oswego considered the college during the planning process by taking into consideration what the students look for in a community and what they like to do.
“I believe SUNY students look at the surrounding community when they decide where to go to school, so making our city appealing to SUNY students is a win-win for everybody,” Barlow said.
The Water Street and pocket park projects are meant to be completed this summer, according to Barlow. The mayor also said the aged Cahill building is currently under construction, the Global Buffet building and Midtown plaza projects are moving through the city planning and zoning boards, and the indoor water park project will begin construction this summer.
“This funding is more than an investment in Oswego. It’s an investment in the future of the entire region,” Cuomo said in the press release. “These investments will help make this downtown an economic engine that will support local businesses, foster growth and have ripple effects that will keep central New York rising for decades to come.”
When Oswego applied for the initiative in 2016, 122 other cities had also applied, of which only 10 were chosen by the state to split the $100 million. Barlow said a major point in the application was explaining that some of these projects had already been in motion and that the extra funding would expedite the process.
“I have seen positive changes and energy take hold in Oswego thanks to the leadership of Mayor Billy Barlow and local community leaders,” said New York state Assemblyman Will Barclay. “The anchor projects selected today will build on that positive momentum by providing investments in Oswego’s historic downtown and waterfront areas, which will improve the local economy and the quality of life for residents.”
Taylor Woods | The Oswegonian
