BY ADAM ATKINSON
North Country This Week

POTSDAM — Individual project award winners who will be able to access reimbursement grants through the village of Potsdam’s $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative program should receive notification letters over the next week or two, village officials said.

The state announced the availability of the funding, which is channeled through various state agencies for approved projects, on Wednesday, May 19.

“We’ve been waiting (for the announcement). The plan was submitted last year,” Frederick Hanss, village planner, told North Country This Week.

“It was a huge relief,” Hanss said regarding the news. After some delay on the release of the 2019 DRI funding due to the pandemic, the governor started announcing funding availability for the other 2019 DRI communities besides Potsdam a couple weeks ago. Village officials have been hopeful Potsdam’s announcement would be made soon.

Hanss said that although only eight of the 14 projects submitted to the state under the auspices of the DRI were approved, the other projects not accepted are ready for application for other state grant programs. Hanss said those projects had been “debugged” and any feasibility problems for state funding had been ironed out during the DRI process.

The planner said DRI project award winners will begin receiving notification letters of their funding availability in the next couple weeks. After that, Potsdam’s DRI process will enter a contract phase where award winners will sign agreements with the state agencies, like the Office of Community Renewal or Empire State Development, that will channel the funding to the various specific projects.

Projects will be financed up front through some sort of private investment in the case of the private industry projects or through bond initiatives in the case of the public sector initiatives. The state funding allotted for each project through the DRI will then reimburse the expenditures, Hanss said.

Over the course of the next several months informational meetings will be held on the projects spearheaded by the village. Environmental studies will also be done. Hanss said the timing of the governor’s announcement of the funding release gives the local projects time to take care of all of the required preparation work and sets the stage for construction to begin in spring 2022.

"The village of Potsdam was thrilled to have been selected by Gov. Cuomo as one of the 2019 recipients of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative,” said Mayor Reinhold J. Tischler last week during the governor’s announcement of the funding release.

“Our local planning team, state agency partners and consultants released a call for projects that resulted in Potsdam receiving 42 downtown revitalization proposals,” Tischler said.

“Fourteen of these were included in our strategic investment plan based on their potential to have a transformational impact on downtown Potsdam. The Governor selected 8 projects focusing on private commercial development, streetscape enhancements, the arts, culture and waterfront recreation. We believe these projects will fundamentally change downtown for the better, making Potsdam the best place to live, work, study and play in St. Lawrence County.”

The Potsdam DRI projects seek to enhance waterfront amenities, improve streetscapes and pedestrianization as well as bolster arts and cultural organizations and foster tourism.

Projects funded through the initiative will:

• Relocate and expand Potsdam Food Co-op - $1,659,000: Business expansion of the food co-op, including the acquisition of new property, renovation, equipment, and marketing.

• Expand the North Country Children's Museum - $1,400,000: Business expansion of the children's museum into the second floor, including basement-and first-floor renovations to accommodate an elevator.

• Establish a fund to Rebuild Downtown Potsdam - $750,000: The revolving grant and loan fund will include rent assistance, main street renovation, a quick-start grant program, and COVID-19-related capital improvements.

• Expand the Clarkson Inn - $600,000: Building expansion of the Clarkson Inn to add 20 rooms, meeting space, fitness room, and renovate its furniture and fixtures.

• Revitalize the North Country Arts Center - $578,000: Acquisition and exterior/interior renovation for the new North Country Arts Center, including windows, floors, restrooms, walls, elevator and equipment for a printmaking studio.

• Expand the Sandstone Diner - $118,000: Business expansion of Scoops ice cream into a 1940s/50s-themed seasonal diner serving breakfast and lunch with outdoor seating.

• Enhance the Downtown Streetscape - $2,780,000: Streetscape improvements in the Market Street Historic District, including intersection and safety improvements, street lighting, trees, wayfinding and bioretention.

• Construct a Downtown Riverwalk Trail - $1,815,000: Construction of a looped multi-modal trail along the Raquette River, including a pocket park, shared use path, mural walk and new bike lanes on Maple Street. The trail will connect to existing multi-modal connections downtown.

The projects were part of a strategic investment plan developed with $300,000 in planning funds from the $10 million grant, said the press release. The plan was created by local planning committees made up of municipal representatives, community leaders, and other stakeholders , supported by a team of private sector experts and state planners.

To learn more about the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative which funnels state taxpayer dollars into a competitive grant competition among municipalities for economic and cultural development visit https://www.ny.gov/programs/downtown-revitalization-initiative.