These are projects that stand to spur growth in the communities and pave the way for even more development.”

With Mental Health Awareness month behind us and summer settling in, I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight some big wins for the North Country.

Canton, Ogdensburg and Waddington each recently secured more than a million dollars in Restore New York grants for projects that have been stalled for more than a decade. These are projects that stand to spur growth in the communities and pave the way for even more development.

Canton won the lottery with a $2 million award that will be used to tear down the Midtown Plaza. Kudos to those who helped secure the much-needed funding. You deserve it.

The plaza has basically sat idle since 2000 when the plaza’s anchor business, the Jubilee grocery store, closed its doors. Rite Aid vacated the plaza in 2018.

The plan is to turn the plaza property into a mixed-use development offering diverse housing options including a SUNY Canton Entrepreneurship Center on the first floor. The upper levels would have 45 residential units. The estimated cost of the project is $21 million. SUNY Canton has secured around $4 million toward the project.

Let’s hope they succeed in that endeavor.

In Ogdensburg, a community that’s had a substantial amount of bad news lately, some good things are happening.

First is the success of City Planner Andrea Smith who secured a $1.8 million grant to tear down a dilapidated cheese plant. The building is located in the city’s marina district, which is one of the few areas in the city that has seen successful development.

That’s largely thanks to Billy Hosmer who has invested in the Smuggler’s Café, rejuvenating that area. He also has plans to open a brewery down there. The removal of one of the city’s eyesores is sure to make the area more appealing for future development, perhaps even of the former Ramada Inn, which is nestled in there.

Additionally, despite massive unforeseen expenses due to what appears to have been at least in part of failure of engineers, the cit’s REDI project is moving ahead.
While the beloved Kid’s Kingdom is no more, the city now has a new playground for children to enjoy.

That’s something the city’s needed for a long time and the fact that it will be ready when school lets out is sure to improve the summer for many Ogdensburg children.

Waddington residents recently got word that $1.693 million will help with renovations to the historic Clark House. It’s a project that’s been underway for a decade with a number of citizens, volunteers, politicians and community leaders working together to restore the massive building on the village’s main drag.

The project includes the renovation of a historic vacant building into a boutique hotel, with nine rooms to rent, a ground-floor lobby, meeting space and banquet space, an elevator and four one-bedroom apartment units.

It’s major win for those who have fought hard, much in the way Heuvelton saw success with Pickens Hall years ago.

With all the bad news out there on a daily basis, I think it’s worth highlighting these projects that will likely bolster tourism and development in all three of these communities.

Jimmy Lawton is news editor of North Country This Week and NorthCountryNow.com.