By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
CATTARAUGUS — Five projects selected by a local committee to review proposals for the $10 million Village of Cattaraugus Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) have been approved by New York State.
Besides the Cattaraugus award, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced $4.5 million NY Forward grants for the villages of Westfield in Chautauqua County and Angola in Erie County.
“The DRI and NY Forward winners in Western New York are extraordinary communities with so much to offer in terms of resources, culture and history,” the governor said in a press statement. “These awards are part of our ongoing efforts to transform downtown areas across the state and I look forward to watching Western New York use these funds in a way that highlights the people and businesses that make up a vital part of our great state.”
In the Village of Cattaraugus, Mayor Anthony Nagel and other community leaders involved in developing the Strategic Implementation Plans approved by the state, are thankful for the DRI grant looking forward to the next step — putting it to work for the community with the brick-paved streets and a steep incline on Main Street.
The five projects totaling $9.7 million that were submitted by a 15-member planning committee and approved by the state are:
- A Small Project Fund ($600,000) to create a matching grant program to provide funding for small projects such as interior and exterior building renovations, capital equipment, public art and related soft costs for commercial, mixed-use, and multi-family buildings.
- Redevelop 1 Mill St., the former railroad depot, into a mix of residential and commercial uses ($1,500,000) to include new apartments, retail, and outdoor space that will expand housing and shopping choices, small business development opportunities and activity on a vacant property.
- Restore and Expand the Crawford Hotel ($4,200,000) by creating a new boutique hotel and amenities including new building to house hotel rooms and related amenities such as a restaurant, bar, meeting rooms and event spaces to attract more visitors to the area and create new jobs.
- Improve Downtown Accessibility through Enhancements to Streets and Alleyways ($1,770,000) by making streetscape improvements on Main and Washington Streets and creating a fire lane along East Alley to support Main Street businesses.
- Develop the One Main Street Community Event Space ($1,630,000) by transforming a vacant lot into a vibrant community gateway and gathering space that will potentially house a hub for rail bikes, amphitheater, pavilion, farmers market and small shops.
The mayor, who is owner of Pritchard Hardware on Washington Street, thanked the governor for approving the DRI grant projects and the opportunity to invest in projects to aid the village’s revitalization.
“We’ve already started to pop up with new businesses, from RocketCup Coffee to Revolution Rail,” the coffee company and railbike firm that offers rides along a three-mile section of the former Erie Railroad line now owned by the Cattaraugus County Industrial Development Agency.
Nagel said many businesses, including restaurants and his own store, see an uptick in business on days when Revolution Rail is operating. After the ride, people are looking for something to do, he pointed out. Nagle said the rail bike ride, which started last year, proved to be very popular and quickly sold out. More rail bikes have been added. The rides started last week. “It’s a mix of local people and others within a two-mile drive.”
Nagel said the approved projects will start lining up engineers to prepare plans to start building next year. “We’d like to have everything done over five years,” he said.
The most ambitious project is the $4.5 million Crawford House. To turn it into a boutique hotel, the plan is to expand the footprint in the same brick architecture in order to offer enough rooms to make the hotel profitable. The Main and Washington streets area of brick streets and brick building more than a century old is in an historic district.
