CROGHAN, New York (WWNY) – Almost a quarter of a million dollars has been awarded to 17 businesses in Lewis County to make much-needed improvements. It’s part of the Façade & Streetscape Improvement Program and it’s producing a lot excitement.
Charlotte Schweitzer has been whipping up milkshakes in Croghan for almost 30 years. Her shop, Good Ol’ Wishy’s, located in the heart of downtown, in a building that has stood standing since 1912.
“We had a lot of maintenance that we did, re-did the wiring and new paint job, things of that nature and it’s time for another facelift,” she said.
A facelift that has now been made possible thanks to the Lewis County Board of Legislators, awarding Schweitzer and several other downtown businesses and municipalities across the county with money for facade and streetscape improvements.
“We are ecstatic that we are going to be able to preserve a piece of history for Croghan with some help so we can maybe do more and have it done as historically correct as possible,” said Schweitzer.
National Abstract located in downtown Lowville was the big winner of the first round; the business securing over $80,000 to help offset costs of its renovation project
“It’s the whole facade, it’s the repointing, it’s restoring brick, replacing windows,” said Dennis Mastascusa, president, National Abstract.
Mastascusa says they want to make sure they do it right, bringing back some of the building’s charm.
And now that they have been granted the money, they can begin starting that process
“They have to pay for those funds, the project costs up front and then they submit all of those, you know, the receipts and the voucher payments back to our office and then we will reimburse them for those costs,” said Casandra Buell, director, Lewis County Planning Department.
Buell says in the next round of funding $200,000 will be available and businesses are already asking how to apply. That process begins next fall. This has all been possible because of federal COVID relief dollars.
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