MASSENA, New York (WWNY) – The third time was the charm for Massena. Denied twice before, the village has won $10 million from the state to improve its downtown.
“On behalf of Governor Hochul, it is my distinct pleasure to announce that Massena has been awarded a $10 million Downtown Revitalization (Initiative) grant,” said Barbara Rice, state assistant secretary for economic development.
The community now will sort out how to spend it. Officials already have a few ideas.
“One of the first things is right across the street. The old Schine Theater has done some work; we want to continue that to reestablish the theater back to its old glory days. And if you look northward, the JJ Newberry building, that’s a proposed project as well where the downstairs would be shops and the upstairs would be apartments,” said Massena Mayor Gregory Paquin.
Downtown business owner Toby Violi is thrilled at the news. He wants to see the abandoned storefronts fixed and filled.
“This grant for Massena is gonna be a gamechanger. It’s something we worked on for many years and I think this will definitely fuel growth in the downtown area,” he said.
Shelyn Peets is also a downtown business owner. She sells Massena themed merchandise and hopes the grant will draw more people to the area permanently.
“We couldn’t be more deserving. We definitely needed this and I’m hoping it’s going to rejuvenate the community,” she said.
The next step now is to get community input on which projects to fund.
Massena officials say they’d like to have all DRI projects finished in four years.
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