Governor announces $4.5 million grant approved for Medina

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 February 2023 at 11:23 am

Photo courtesy of Tim Elliott: Gov. Kathy Hochul announces a $4.5 million Forward NY grant today in Rochester for the Village of Medina.

ROCHESTER – The Village of Medina was awarded a $4.5 million state grant today following years of effort to secure major funding from the state.

The Forward NY grant was announced by Gov. Kathy Hochul today at The Theater at Innovation Square in Rochester. She highlighted investments in her executive budget for the Finger Lakes Region, and then announced a $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative for the Village of Perry in Wyoming County, and then two $4.5 million Forward NY grants – for Medina in Orleans County and the Village of Geneseo in Livingston County.

She praised the officials from those communities for pushing a grand vision for their communities, and seeking the state funding to be a catalyst for a series of improvements.

“They have elected officials who believe the future could be better,” Hochul said.

The specific projects weren’t announced today. Medina is expected to form a committee that will finalize projects and cost estimates, which will then go to the state for final approval.

Hochul has frequently visited Medina in the past decade, first as a member of Congress and then as lieutenant governor before she taking office as governor in August 2021.

She mentioned today that Medina is blessed with many sandstone buildings, a Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame, the Bent’s Opera House and Railroad Museum.

She said she has been a customer at Rudy;’s Diner, Della’s Chocolates and the Author’s Note bookstore (formerly The Book Shoppe). She has attended the Parade of Lights in late November, which she joked seems to fall on the coldest day of the year.

More will be coming on the Orleans Hub on the governor’s announcement and the next steps with the grant.