Holley approved for $165,600 state brownfield grant to develop revitalization strategy
Photo by Tom Rivers: The First Niagara Bank in the Public Square in Holley closed in October 2016. A new grant will fund a revitalization strategy for the downtown business district, and other parts of the community.
HOLLEY – The Village of Holley has been approved for a $165,600 state grant to develop a brownfield opportunities area program.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo this afternoon announced 13 of the grants for $2 million.
The Holley grant will complete a Brownfield Opportunity Area Nomination for 813 acres with 55 potential sites, according to the state announcement. The objectives include identifying opportunities surrounding the former high school in the downtown core; improved housing and income opportunities for residents; identifying strategies to reduce commercial vacancies; identifying opportunities at the Diaz Chemical site remediation; leveraging the Erie Canal; improving wayfinding in the Village; preparing design guidelines for the Public Square; and improving the village’s vitality.
The brownfield opportunity area program provides resources to develop data-driven revitalization strategies for economically distressed areas, the governor said. These plans forge a path to transform blighted properties in urban areas into community assets and catalysts for neighborhood-wide revitalization.
Brownfields are abandoned or underutilized properties where known or perceived contamination has impeded redevelopment, turning the properties into economic and environmental drains on localities. The Brownfield Opportunity Areas Program grants have driven revitalization throughout the state, turning dormant sites into vibrant and productive properties that attract jobs and private investment, ultimately expanding the local tax base.
“This funding will help transform blighted and polluted properties into economic engines in communities across New York,” said Governor Cuomo. “We will continue to work with our local partners to revitalize neighborhoods, create opportunity and build a stronger Empire State for all.”
