Specific projects likely at least a year away from approval

Provided photo: Mayor Mike Sidari, right, holds a ceremonial check for $4.5 million after the governor’s presentation on Monday. Joining him from right to left include: Village Trustee Tim Elliott, Kathy Blackburn, Diana Baker, Village Trustee Jess Marciano, Scott Robinson of the Medina Area Partnership and David Flynn.

MEDINA – The long-awaited news on Monday that Medina was a big winner for projects in the downtown and near the waterfront is a “transformative moment for Medina,” said Mayor Mike Sidari.

He attended an event in Rochester on Monday when Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a $4.5 million Forward NY grant for Medina. The Village of Geneseo also was awarded a $4.5 million grant and the Village of Perry won the big $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant for the Finger Lakes Region.

Sidari is thrilled with the $4.5 million coming to Medina. He praised the business community and a team of village officials and volunteers who have been pursuing the $10 million DRI for six years now. Medina made it as a finalist before, but never secured the funding until Monday.

The state this year broke up the downtown revitalization grants. There are still $10 million DRI winners among 10 regions in the state, but the state is giving smaller Forward NY grants of up to $4.5 million for villages or hamlets.

Sidari said there is still more hard work to do before tapping into the money. The State Department of State will send a representative to Medina in about two weeks to go over the next steps.

Sidari said he expects a committee will be formed of village officials and the business community to zero in on specific projects, get commitments from property owners and construction estimates, and then send those projects to the state for final approval.

That is expected to take much of this year before the state finalizes the projects, and then the work could proceed in perhaps a year. But it could take longer. Sidari noted some of the construction projects in Batavia didn’t get started until last year – more than four years after Batavia was awarded the $10 million DRI in October 2017.

“Hopefully at the end of this year we can announce our projects,” he said on Monday evening. “The process will get started it about two weeks. I expect it will be about two years before we see changes.”

The $4.5 million grant from the state will push Medina forward, Sidari said, “advancing opportunity for entrepreneurs, job creation, generation of tax revenue and ultimately attracting more young families and tourists.”

Photo from Governor’s Office: Gov. Kathy Hochul announces a $4.5 million Forward NY grant for the Village of Medina during a presentation on Monday at The Theater at Innovation Square in Rochester.

Medina’s application included seven proposals for funding, but those aren’t necessarily how the money will be allocated. It’s almost guaranteed those seven proposals won’t be funded at the levels in the application because Medina didn’t get the $10 million.

Sidari said the $4.5 million will still make a big impact in the downtown area. “I think it will be just enough money for what we need to do,” he said.

The proposals in Medina application include:

• Small project grant fund for Main Street, West Avenue – $1 million estimated cost with $500,000 of grant.

This project is designed to support façade (a building’s street-facing elevation) improvements to commercial and mixed-use properties on Main Street that benefit both the businesses occupying those buildings and the community as a whole. Necessary updates include paint, brick, wood, awnings/canopies, lighting, windows and doors.

“Improvements to the street-facing exteriors of the buildings in need are meant to preserve the unique small-town charm in our community while spurring economic growth,” the village’s application states.

• Renovation and activation of upper stories, Main Street and West Avenue – $800,000 with $400,000 from grant.

Medina’s Main Street and downtown have proudly seen a relatively low first floor vacancy rate, while many of the upper stories remain vacant and underutilized, according to the application.

The property owners of the buildings located at 509 Main Street, 345 Main Street, 425 Main Street, and 525 West Avenue have shown interest in the following renovations: structural, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, new windows and a sprinkler system.

The building owners will be contributing to the rehabilitation costs. These spaces will offer expanded commercial space as well as additional housing and help create a more vibrant and active downtown, according to the application.

• Way-finding signage throughout village for $100,000.

While Medina contains many unique assets and historic resources, in many instances visitors may not be knowledgeable about the close proximity of the Erie Canal and other recreational resources. Conversely, those traveling by boat or bicycle on the Erie Canal may be unaware of the vibrant downtown that is steps away from the Canal Basin, which is part of the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program, according to the village’s application

Potential signage types for downtown may include gateway signs, directional signs (vehicular and pedestrian), kiosks and interpretive signs, identification signs (destinations and parking areas), and light pole banners.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Medina in its application sought $100,000 of the grant to better direct people to attractions in the village. This photo is from Main Street this past December. Medina also is seeking to upgrade a municipal parking lot behind Main Street and East Center Street.

• Municipal parking lot upgrades at area behind Main Street and East Center Street – Estimated cost $500,000 with $300,000 from grant.

There is a large parking lot that lies to the southeast of the intersection at Main Street and East Center Street within walking distance of many businesses. The underutilized lot offers more than 50 much-needed parking spaces but needs enhancements including paving, directional signs (vehicular and pedestrian), green space/trees that provide shade and drainage, security cameras, safe pedestrian connections and additional lighting.

“These changes will help attract the attention of visitors and provide a necessary relief to existing parking infrastructure,” village officials stated in the application.

The village would like to improve a municipal parking lot to add more spaces and make the site more attractive.

• State Street Park – $300,000 for updated playground equipment and a small ice rink, bicycle amenities, seating benches and additional lighting.

“Despite recent improvements, including the addition of a small pavilion that allowed the park to host a summer concert series, State Street Park remains relatively underutilized, especially in the off-season,” village officials said.

• Mustang City: adaptive reuse of old high school at 324 Catherine St., $9 million project, $3 million in grant requested.

Mustang City will be a loft-style community set in the historic former Medina High School building. This project will involve the restoration and adaptive reuse of the historic structure, transforming its 90,000 square-foot floor area into 40 loft apartments. Mustang City will fulfill Medina’s need for additional housing options and will allow for a new kind of “maintenance-free” living, with amenities and services including grocery delivery, cleaning, and laundry pickup. This project is already underway with over 100 new windows and a new roof.

• Medina Railroad Museum: seeking $1.5 million.

The Medina Railroad Museum draws approximately 40,000 people annually. It recently invested $40,000 in the construction of a panel track to display box cars and house new exhibit and cafe spaces as well as restrooms and is also in the process of creating a continuous boarding platform.

The museum envisions these investments as part of a larger plan to expand its footprint and to create more of a campus-like complex. The campus will extend east from the existing museum building to the old train station near Main Street, creating a visible and intriguing presence along the main thoroughfare, according to the village application.

The train station building (currently used as the senior center) is owned by the village. The Railroad Museum would to see it become a welcome center and small exhibit space, attracting people off Main Street and to the museum (while the senior center would be relocated to Village Hall).

A landscaped pedestrian plaza will connect the train station to the existing museum building. Site improvements at the existing museum will include visitor experience enhancements, roof upgrades, parking lot paving, as well as landscape beautification. On the southern side of the tracks, the campus plan calls for the creation of a park-like courtyard space adjacent to the library. This courtyard will include the installation of two, permanent dining cars – to be rented out for weddings and other events – as well as an enclosed pole barn building, which will be used to store and repair cars, according to the application.

‘Sometimes people forget how much a church can be an asset to a community. I’d love to see this church grow beyond what I could imagine, with ministries, public outreach and community involvement.’ – Kevin Lawson

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Calvary Tabernacle Assembly of God’s new pastor Kevin Lawson checks out a delivery of bread in the church’s food pantry.

MEDINA – When the Rev. Vince Iorio announced his intention to retire from his duties at Calvary Tabernacle Assembly of God, the church didn’t have to look far to find a replacement.

Kevin Lawson graduated in 1989 from Royalton-Hartland High School in Middleport, then attended Erie Community College for a year. He joined the Marines, where he was hurt, and after an honorable discharge he went to work for a contracting company out of Buffalo, working there for 25 years and Rochester for seven years.

He started going to church when he was 12 or 13, and said he knew then God had put a calling on his life, but really didn’t understand what that meant.

“Then life got in the way,” he said. “I had married a lady from Middleport, and after 18 years, we divorced and I had to start over. It was very humbling.”

They had a son Troy, now 25.

Kevin had been going back to church sporadically, and then started going regularly again, where he met Krista Scholes from Shelby.

“I believe now God was using the experiences in my life to help me connect with people,” Lawson said. “Calvary had been my childhood church, and Vince was here then and he was here when I came back to the church.”

He and Krista, who then had five girls, were married in 2015. They had both taken on leadership roles in the church as youth leaders. In 2016, Kevin went through the New York School of Ministry.

“I had already known in my heart God was moving me in that direction, and I knew I wasn’t going to be completely happy until I did that.”

He continued on his journey and went through the process of being credentialed as a minister through the Assemblies of God. At the same time, he was serving on the board of Calvary Tabernacle Assembly of God when they moved forward with the Rev. Iorio’s vision for a new church, breaking ground in the summer of 2016.

Kevin was a construction manager in his full-time job, while going to ministry school, and became supervising constructor for building the church. They opened their doors in October 2021.

Kevin had already taken a role at Calvary Tabernacle as associate pastor when the Rev. Iorio announced his intention to retire in mid-January.

Pastor Kevin Lawson, left, his wife Krista and mother Brenda Lawson chat with the Rev. Vince Iorio, former pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, who recently retired and has been succeeded by Kevin.

The Rev. Iorio, 68, was pastor of Calvary Tabernacle for 15 years, and said it was time to pass the torch.

“I always had great team leaders, many of whom are still there,” he said.

He is proud of his accomplishment in building the new church.

“What seemed like an impossibility, God made possible,” he said.

Retirement means the Rev. Iorio can spend more time volunteering in the community. He has been volunteering at the Medina’s Tourism Booth in Rotary Park during the summer and he is a volunteer driver for the Orleans Joint Veterans’ Council van service.

Kevin was voted in full time on July 23 by the board and congregation.

“I have a large vision for growth in this church, to help people in the community,” he said. “Sometimes people forget how much a church can be an asset to a community. I’d love to see this church grow beyond what I could imagine, with ministries, public outreach and community involvement.”

His goal for the church moving forward is to stay focused on God’s will.

“I am grateful for the people in this church who have supported me and the transition,” Kevin said.

Calvary Tabernacle begins Sunday activities with coffee hour at 9:30 a.m., to which everyone is welcome, followed by worship at 10:30 a.m.

Prayer meeting is at 7 p.m. Tuesdays with the Spanish-speaking church meeting there at 2 p.m. Sundays, led by Jovannie Canales. Family night is at 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays.

The pastor said the Spanish-speaking church is a big help to Calvary Tabernacle, supporting them in everything.

Calvary Tabernacle is the location of a food pantry from 9 a.m. to noon Tuesday and Thursday. The pantry provides food for more than 100 families a month in Orleans County. Donna Poore manages the food pantry, and Daniel Tabor picks up donated food, while Michael Jaeger does stocking.

They receive free bread, groceries and meats weekly from Aldi’s, and other foodstuffs from Foodlink. Any non-food donations received are given to MAAC’s Thrift Deport.

At 10:30 on Nov. 13, the church will have a building dedication service and retirement celebration for the Rev. Iorio, and everyone is invited to attend.

Medina was finalist last year, missing out to Rochester and Newark in Finger Lakes Region; Smaller villages eligible for up to $4.5 million with $10 million for metro areas

Photo from Governor’s Office: Gov. Kathy Hochul announces the state will make $200 million available for downtown revitalization. She spoke on July 13 in Jamaica, Queens.

The Village of Medina, which has been a finalist for a $10 million downtown revitalization grant, will get another shot at millions from the state.

However, Medina would now be eligible in a new program – NY Forward, where the grants are targeted for downtowns in hamlets and villages. Instead of $10 million, the grants would be for up to $4.5 million, Gov. Kathy Hochul said.

She announced the state is making $200 million available for downtowns – $100 million to invigorate smaller and rural downtowns and $100 million for downtown areas in metropolitan areas.

Medina is in the Finger Lakes Region. Last year it missed out on the $10 million to the Village of Newark in Wayne County and the City of Rochester.

Other previous $10 million grant winners in the Finger Lakes region include the City of Geneva in 2016, the City of Batavia in 2017, the Village of Penn Yan in 2018 and Seneca Falls in 2019.

Medina was one of five finalists for the grant in 2019 and in 2021.

Medina had a committee that identified residential, commercial and tourism projects that would build on recent successes and investments in the downtown and canal area.

“Yes, this is disappointing for the village,” Mayor Mike Sidari said when Medina missed out last year. “However, we need to look at where we were 10 years ago and where we are now. Our village has been transformed, from our downtown to our recreation areas. We have a lot of hard-working dedicated residents and business owners working to continue to improve our village. Let’s be proud of what we have and continue to make Medina one of the most outstanding communities in WNY and the Finger Lakes.”

Medina’s application in 2021 sought funding for streetscape Improvements, multi-use trail along the Medina Railroad from the museum to Main Street, upgrades to Canal Village Farmer’s Market, improved waterfront access and amenities at the Canal Basin Park, enhanced programming at State Street Park (ice skating rink, enhanced lighting, boat tie-ups, benches and bicycle racks, and a construction of a nature trail), boat tie-ups and docking facilities at the Lions Park, viewing platform and at Medina waterfalls, wayfinding signage, small grant fund for local businesses, adaptive reuse of the old Medina High School to turn into apartments, and redeveloping the Snappy facility on Commercial Street by the Erie Canal into a mixed-use commercial and residential space.

Gov. Hochul announced the downtown revitalization availability last week in Jamaica, Queens, a past winner for the $10 million.

The governor announced that the $100 million for smaller and rural communities would be through the NY Forward program, while the metro areas would be through the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

“New York’s downtowns are the heart and soul of our communities and regions, and today we’re taking comprehensive action to support them,” Hochul said last week. “The Downtown Revitalization Initiative has ignited a renaissance in these spaces, which are critical to the continued growth of businesses and local economies, and I am proud to support this vital program. As we grow our downtowns, we are proud to launch a new program — NY Forward — that will provide crucial support to New York’s smaller and rural communities to help bring them back to the bustling towns and villages they once were.”

Hochul announced NY Forward to build on DRI’s momentum. She said NY Forward will support a more equitable downtown recovery for New York’s smaller and rural communities with a focus on hamlets and villages. NY Forward is meant serve smaller communities and support local economies that often have a feel and charm that is distinct from larger, metropolitan urban centers funded through DRI, she said in a news release.

The state us assigning a consultant to work with NY Forward communities through a planning and technical assistance process to develop a slate of readily implementable projects, with each regional economic development council nominating the winners.

NY Forward differs, however, by providing capacity-building workshops and technical assistance from consultants to assist communities in developing their full applications and throughout the implementation process, Hochul’s office said in the news release.

NY Forward also offers two funding options for each region—two $4.5 million awards or one $4.5 million grant and two $2.25 million grants.

Applications for NY Forward will launch later this month and winners are expected to be selected later this year.

For more information, click here.

MEDINA – The Village of Medina wasn’t picked by the state for one of two $10 million downtown revitalization grants for the Finger Lakes Region.

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday announced the $10 million grants will go to the City of Rochester in Monroe County and the Village of Newark in Wayne County.

Medina was one of five finalists for the grant, just like in 2019, the last time the funding was available.

Medina has a committee that identified residential, commercial and tourism projects that would build on recent successes and investments in the downtown and canal area.

Mayor Mike Sidari is hopeful the state will offer the $10 million again. He said it would have a major impact in the village of about 6,000 people.

Sidari posted this comment to the Orleans Hub Facebook page: “First thing, I would like to thank Chris Busch and Kathy Blackburn for working with me to put this application together with the assistance from the Bergmann Group. Also, thanks to Scott Robinson and Andrew Meier for joining us to present our application to the committee. Yes, this is disappointing for the village. However, we need to look at where we were 10 years ago and where we are now. Our village has been transformed, from our downtown to our recreation areas. We have a lot of hard-working dedicated residents and business owners working to continue to improve our village. Let’s be proud of what we have and continue to make Medina one of the most outstanding communities in WNY and the Finger Lakes.”

The state chose Newark which has a population of about 9,000 people and Rochester, which has about 210,000 residents.

Previous $10 million grant winners in the Finger Lakes region include the City of Geneva in 2016, the City of Batavia in 2017, the Village of Penn Yan in 2018 and Seneca Falls in 2019.

Medina’s application sought funding for streetscape Improvements, multi-use trail along the Medina Railroad from the museum to Main Street, upgrades to Canal Village Farmer’s Market, improved waterfront access and amenities at the Canal Basin Park, enhanced programming at State Street Park (ice skating rink, enhanced lighting, boat tie-ups, benches and bicycle racks, and a construction of a nature trail), boat tie-ups and docking facilities at the Lions Park, viewing platform and at Medina waterfalls, wayfinding signage, small grant fund for local businesses, adaptive reuse of the old Medina High School to turn into apartments, and redeveloping the Snappy facility on Commercial Street by the Erie Canal into a mixed-use commercial and residential space.

“Investing in our downtowns is vital to reigniting New York’s recovery,” Governor Hochul said in announcing the DRI winners. “These awards will enhance Rochester and Newark so that locals and visitors alike can enjoy all these areas have to offer. The Finger Lakes is a region brimming with history and attractions and I look forward to seeing how these winners will use their funds to bring their communities to the next level.”

Here is what Hochul’s Office said about Rochester and Newark in announcing the awards:

Rochester – Rochester’s DRI will focus on the transformation of the long-blighted area in the center of downtown along the north side of Main Street from Clinton Avenue down to the Genesee River.

With a 17% population increase since 2010 and 50% of the population being aged 20-34 years old, Rochester’s downtown has seen significant private and public investment in the last 15 years, including new housing, hotels, updates to the convention center, multiple high-tech business and incubators to boost a burgeoning Downtown Innovation Zone, and a resurgence of the city’s waterfront thanks to dozens of projects that are part of the state supported ROC The Riverway initiative.

However, the Main and Clinton block is in desperate need of redevelopment while progress continues all around it. The winning plan will help to improve streetscapes and public spaces, upgrade the built environment, and increase pedestrian access/connections in order to catalyze further investment in the area, putting the finishing touches on the city’s downtown revitalization, creating a resurgent Rochester where more people will want to live, work and play.

Newark – Downtown Newark is a compact, walkable, well-defined, and concentrated area that the village aims to make the heartbeat of a lively, world-class village and the cultural and commercial center of the Finger Lakes region with the Erie Canal serving as the village’s center of commerce.

With multiple, large anchor institutions and ongoing job growth, Newark has seen nearly $220 million invested in the village in the last 10 years. A robust public engagement process led the village to identify needs for infill mixed-use development, more housing for workforce and seniors, and new space for indoor recreation and wellness with a focus on utilizing space along the Erie Canal.

The Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council conducted a thorough and competitive review process of proposals submitted from communities throughout the region and considered all seven criteria below before recommending Rochester and Newark as the nominees:

• The downtown should be compact, with well-defined boundaries;
• The downtown is able to capitalize on prior or catalyze future private and public investment in the neighborhood and its surrounding areas;
• There should be recent or impending job growth within, or in close proximity to the downtown that can attract workers to the downtown, support redevelopment and make growth sustainable;
• The downtown must be an attractive and livable community for diverse populations of all ages, income, gender, identity, ability, mobility and cultural background;
• The municipality should already embrace or have the ability to create and implement policies that increase livability and quality of life, including the use of local land banks, modern zoning codes and parking standards, complete streets plans, energy efficient projects, green jobs, and transit-oriented development;
• The municipality should have conducted an open and robust community engagement process resulting in a vision for downtown revitalization and a preliminary list of projects and initiatives that may be included in a DRI strategic investment plan;
• The municipality has the local capacity to manage the DRI process; and
• The municipality has identified transformative projects that will be ready for near-term implementation with an infusion of DRI funds.