Six Ossining projects to be funded by $9.7M state grant

Six projects have been selected to benefit from the $9.7 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) funding awarded to the Village of Ossining. The projects are intended to enhance the community’s walkability, historic, cultural, and natural resources.

“Ossining is on the move and this funding allows us to move far more swiftly, making longstanding desires a reality and fulfilling our goals for a thriving, inclusive and sustainable community,” Ossining’s Mayor Rika Levin said. “We are grateful to the governor and to New York state for this vote of confidence and acknowledgement of Ossining’s vibrant history and unlimited future.”

A $2,243,000 project involves building a multi-modal transportation center to provide approximately 240 parking spaces for vehicles, parking spaces for bicycles and charging stations. Solar panels on the roof will generate electricity for use in the facility.

.The Station Plaza neighborhood is due to benefit from $857,000 to be spent beautifying the area through improved streets, widened sidewalks, and enhanced connectivity between the waterfront and upper Main Street

About $2 million in grant money is being dedicated to enhancing and expanding the Market Square Public Plaza. The project would include new construction, new seating, new landscaping, a raised stage and kiosks.

$1,500,000 would be spent preserving and revitalizing the Olive Opera House building. Work would include exterior renovations, restorations and retrofitting of the interior of the building to allow for flexible workspaces, studios and a performance space with modular stage.

The Louis Engel Waterfront Park Performance Space would receive $600,000 worth of work. This would include replacing the existing stage with a new, covered state-of-the-art performance space that would make performances possible even in bad weather.

$2.5 million has been allocated to fund transforming the Joseph G. Caputo Community Center into a state-of-the-art facility for recreation and learning that serves children through seniors.

The state’s DRI program is led by the Department of State, which provides technical assistance as each participating community develops a Strategic Investment Plan identifying specific projects with a unique vision for the revitalization of the downtown area. Marsha Gordon, president and CEO of the Business Council of Westchester and Mayor Levin co-chaired Ossining’s Local Planning Committee that worked on the initiative.