Glens Falls: DRI update in Mid- or Late-May mayor says.

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Glens Falls Mayor Bill Collins is planning a press conference for mid- or late-May which will include leaders in the Downtown Revitalization Initiative projects to discuss overall where the projects are, he said at the Common Council meeting Tuesday evening April 26. A few days after the press conference, he will host a public meeting on the subject and take input after people have had a chance to see the plans, he said.

Specific days, times, and locations are still to be determined. (The Chronicle newspaper this morning is reporting the press conference will be May 21, but FoothillsBusinessDaily.com did not confirm the date independently).

The DRI is an initiative to redevelop the area near the Elm and South street intersection. Funding for it has also supported Art Walk and the DRIve business initiative that helped downtown businesses with start-up and renovation funds. Six years ago, the city was granted a $10 million DRI grant from the state that is to be used to encourage economic development.

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The city also recently applied for a federal grant to fund a “transportation hub” on what is now the surface Elm Street Parking lot, near South Street. The hub would expand the scope and likely the size of the parking garage that the city had first considered.

The city moved plans for the garage, originally proposed for 45 Elm St. at a location owned by the Glens Falls National Bank, last October. City officials said then that an apartment building would likely be built in that area, and plans for the parking garage was moved to the Elm Street surface parking lot.

“There were people who said, ‘I don’t know why this is being done this way. I don’t know why we need parking,’” the mayor said in an interview after the meeting. “I can’t believe [there will be] anybody who is out this Friday night who doesn’t think we need parking.”

He said he wants to make sure people are heard, but he also plans to show evidence for the parking need in the downtown area. 

The DRI project is a major redevelopment of the area around the intersection of Elm and South streets in Glens Falls. Many of the projects are public-private partnerships. Bonacio Construction was chosen last year to be the developer of choice on the project. They own the Sandy's Clam Bar building and are buying two buildings from the city. Renovations and new construction is expected.  

In the last month, the city has unveiled new plans for the “market square” element of the Downtown Revitalization Plan, a pavilion-style building dubbed “The Yellow Birch Leaf” by the designers. If approved, that will be constructed at 51 South Street in what is now a dirt lot. 

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