Ellicottville Awarded $1 Million Infrastructure Grant to Revitalize Historic 1887 Building
Ellicottville Awarded $1 Million Infrastructure Grant to Revitalize Historic 1887 Building
NYS awards Ellicottville $1 million to convert the long-vacant 1887 Building into workforce housing and mixed-use space.
Whether you’ve called Ellicottville “home” for years, enjoy regular visits, or only make the occasional trip to the village, chances are, you’ve noticed the 1887 Building, located on the public square at 1-7 Washington Street. For over 100 years, the building has played an integral role in the community, which began with its original purpose - a school building - to its function in later years when the school closed: a community building, a public library, and today’s outdoor site for the Ellicottville Farmers’ Market and the bi-annual fine art show. Although the privately-owned building has been empty for more than a dozen years, it will take on new life in the community, thanks to a $1 million County Infrastructure Grant awarded to the Village of Ellicottville in partnership with Cattaraugus County.
In a press release on July 2, Governor Hochul announced over $36 million awarded to 48 projects across the state through this grant program, which first began in November and is administered by Empire State Development (ESD). A total of $4 million was awarded to the Western NY region for five projects. The competitive grant program allows each county to submit just one project for consideration, and through the support of the Cattaraugus County legislature, Ellicottville’s project was submitted and approved.
Ellicottville Village Clerk Amy Hayward said, “The interesting thing about this grant was it had certain stipulations that were a little unusual. One was that it had to be used for infrastructure. It had to have housing as a component. And the county could only submit one project.” According to the press release from the governor’s office, “Infrastructure improvements, such as utility upgrades, site preparation, and streetscape enhancements, are planned for 1-7 Washington Street in the Village of Ellicottville. These are key to the village's plan to adaptively reuse this historically significant building from 1887 into a mixed-use development that will provide 15 workforce housing units and commercial space to support local businesses.”
Hayward was instrumental in creating the Request for Proposal (RFP) submitted to ESD and is looking forward to working with Cattaraugus County to manage grant funding as the project unfolds. “One of the things that Mayor Burrell and the Board of Trustees have been looking at, and part of my position, is to look into more grant opportunities,” Hayward explained. “The village attorney (Richard Stanton) forwarded the mayor and I this RFP through the ESD, and the Village Board gave the green light for us to look into pursuing it.”
Hayward, the mayor, and a developer then met before reaching out to recently retired county administrator Jack Searles, who voiced his support for the project and encouraged village officials to share it with county legislators for their support. “We got full, unanimous support from the Cattaraugus County Legislature for this,” said Hayward.
Through research, information shared by the property owner, and cost estimates, Hayward and the mayor’s office were able to write the RFP, which was submitted in April. Hayward said that the village receiving this grant is “very good news and hopefully it’s going to be a catalyst to get this going, and a catalyst for the village to look into other opportunities and piggyback off of this one.”
So what’s next for the grant project? Hayward shared, “On July 18th, there will be a contingency from Empire State Development that will have the regional director, the assistant director, and their team. We’re having a lunch meeting with them and a tour of the village. We’ll be discussing other opportunities, as well as this one that we were just awarded and how we’re going to move that forward.” This includes the timeline for the grant project, which was projected to be 16 months from groundbreaking to completion in the RFP.
The proposed project for the 1887 Building is well-aligned with the grant program’s goal of supporting economic development and the creation of housing through small and medium-sized county-led infrastructure projects. Hayward noted that the value of this project cannot be overstated, as the village has fewer than 300 full-time residents; adding crucial workforce housing for professionals has the potential to build a stronger community and foster growth for families. “We really appreciate Jack Searles, Andy Burr (legislature chairman), and all of the Cattaraugus County Legislature for being so supportive and realizing that housing for families is important,” said Hayward.