Wellsville awarded $4.5 million for downtown projects to push village 'forward'

Chris Potter, The Evening Tribune
·3 min read
1
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Village of Wellsville Mayor Randy Shayler was sometimes asked if his last job “was going to be to turn the lights out.”

The village’s largest employer, Siemens Dresser-Rand, and its largest retailer, Kmart, both left town over 2019 and 2020.

“That created a cloud of unknown, of uncertainty, of fear in some cases,” Shayler recalled.

On Monday, though, before Gov. Kathy Hochul and other state and local leaders in Dunkirk, Shayler said Wellsville’s “recovery has started and things are looking in the right direction” as the Allegany County village was awarded $4.5 million in NY Forward funding designed to reinvigorate the downtown district.

Similar to the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative, the NY Forward program seeks to spur private investment in downtown areas by leveraging initial state support to help projects get off the ground. NY Forward was created to aid smaller communities that might not have enough projects to compete for the full $10 million DRI award.

Hochul lauded Wellsville’s natural resources and local landmarks, like the Genesee River and the Pink House.

“It’s a beautiful place. It has such potential,” said the governor. “People live there a long time and just don’t always feel it, what others see when you see the charm of it. You want to take your assets and let them be catalysts for other businesses to come.”

A view of the business district on North Main Street in the Village of Wellsville.
A view of the business district on North Main Street in the Village of Wellsville.

What could the funding mean for downtown Wellsville?

Creating new downtown housing opportunities will likely be the focus of several projects. Hochul’s State of the State speech earlier this month outlined a goal of reaching 800,000 new homes in 10 years, double the pace of the last decade.

Hochul pointed to several Wellsville projects the NY Forward money could potentially fund, including the Municipal Building and the Rockwell Building on Main Street, and the former Sinclair property on the Genesee River.

“We didn’t have the jobs. People were leaving. Now we have to build the housing and create housing into spaces, even our older buildings,” said Hochul. “That could become a place to welcome people to the waterfront. It could be restaurant, it could be housing, it could be extraordinary.”

Wellsville's proposal "seeks to foster new projects that cultivate investment and attract new residents, including preserving and adaptively reusing historic buildings, creating new and diverse housing choices, improving its business park and investing in parks, trails and placemaking."

More:What's next for Wellsville's Grand Theater? Owner looking for buyer of shuttered business

More:What's next for Wellsville's Depot project after $500K state award

More:Andover mayor vows to fight harassment charge after incident at Better Days

The former Wellsville Municipal Building and other Main Street buildings may be eligible for Genesee Valley Rural Revitalization grant funding for building restoration and revitalization.
The former Wellsville Municipal Building and other Main Street buildings may be eligible for Genesee Valley Rural Revitalization grant funding for building restoration and revitalization.

Next, Wellsville will start developing a Strategic Investment Plan guided by a Local Planning Committee made up of municipal representatives, community leaders and other stakeholders, supported by a team of private sector experts and state planners. Funding will be awarded for selected projects "that have the greatest potential to jumpstart revitalization and generate new opportunities for long-term growth."

Monday’s announcement comes on the heels of some welcome economic news for the village. The former Kmart is currently being refurbished for a Runnings department store that plans to open in the spring, while a Texas company recently elected to headquarter a manufacturing division in a portion of the former Dresser-Rand building.

“The people of Wellsville are resilient. We stepped up and took some actions,” Shayler said, crediting the work of the Wellsville Economic Development Board, the village’s DRI committee and the Wellsville Development Corporation.

“When you look at the value to us of this award, it’s substantial. It’s not only $4.5 million, but it is further justification and a recognition to the people of Wellsville that hey, you’re headed in the right direction, you’re doing the right things and the state of New York is behind you and supports what you’re doing.”

Lancaster also received $4.5 million Monday from the NY Forward program. Hochul named Dunkirk the Western New York winner of the sixth round of the DRI and its $10 million.

This article originally appeared on The Evening Tribune: Wellsville wins $4.5M to reinvigorate downtown district