Riverhead Town officials are waiting with bated breath for word on the outcome of the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative Round Four grant awards.
At stake is a $10 million grant and Riverhead Town “checks every box” in terms of eligibility, Riverhead Community Development Agency director Dawn Thomas said in an interview last Tuesday.
Riverhead is a finalist in the competitive grant program again this year, as it was last year and in 2016, Thomas said. That means Riverhead’s application was one of the applications selected by the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council to make a presentation to the LIREDC. The town did so in June.
Each region of the state — 10 in all — recommends one finalist application to the state economic development council in Albany. The regional economic development councils had to make their recommendations to the state by July 12, Thomas said.
Now town officials can only wonder and wait.
Thomas said the town anticipates learning of the decision by the end of the month. She is very upbeat. She said the town got “really good feedback” last year and also after the Round Four presentation this year.
Riverhead identified five key economic redevelopment projects/concepts in its grant application:
- A “town square” to provide a public gathering space, pedestrian connectivity and open vistas from Main Street to the riverfront to reorient the pedestrian focus from the traditional Main Street to the Peconic Riverwalk, a unique attribute.
- Intermodal transportation and parking improvements to increase capacity, improve traffic flow and determine how to best address parking needs at full buildout. This may include the creation of a transit oriented development (TOD) together with parking improvements and improved connections between the central business district and the nearby railroad station.
- New pedestrian pathways and unified signage themes in the downtown core along the Peconic River for beautification, safety, branding, to drive foot traffic to the waterfront and to direct the public to available parking as well as all means of public transportation.
- Continued partnerships with arts, cultural and community organizations for community events and Creative Placemaking at the waterfront as well as on Main Street.
- Extensive, continued community outreach and engagement activities around health, wellness, environmental, cultural and civic projects to address environmental and social justice needs.
Riverhead’s downtown has a lot going for it, Thomas said.
The town has completed multiple studies and downtown revitalization plans, she said.
The downtown area also has two state-designated urban renewal areas— Main Street and Railroad Avenue.
Downtown Riverhead was designated an opportunity zone by the federal government last year, opening doors for investment opportunities.
“Seriously, Riverhead checks every box like five times,” Thomas said.
The idea of public space on the south side of Main Street — the “town square” proposal — is something that’s been recommended in virtually every land use and downtown revitalization study done for the town — for decades, Thomas said.
Under the concept plan presented in the grant application, the downtown district would lose parking on the east end of the parking lot south of Main Street, but it is already poised to pick up 70 new spaces on the north side of Main Street by reconfiguring that parking lot. That project will begin this fall, Thomas said.
“This grant would really help Downtown Riverhead turn a corner,” Thomas said. “All the pieces are there. We’re ready to go. We need an infusion of capital like this to make it happen.”
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