City of Rome, NY awarded $2.5M for demolition of Rome Cable Site
The City of Rome, NY will receive $2.5 million for the Rome Cable Remediation and Revitalization Project, Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced today during a visit to the Mohawk Valley.
The funds, part of the RESTORE-NY program, will be used to further remediate the Rome Cable site, off of South Jay Street. The project will make 50 acres of mixed commercial and retail facilities available in downtown Rome by demolishing the vacant 240,000-square foot Rome Cable Building.
"This project, and projects like it, are crucial to the economic health of the community,” Mayor James F. Brown said. “This grant, the second such one we have received from the state, clearly demonstrates that our plan to revitalize our downtown is working. We are eliminating eyesores and replacing them with shovel-ready sites for investment. Developers want to come to Rome, they know that this is a great place to do business but they need locations where they can start right away. This grant will help us develop a prime location on Rome’s most traveled street.”
This is the City of Rome’s second RESTORE –NY grant. The city’s first grant funded the demolition of two long-time vacant and abandoned industrial sites in the city’s urban center, including a seven-acre tract for the former General Cable site as well as another site along Erie Boulevard – which is already home to a 13,000-square foot Walgreen’s store.
“The Walgreen’s project alone has resulted in a $5 million investment in Rome,” Brown said, “and will add dozens of new jobs and generate significant sales tax revenue.”
The current RESTORE-NY funds will build on nearly $2.3 million that has been invested in the Rome Cable location already the Rome Community Brownfield Restoration Corporation (RCBRC). Those funds enabled the reuse of 180,000-square feet of space at the Rome Cable Complex which currently houses Owl Wire & Cable, a local manufacturing operation that has 52 employees.
The remaining 240,000-square feet of space is uninhabitable due to several structural deterioration.
“This project has the potential to begin to transform this entire area,” Brown said. “Not only will it enhance Owl Wire’s operation as well as the visual appeal of the neighborhood but the right mix of commercial and retail investment can help spur additional home ownership and improved housing in the surrounding area.”
In accordance with the grant, the City of Rome will provide a 10 percent match in in-kind services from local government, grants and/or private contributions to complete the proposed project.
“We have spent too many years living, working and raising our families next door to obsolete industrial brownfields that are environmental hazards and economic liabilities,” Brown said. “I am pleased that the state is an active partner in our efforts to change this.”
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