Following the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency’s donation to help build infrastructures in Syracuse’s Inner Harbor, Sen. Charles Schumer has also pushed for federal funding for the project. 

Schumer sent a personal letter to the Economic Development Administration, urging the administration to provide $2 million in funding for Syracuse’s Inner Harbor development project, according to a Nov. 21 press release from the senator’s office.

“I am launching a full court press to secure federal funding that will keep the City of Syracuse’s Inner Harbor redevelopment project on track to bring more jobs, new businesses and residences to this extension of downtown,” Schumer said in the release.

The federal funding would be used to construct new sidewalks, lighting, trees and public spaces, as well as new water, sanitary and storm sewers, and gas and electric lines, Schumer said in the release.

In the release, Schumer called the project a catalyst for a domino effect in the development of Syracuse. He said the new roads, sewers and infrastructure will improve access to restaurants and shops, and attract new residents to invest in the area.

The project’s funding is expected to be determined within the next few months, Schumer said in a Nov. 21 YNN article.

SIDA’s $500,000 donation will add to the city’s efforts to build roads and sidewalks, and install water and sewer lines in the area, said Ben Walsh, a deputy commissioner in Syracuse’s Department of Neighborhood and Business Development.

The contribution will compliment COR Development Co.’s $350 million project to transform 28 acres of land around the harbor into a commercial and residential attraction, Walsh said.

The city plans to invest $4 million for the construction of roads and other developmental projects in the area near COR Development Co.’s project site. City officials have applied for a grant from the Economic Development Administration that would pay for half the costs, Walsh said.

Similarly, Syracuse Common Councilor Khalid Bey said he hopes the project will generate economic growth for the city.

“The temporary and permanent jobs that the project could create would be helpful, especially if those hires are Syracuse residents,” Bey said.

Still, the project will not be able to proceed until funding for water and sewer lines is secured, Paul Joynt of COR Development Co. said in the article.

Said Joynt in the article: “If we don’t have sewers and water to expand the project any further, it would, basically, come to a halt.”

Published on November 28, 2012 at 2:06 am