Funding to Support Open Space Protection, Historic Preservation, and Community Revitalization
Four Hudson Valley communities received a total of $27,400 in matching grants from the Hudson River Valley Greenway for projects that will help shape development,guide preservation, and spur neighborhood revitalization. The grants were awarded by the Hudson River Valley Greenway Board of Directors at their recent meeting held in Hyde Park.
The Hudson River Valley Greenway Grant Program provides funding to participating Greenway Communities to further a regional planning strategy consistent with the five Greenway criteria of natural and cultural resource protection, regional planning, economic development, public access, and heritage and environmental education. The next deadline for Greenway Grants is May 6, 2016.
“These community projects help set the stage for growth and development while ensuring the protection and enhancement of historic, cultural, and environmental resources,”said Mark Castiglione, Acting Executive Director of the Hudson River Valley Greenway. “These projects resonate with New York State’s emphasis on economic development, preservation, and community revitalization. The Greenway applauds these communities for undertaking such important projects.”
The following projects will be supported by the Hudson River Valley Greenway Grant Program:
- $4,900 to the City of Albany, Albany County, to refine boundaries of existing historic districts in the Washington Avenue Corridor and identify potential new districts along Washington, Western, and Central Avenues.
- $10,000 to the Town of Red Hook, Dutchess County, to update the village’s Community Preservation Project Plan, which underpins landscape preservation and funding throughout the village.
- $7,500 to the City of Kingston, Ulster County, for a cultural resource mapping project that will identify and characterize the resources, historic structures, current plans and projects in Midtown Kingston.
- $5,000 to the Town of Philipstown, Putnam County, for enhancements to the historic Philipstown Depot Theatre.
The Hudson River Valley Greenway is a unique state-sponsored program established by the Greenway Act of 1991. More than 84% of municipalities within the Greenway area have designated themselves as “Greenway Communities.” The program is designed to encourage projects and initiatives related to the intersecting goals of natural and cultural resource protection, regional planning, economic development, public access, and heritage and environmental education. It provides technical assistance and catalytic grant funding for planning, water and land trails, and other projects that reinforce these goals. In keeping with the New York tradition of home rule, the Greenway program has no regulatory authority and participation by municipalities in Greenway programs and projects is entirely voluntary. The Greenway also manages the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area in partnership with the National Park Service.
