AUBURN - A request by the county Parks and Trails Department to seek a $600,000 state grant to renovate the pavilion at Emerson Park was approved Tuesday by the Cayuga County Legislature Public Works Committee.
If awarded, the grant would require that the county contribute $150,000 to the cause.
The grant would be used to increase tourism, improve the park's usefulness to residents and preserve its historical significance through renovations to the pavilion, which were outlined in a facility master plan that the Legislature also approved Tuesday night.
“It's a tremendous resource for the area,” said Parks and Trails director Gary Duckett. “It would be a shame to let it fall into disrepair.”
The pavilion is used for more than 100 events throughout the year, he said.
But as a building that has been standing for nearly 100 years, it is also an important historical site that the county should preserve, Duckett said.
“There's a lot of fine memories out there,” he said, “a lot of nostalgia.”
A report Duckett presented to the Public Works Committee listed nearly $3.7 million-worth of improvements that could be made to the pavilion, some of which could be accomplished if the county is awarded the state grant.
Among the items that the parks department has prioritized should $600,000 become available, are an east pavilion storage area, new lighting and weather stripping.
Combining the state grant with the county's $150,000 contribution, the department would be able to knock off as many as 22 of the 53 items from the department's to-do list for the pavilion.
Cayuga County Manager Wayne Allen supports applying for the grant because money from the state means, “we don't have to go to the taxpayer,” he said.
The county has included $67,000 in its last two budgets for pavilion improvements.
But to make even more money available for renovations, Chairman of the Legislature Peter Tortorici proposed that the Legislature consider a line item in the 2010 budget that would allow any revenue generated by pavilion to be put toward work on the site. Currently, the pavilion's earnings are returned to the county revenue pool.
The Ways & Means Committee and the full Legislature must approve of the grant application before any paperwork, which is due at the end of the month, is mailed.
In other news:
* At a regular meeting Tuesday night, the Public Works Committee approved a request to allow the Village of Fair Haven and the Town of Sterling to convert a vandalized toilet facility into a small pavilion.
* The Public Works Committee also approved the replacement of a cleaner position with a janitor position at the Buildings and Grounds Department. The janitor's position pays a higher salary than the cleaner position, but also encompasses a broader spectrum of duties.
Staff writer Sarah Gantz can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or sarah.gantz@lee.net
The grant would be used to increase tourism, improve the park's usefulness to residents and preserve its historical significance through renovations to the pavilion, which were outlined in a facility master plan that the Legislature also approved Tuesday night.
“It's a tremendous resource for the area,” said Parks and Trails director Gary Duckett. “It would be a shame to let it fall into disrepair.”
The pavilion is used for more than 100 events throughout the year, he said.
But as a building that has been standing for nearly 100 years, it is also an important historical site that the county should preserve, Duckett said.
“There's a lot of fine memories out there,” he said, “a lot of nostalgia.”
A report Duckett presented to the Public Works Committee listed nearly $3.7 million-worth of improvements that could be made to the pavilion, some of which could be accomplished if the county is awarded the state grant.
Among the items that the parks department has prioritized should $600,000 become available, are an east pavilion storage area, new lighting and weather stripping.
Combining the state grant with the county's $150,000 contribution, the department would be able to knock off as many as 22 of the 53 items from the department's to-do list for the pavilion.
Cayuga County Manager Wayne Allen supports applying for the grant because money from the state means, “we don't have to go to the taxpayer,” he said.
The county has included $67,000 in its last two budgets for pavilion improvements.
But to make even more money available for renovations, Chairman of the Legislature Peter Tortorici proposed that the Legislature consider a line item in the 2010 budget that would allow any revenue generated by pavilion to be put toward work on the site. Currently, the pavilion's earnings are returned to the county revenue pool.
The Ways & Means Committee and the full Legislature must approve of the grant application before any paperwork, which is due at the end of the month, is mailed.
In other news:
* At a regular meeting Tuesday night, the Public Works Committee approved a request to allow the Village of Fair Haven and the Town of Sterling to convert a vandalized toilet facility into a small pavilion.
* The Public Works Committee also approved the replacement of a cleaner position with a janitor position at the Buildings and Grounds Department. The janitor's position pays a higher salary than the cleaner position, but also encompasses a broader spectrum of duties.
Staff writer Sarah Gantz can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or sarah.gantz@lee.net
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Post your comment - click hereThere are 4 comment(s)
brew1234 wrote on Aug 12, 2009 9:10 PM:
longboard315 wrote on Aug 12, 2009 4:37 PM:
horseradish wrote on Aug 12, 2009 11:30 AM:
Mr. Cynical wrote on Aug 12, 2009 8:48 AM:
Where do you think the money that comes from Albany come from? It comes from taxpayers around the state, shoveling money into the maw of the government beast. Why should taxpayers in, say Plattburgh, pay for this?
If the repairs are important enough to be paid for with tax dollars(and I strongly disagree with that assertion), then let's raise the taxes on local residents, and see what the consequences are in the elections.
How about selling off the property and putting it back onto the tax rolls? Or if the repairs are that important, then find something else less important to cut.
This mentality is what is fueling the growing resentment by the taxpaying citizens in the county, state and country. While I am a resident of the county, I have to work out of state because the taxes are too high here, and companies can't afford to do business here. "