August 12, 2022
The New York State Department of State (DOS) today announced the completion of the restoration project at State Street Plaza in Auburn funded through the City’s $10 Million Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) awarded in 2018. The State Street Plaza, which was supported in part with a $ 1,000,000 grant administered by DOS, is the fifth project to be completed with DRI funds in downtown Auburn.
“Quality public gathering spaces like State Street Plaza are often the anchor for a vibrant downtown,” said Secretary of State Robert J. Rodriguez. “State Street Plaza will provide safe and enjoyable public space for events, concerts, a friendly game of chess or checkers, or simply a place to sit, read a book, drink a cup of coffee and enjoy the burgeoning vibe of downtown Auburn. Auburn’s downtown creative corridor just became more creative, vibrant and inviting with the completion of this magnificent public project, which will also boost businesses, create jobs and draw visitors to the downtown commercial area to reinvigorate the local economy.”
The State Street Plaza will become the centerpiece for the State Street Creative Corridor. The 5,000 square foot public plaza, on the site of the former Kalet’s Department Store, complements and enhances adjacent retail stores and restaurants and provides flexible public space for events, festivals, and socializing.
The first public meetings for the design of the State Street Plaza were held in 2017. Auburn School District students from a two-year community service and leadership program for citywide junior high students known as Blueprint II attended and participated in these community meetings. Many design details incorporated into the final design of new plaza, such as a life
size chess board and mobile device charging stations, were the brainstorm of these students.
The new Plaza also includes flexible performance space, public art moveable tables and chairs, seating areas, including benches ans seat wall, landscaping and interpretative signage. The project also included the installation of water lines, stormwater management, installation, fencing, hardscaping, and the contruction of a flexible performance space. The project also includes pedestrian-scale lighting, bike racks, and interpretive signage.
City of Auburn Mayor Michael D. Quill said. “The NYS DRI grant made this economic revitalization project in our downtown a reality and we thank Governor Kathy Hochul for her continuous support of not only this program but of Auburn and all of upstate New York. Thanks to the Governor and the DRI the heart of our downtown has been transformed into vibrant public space that will surely spur community and economic development for years to come.”
Grace Wiseman, Intern, City of Auburn Office of Planning and Economic Development. “It’s been truly rewarding to be a part of not only the design process back in 2017 but also the construction process of Auburn’s new State Street Plaza. Being able to contribute to community development throughout the years is a unique and fulfilling experience and I hope other kids like me will get to have the same opportunity in the future.”
Stephanie DeVito, Executive Director, Auburn Downtown BID “One of our goals at the Auburn Downtown Business Improvement District is to have a downtown that is attractive for people to live and work and the NYS Downtown Revitalization Initiative has just moved us forward by making the development of the State Street Plaza a reality. This new public space will serve our downtown community by providing public gathering and event space which is vital to keeping our downtown attractive and vibrant. We thank the Governor for making our downtown’s revitalization and future economic growth a priority.”
The City of Auburn is the second largest city in Central New York. It was selected as a winner in Round 3 of Downtown Revitalization Initiative. The City’s DRI plan builds on the interconnected relationships between its many natural, multicultural, educational and historic assets to provide unparalleled quality of life supported by a strong local economy, diversity and restored vibrancy for all in the Auburn Business Improvement District and the West End Arts District. To leverage DRI funds, City leadership embraced a “#This Place Matters” campaign to achieve $40 million of public-private funds to invest in downtown.
Projects already completed through the DRI include:
Public Safety Building
A 1970s strip mall was redeveloped into a new shared services public safety building, creating offices for City and County Emergency Operations Center and Emergency Management Office, as well as facilities for the City of Auburn Fire Department.
Culinary Arts Facility
The vacant Plaza of the Arts building was repurposed to accommodate Cayuga Community College's new Culinary Arts Program, providing a cafe as well as a central space for community events. Individualized cooking suites, digital demonstration kitchen, and advanced kitchen equipment combine to make Cayuga’s Culinary Institute a one-of-a-kind opportunity for students to explore their culinary passion.
Peer Recovery Center
A vacant three-story structure was rehabbed into a central facility for comprehensive recovery, treatment, and complementary health care services. The facility houses an existing peer-based not-for-profit that provides recovery services, as well as other health-based organizations with similar missions, fostering a collaborative approach to the urgent issues of addiction.
Rudolph Building
This beautiful historic building was renovated, providing retail space to Rudolph’s Sugar Shack, an ice cream and candy store, on the first floor and creating apartments on the upper floors.
About the Downtown Revitalization Initiative
In 2016, New York State launched a major new initiative —the Downtown Revitalization Initiative. Through this initiative, the Governor has moved to aggressively accelerate and expand the revitalization of downtowns and neighborhood to serve as centers of activity and catalysts for investment in all ten regions of the state. The initiative represents an unprecedented and innovative plan-to-act strategy that couples strategic planning with immediate implementation.
The NYS Department of State administers several grant programs that support smart growth and downtown revitalization—the Smart Growth Planning and Zoning Program; the Downtown revitalization Initiative (DRI); and the new NY Forward program. The first five rounds of the DRI provided over $600 million to 59 communities for transformative projects that are revitalizing downtowns throughout the State. The new NY Forward program builds on and expands the success of the DRI by reinvigorating NY’s smaller and rural communities-- the type of downtowns found in villages, hamlets and other small, neighborhood-scale municipal centers.
The initiative is headed by New York Secretary of State Robert J. Rodriguez. Communities receive support from private sector experts and a team of state agency staff led by the Department of State in close partnership with Empire State Development, and state Homes and Community Renewal.
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