On Third Street, 2009 brought us to the tipping point, as new entities such as Wine on Third, Cafe Lola, and Murphy's Café showed what's possible there. We are doing our part to keep the momentum going, creating a new parking lot on the space formerly occupied by Lotus Spa (which we demolished in 2009–that's what we call a "happy ending"), along with a lighted walkway that provides access to additional parking on Second Street leading toward Joe Anderson's great new Snowpark . In 2010, we're creating a web-based inventory of available properties, and we're going to market them aggressively in partnership with USA Niagara.
Perhaps no single street in Niagara Falls has progressed as far in the past year as Main Street. Our new municipal public safety building serves as the anchor. Senator Antoine Thompson lent a hand by moving his office across the street. Hutch Enterprises has brought new life back to the Rapids Theatre, rekindling great memories and setting the stage for a bright future. Family and Children's Service and HANCI have each spent millions of dollars upgrading their buildings, making the street more attractive while providing vital human services. New small businesses from the Hot Stuff Café to Just Words to Living Wellness of Niagara give proof to the fact that Main Street is open for business. And of course, a little paving didn't hurt.
The prospects for Main Street will only grow brighter as we develop North Star and the Underground Railroad heritage area. We've already started the project to convert the Old Customs House into an Underground Railroad interpretive center. We changed the welcome sign to be more, well, welcoming. And through the efforts of our Congressional delegation – particularly Senator Charles Schumer and Congresswoman Louise Slaughter – we're banking the funds we need to create a $40 million train station and transportation center at the foot of the Whirlpool Bridge. The existing station on Lockport Road is a disgrace and unworthy of our community. With today's announcement by President Obama of $151 million of stimulus funds for high-speed rail in New York State, we've got to agree with Senator Schumer that, "this is not everything that we wanted, but it's a good start. It shows that the administration has good mind-set toward reaching our ultimate goal: a high-speed rail line from Niagara Falls, through Buffalo, Utica and Syracuse, to Albany and south to New York City." With a beautiful airport terminal linked to a state-of-the-art train station and transportation center at the other, the sky is the limit for Niagara Falls.
Meanwhile, we've secured $6.3 million in Restore New York grants to turn three vacant public buildings into new housing. The former South Junior High School on Portage Road, the long vacant 39th Street School, and the former Public Safety Building on Hyde Park Boulevard, will all be transformed into quality housing through public-private partnerships. The Public Safety Building will be converted into assisted living apartments. The city of Niagara Falls currently has none. 39th Street School will be converted into patio apartments attractive to seniors and empty nesters and South Junior will be market rate loft apartments with workspaces that will appeal to both "empty-nesters" and younger tenants, especially artists drawn to the Niagara Arts and Cultural Center or workers from the casino or hospital.
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