Newly approved federal budget has more than $4M for Ithaca, Tompkins County projects

ITHACA, N.Y. — Funding for Ithaca downtown economic-development, to increase the “resiliency and sustainability” of its energy, and replace the South Albany Street Bridge over Six Mile Creek is part of the new federal budget.

More than $4 million for the projects and others in the City of Ithaca and communities in Tomkins County is included in the newly approved 2022 federal budget.

That’s according to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D–N.Y.) who announced the funding in a news release. Jennifer Tavares, president and CEO of the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce, forwarded the release to CNYBJ.

Downtown economic development

The allocations include $2 million for the City of Ithaca for downtown economic development.

Ithaca will use this money to “address the remaining gap” in its ongoing urban-renewal and downtown-development project to establish a conference center. It’ll be a component of the larger redevelopment effort occurring with the Green Street parking garage in downtown Ithaca to add hundreds of units of affordable housing.

“On behalf of the Downtown Ithaca Local Development Corporation (LDC), as well as the Tompkins Chamber and Visit Ithaca, I would like to express our gratitude to [Senators] Schumer and Gillibrand for their advocacy on behalf of the Downtown Ithaca conference center project,” Tavares said. “This critical funding award will support not only closing our remaining funding gap but help ensure that Ithaca has a state-of-the-art demand generator to support the continued recovery of downtown Ithaca and our regional tourism economy.”

Energy projects

The approved budget also provides $1 million for the City of Ithaca to develop a microgrid and allow for the integration of biomass-gasification systems, “further decarbonizing” the city and surrounding areas, and “increasing the resiliency and sustainability” of Ithaca’s energy, the lawmakers said.

Currently, the Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Plant (IAWWTP) relies on low-carbon electricity generating equipment powered by gas produced with sewage and food waste, and combined heat and power (CHP) to supplement electricity.

The project would expand and integrate the existing distributed energy resources over a microgrid, to serve not only the IAWWTP, but also the Ithaca High School and the City of Ithaca Department of Public Works streets and facilities.

The microgrid would integrate clean-energy resources including biogas-powered CHP, solar, energy storage and biogas-gasification systems for biochar and hydrogen production, per Schumer’s office.

South Albany Street bridge

Besides downtown development and the energy project, the funding also includes $1.4 million to replace the South Albany Street bridge over Six Mile Creek. The money would support replacing the “deteriorated” South Albany Street bridge; make critical Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) upgrades; and link the primarily residential area south of the bridge to the communities, businesses, and neighborhoods north of the bridge, the senators said.