ROME, N.Y. — The City of Rome will use a $1.5 million state grant to demolish the former Woodhaven housing complex and to market the Woodhaven and former Wright Park Estates sites.
The funding comes from the state’s economic-transformation fund to assist communities affected by the closing of a state prison, New York State Senator Joseph Griffo (R–Rome) and State Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi (D–Utica) said in a joint news release. New York State closed the Oneida Correctional Facility in 2011.
Rome will use the money to demolish existing abandoned houses in the former Woodhaven development. It also plans to allocate some of the funding toward the redevelopment of the Woodhaven site, and the former Wright Park Manor housing development for new housing and potential light-retail projects.
This funding will eliminate some “very significant eyesores” near the Griffiss Business and Technology Park and will make a large site available to the City of Rome for marketing, Brindisi said in the release.
“Both the former Woodhaven complex and the Wright Park Manor site are prime areas for development. With the area’s economic rebound, these will be attractive locations for new housing that will bring more people to the Rome area, and we thank Governor Cuomo for realizing the importance of this project” said Brindisi.
The former Woodhaven housing complex served as housing for the former Griffiss Air Force Base.
The redevelopment of the Woodhaven housing complex is an “essential step in the continued revitalization” of the city of Rome, Kenneth Tompkins, Mohawk Valley region director, Empire State Development (ESD), said in the lawmakers’ release.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com