Square project funding sought

Watertown officials once again will look to Albany to help lower the cost of a project the City Council has said is necessary to revitalize downtown.

The council agreed earlier this week to apply for $445,000 from the Upstate Regional Blueprint Fund to help reconstruct the J.B. Wise parking lot.

The city plans to rebuild the lot between Public Square and Black River Parkway. The estimated $2.2 million project is expected to unlock about 270 parking spaces that city officials have said are difficult for downtown patrons to gain access to. The project includes construction of a pavilion with restrooms and upgrading of underground infrastructure.

"This will really take a bite out of the cost for the utility work," city Planner Christine E. Hoffman said. "We should know fairly soon if we've gotten the award."

The project had been pushed back to the 2010-11 budget because the city lacks the local share, which will vary from $1 million to $1.4 million depending upon the amount of grant funding the city can secure. A final cost of the project cannot be calculated until the city receives bids from contractors.

Meanwhile, Mayor Jeffrey E. Graham said he has become stir-crazy waiting for the project to come to fruition.

"The fact that ... essentially there is no entrance into J.B. Wise lot that is either convenient or recognizable for most people, particularly newcomers ... that's unfortunate," he said at the June 1 meeting.

The mayor said he is irritated that the entrance road to the lot from Public Square cannot be built this summer.

"What disappoints me is the entrance road — of which there are curb cuts near the Woodruff building — which would allow entrance into the J.B. Wise lot," he said. "I consider that to be very important aspect of it, and it's being held up another year because of this parking issue."

This is the second grant the city has solicited for the project. The state already has awarded the city about $814,000 from the Environmental Protection Fund's Local Waterfront Revitalization Program to rebuild the lot.

The application is due later this month and the awards are scheduled to be announced Aug. 17.