Clinton & Kirkland Awarded $10million DRI Grant!
Exciting news for our community! On Thursday New York State Secretary of State Robert Rodriguez announced the awarding of the 2022 $10,000,000 Regional DRI (Downtown Revitalization Initiative) Grant for our region to Clinton & Kirkland in a ceremony held at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Representatives of local government and nonprofits as well as private citizens attended. Clinton Mayor Elizabeth Tantillo and Kirkland Deputy Supervisor Gary Colarusso accepted the award on behalf of the community. Smaller grants were awarded to the Villages of Cooperstown, Sharon Springs and Dolgeville.
This was Clinton & Kirkland’s third application for the grant. The effort has been led by CKIC (Clinton Kirkland Improvement Commission), Waterville Times Publisher Patty Louise and former Clinton Chamber of Commerce Director Jackie Walters. Projects proposed as part of the Clinton & Kirkland application were submitted by the village, the town, Hamilton College, private businesses and nonprofits, including Kirkland Trails, KAC, Kirkland Town Library and others. Not all the proposed projects will receive funding. Now begins a process which includes forming a local committee which will work with the state to identify the most promising projects and move them along to completion. Kirkland Trails’ proposals focus on constructing additional sidewalks in the village and adjacent town, a possible small trailhead park at the corner of Chenango Ave. and College Street and a bridge across Sherman Brook along the route of our planned Chenango Canal Trail.
Here is a link to CKIK’s website where you can find the entire 2022 Clinton & Kirkland DRI Application, which includes all the proposed projects: https://ckic13323.org
Here is a link to a good article in Thursday’s Rome Sentinel about Clinton & Kirkland being awarded the grant: https://romesentinel.com/stories/clinton-kirkland-to-get-10m-for-revitalization,169481
And finally, here is a link to a WKTV story on Clinton & Kirklands’ selection and the awards ceremony: https://www.wktv.com/news/local/kirkland-clinton-cooperstown-receive-state-grant-funding-to-revitalize-downtowns/article_350439e4-b941-11ed-a09c-87caf8530e17.html
