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| May 05, 2024 |
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General News: New Look in the Works for Food Bank
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| Food Bank works in the rear of building |
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| Sketch of the proposed changes |
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| The Food Bank building stretches down the block |
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| The front doors are not used |
January 18, 2007
The village’s Local Development Corporation is laying plans to change the façade of the Hudson Valley Food Bank building on Hudson Street. The large building, a former light factory, has a brick façade and the LDC wants to “bring it more in line with the general aesthetics of the Village,” according to a statement from the not-for-profit corporation.
Last week, LDC president Deke Hazirjian told the mayor and village trustees that the LDC is expecting to get $7,000 of seed money from the Orange County Business Development Authority. The money would be used to conduct a feasibility study of the project.
Hazirjian told the village trustees that the Food Bank had agreed in concept to renovate the building but that “they don’t have the money to repair it.” The front half of the building is currently not in use, with operations run out of the rear of the building where there is a loading dock and a large parking area.
According to the LDC statement, one option being considered is to lease some of the unused office space to create rental income to finance the renovation of the façade. A sketch of proposed changes shows shops and office space facing Hudson Street, along with new outdoor lighting.
After renovation costs are fully amortized, the LDC reports, incremental rental income could provide another source of funds to support the Food Bank’s work in the region. The LDC says it’s approach is to develop a plan that can be fully self-funding and does not anticipate that the project will require any financial support from the village.
When the LDC plan was first introduced at the village board work session on January 8, Joseph Gross, who is running for mayor in the March 2007 election, criticized the attention being put on the façade when, he alleged, there was possible contamination on the site from when it was a light factory. When asked if he had any data to back up his charge, Gross said that it wasn’t his responsibility to do so, but that local government should investigate and that “public health and safety is number one.”
Hazirjian says that he raised this issue with the Food Bank director who assured him that the soil had been tested when the organization purchased the building and no contaminants were found.
In addition to the Food Bank project, the LDC is also working with village trustees to study how to increase public parking in the village business district.
The LDC is composed of business and property owners within the village. Board members are Deke Hazirjian, Ray Iannnone, Eugene Randazzo, Kathy Krum, Peter Buttigliari, Gail Fedigan and Douglas Land.
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