Batavia Downtown Revitalization Initiative

This last week of May was capped off with bountiful news for property owner Ken Mistler and downtown Batavia as a whole with the announcement that the Carr’s Reborn project on Main Street was granted $1.85 million in Downtown Revitalization funding.

While recently discussing Mistler’s other major renovation in progress at the former Showtime movie theater in City Centre, The Batavian asked him about the Carr’s project, which has been on hold for several months.

He said that would move forward as soon as he gets word about funding.

Mistler was unavailable for further comments Monday afternoon.

Carr’s Reborn has involved several key players in the community, including a committee of folks serving on the Downtown Revitalization Initiative effort, city and county leaders, engineers, the property owner, residents and business owners, all of whom have been anxiously awaiting to see development in the former Carr’s department store for at least the last five years.

Consultant David Ciurzynski previously described the site’s future: renovating the upper two floors for apartments, installing arched windows in the front overlooking Main Street, preparing the lower levels for commercial space by removing asbestos and making them more enticing for prospective businesses to invest in the site.

Ciurzynski also included a vision for the project, aptly titled Carr's Reborn.

“We can restore the former landmark to its former glory,” he said during the DRI Committee’s Sept. 13 meeting.

The project received approval from both the Downtown Revitalization Initiative Committee and City Council in September 2022. No one had spoken during a related public hearing about council's application to pursue a $2 million grant.

Cities with a population of less than 40,000 can apply for up to $2 million, and it is available for projects to “demolish/deconstruct and/or rehabilitate/reconstruct vacant, abandoned, surplus and/or condemned residential, commercial and/or mixed-use buildings.” 

With no opposition to the move, City Council voted to submit an application for the sixth round of the Restore NY Communities Initiative Municipal Grant Program.

The former Carr’s site is expected to accommodate several upper-floor apartments and business/office use on the ground floor.

The project would take $1.85 million in Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant funding and $4 million from property owner Ken Mistler. Possible uses for the main floor have not been determined, and it’s about “what does downtown Batavia need?” Ciurzynski had said during the committee’s Sept. 13 meeting.

Committee members who approved the project and pursued the DRI grant included City Council President Eugene Jankowski, Steve Hyde, Dr. James Sunser,  Craig Yunker, Tammy Hathaway,  Erik Fix, Tom Turnbull, Susie Ott, Paul Battaglia, Marty Macdonald and Nathan Varland.

On Monday,  state Gov. Kathy Hochul announced more than $112.9 million has been awarded to 70 projects through the Restore New York Communities Initiative. Restore New York supports municipal revitalization efforts across the state, helping to remove blight, reinvigorate downtowns and generate economic opportunity in communities statewide, according to a press release issued from the governor’s office.

The program, administered by Empire State Development, is designed to help local governments revitalize their communities and encourage commercial investment, improve the local housing stock, put properties back on the tax rolls and increase the local tax base, the release states.

"These Restore New York grants will help to reimagine downtowns across our state and transform vacant, blighted and underutilized buildings into vibrant community anchors," Hochul said in the release. "Thanks to a more than $146 million state investment, we are breathing new life into communities from Hudson to North Hempstead, jumpstarting new economic activity and helping ensure that New York State continues to be a place where people come to live, work and raise their families."

Carr's Reborn was the only project in Genesee County to receive funding from this round. 

An outdoor project that’s taken quite some time in the creation mode seems to be coming along now, city officials say, teased by warmer weather and sunnier days.

City Manager Rachael Tabelski recently reported to City Council about “a really positive meeting on Jackson Square.”

“The redesign is going extremely well,” she said, adding that by working with Architecture Unlimited and an engineer who works with them have been creatively frugal in the design phase. “We hope when we go out to bid we can create substantial cost savings for the project. One of the items was the original project had footers in the stage, and by just placing concrete blocks instead of these footers is going to save us upwards of $150,000 on the project.”

Architect Kenneth Pearl said the Jackson Square stage was a type of pre-engineered wood (photo above) in a rather eloquent description, she said.

“So it'll be a very nice finish that will hold up the roof, and will be very similar to what we use on our buildings, on a rubber roof with kind of tongue and groove panels above it, and that will hopefully have a 20-year warranty,” she said.

A handicap ramp will be removable, so that it won't be built directly into the structure, will be something that can be “absolutely safe to roll up gear and or persons that need to use that ramp,” she said, and will also be removable so that it won’t jut out into the audience.

Another cost savings measure is to analyze the brickwork that is there, and some of the concrete larger slabs which architects have discussed, they are going to try to remove and salvage them in lieu of a concrete base so they don't sink again, Tabelski said.

“Because what happened before is they were just placed there and they sink like they might in a residential project. And with reusing those, we should save another significant amount of money. We want to look at different concrete dye colors to add just a little bit of textual and color elements to the flooring,” she said. “But overall, Jackson Square is really the paintings on the buildings, there's not much that needs to be done there. The catenary lighting, which is the lighting that goes above will still be part of the project.”

There will be LED performance lighting on the stage with color changes per holidays and special events. For example, Fourth of July would feature red, white and blue lights. Cobra heads will also be used, which are outdoor fixtures mounted to poles and mainly used for street and roadway lighting but can be used for other general area lighting.

“We’d have control over that. We also have one or two Cobra heads, (DPW Director Brett Frank) hooked me up to that,” she said. “As soon as we take possession in the phase two LED light changeover from National Grid, we'll be able to put dimmers and timers on that so we can turn those Cobra heads off during performances.”

The Jackson Square project has been at least three years in the making, reaching a point of requesting bids and City Council approving one in June 2022. But Mark Cerrone Inc., after receiving word that the company’s bid of $654,000 was selected, backpedaled with last-minute revisions and add-ons, hiking the bid up to $847,950.

Council then rescinded its approval and rejected that and two other bids for the project. The design went back for what Tabelski called a “deep dive” into potential cost-cutting revisions since it had to go back for a whole new bid process anyway.

The project is to be primarily funded with a $750,000 Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant, plus $225,000 from National Grid, Tabelski said.

“When we go out for bid, they look at the scope of work, and they put a price to that with the materials and the labor … so it necessarily doesn't always line up with the budget we have,” she said at that time to The Batavian. “So we will be re-examining our bid specifications to make sure we think that pricing can come in within that.”

She was hopeful that a contractor with an acceptable bid could be approved for construction to possibly begin in 2022.

Well, that hope has come and gone, and city officials are hanging onto the expertise of Pearl and his architectural firm.

“So we’re really, really happy of the work that Ken and his firm has been able to do to bring this project into where the DRI Committee asked it to be and to be able to bid it out in what we think will be on budget,” Tabelski said. “So the hope is if everything goes well, which I absolutely hope it does, you'll see bid awards in July.”

The plan is for the Business Improvement District to host the Thursday and Friday night concerts in Jackson Square series throughout the summer, and begin construction at the end of August, she said.

Photo of a similar Jackson Square stage image, with pre-engineered wood ceiling and LED lights, courtesy of City of Batavia. 

The Carr’s Reborn project for the former C.L. Carr Department Store on Main Street has met another goal to get the project moving.

Approved by the Downtown Revitalization Initiative Committee earlier this month, the project received City Council’s blessing Monday to be part of a Restore NY grant application for $2 million.

No one spoke during a public hearing about the application, and City Council later voted to pursue the grant. Cities with a population less than 40,000 can apply or up to $2 million, and it is available for projects to “demolish/deconstruct and/or rehabilitate/reconstruct vacant, abandoned, surplus and/ore condemned residential, commercial and/or mixed-use buildings.”

The former Carr’s site is expected to accommodate several upper floor apartments and business/office use on the ground floor.

Consultant David Ciurzynski previously described the site’s future: renovating the upper two floors for apartments, installing arched windows in the front overlooking Main Street, preparing the lower levels for commercial space by removing asbestos and making them more enticing for prospective businesses to invest in the site.

Ciurzynski also included a vision for the project, aptly titled Carr's Reborn.

“We can restore the former landmark to its former glory,” he said during the DRI Committee’s Sept. 13 meeting.

The project would take $1 million in Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant funding and $4 million from property owner Ken Mistler. Possible uses for the main floor have not been determined, and it’s about “what does downtown Batavia need?” Ciurzynski had said.

During the prior meeting, DRI Committee members approved a motion to move the project forward. They were: City Council President Eugene Jankowski, Steve Hyde, Dr. James Sunser,  Craig Yunker, Tammy Hathaway,  Erik Fix, Tom Turnbull, Susie Ott, Paul Battaglia, Marty Macdonald and Nathan Varland.

After Monday’s conference session, City Council voted to submit an application for this sixth round of the Restore NY Communities Initiative Municipal Grant Program.

File Photo of the former C.L. Carr Department Store on Main Street in downtown, Batavia. 

Press release:

The Batavia Development Corp. is pleased to announce a New York Street Anchor Grant for $417,000 for the Batavia Players Inc. Main Street Theater 56 project.

The Batavia Development Corporation and Batavia Players Inc. were successful in being awarded a New York Main Street Anchor Grant through the Housing Trust Fund Corporation and the Office of Community Renewal to assist the Main Street 56 Theater project.

Batavia Players, a not-for-profit organization for more than 80 years is the longest continuing regional theater company in New York State. The mission of the Batavia Players Inc. is to bring affordable theater to the community by making theater accessible to everyone with a variety o fquality productions that enhance artistic growth of participants and encourage audiences to think, feel and develop an appreciation for theater.

“The new Main Street 56 Theater project and our Board of Directors are humbled and very appreciative of this grant," said Patrick Burk, president and executive director of the Batavia Players. "We have all been heartened by the continued support for this project, which will genuinely affect our downtown community and the City Centre property in such a positive manner.

"This will allow us to build a beautiful, state of the art facility in our city as well as continue to bring many visitors and theater patrons to see our performances and support other downtown businesses. We could not be more excited with this new development. Our project has been blessed by the support of a lot of people who genuinely care and have been with us from the start. I would like to thank City Manager Rachael Tabelski, the City of Batavia, the Batavia Development Corporation and all of our partners for their ongoing dedication to our project." 

The Main Street 56 Theater and the Main Street 56 Dance Company will occupy a vacant and underutilized space in the City Centre. The City of Batavia and the Batavia Players will rehabilitate approximately 14,000 square feet of tiered space into the state-of-the-art performing arts center, educational facilities, dance, and set development with a Main Street entrance at 35 Batavia City Centre.

This project will leverage grant funding from the Downtown Revitalization Initiative Grant program and the New York Main Street Anchor Grant program.  

“The BDC has proven successful in obtaining grant funds to continue to revitalize the City’s commercial hub," said Eugene Jankowski Jr. City of Batavia Council president. "Delivering the Main Street Anchor Grant for the Main Street 56 Theater project is another example of City and BDC working together to deliver on the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) goals of arts and culture for the City."

In alignment with the Batavia Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) Investment Strategy the Batavia Players will foster and promote more arts, culture, entertainment, healthy living, wellness and prosperity. Filling vacant and underutilized structures has been a common goal across many of Batavia’s planning efforts as identified by the Brownfield Opportunity Area and The City’s Comprehensive Plan. 

“There are many catalytic and complimentary projects happening in our Downtown and this is one of the many," said Andrew Maguire, director of Economic Development for the Batavia Development Corporation. "Projects like Main Street 56 Theater will create more vibrancy, help increase commerce overall, and will deliver a better quality of life.

"We are thankful to New York State, the Office of Community Renewal and Homes and Community Renewal, along with all the other New York State agencies that continue to invest in the revitalization of Batavia.” 

The Batavia Development Corporation excited to be awarded this New York Main Street Grant," said Lori Aratari, president of the Board of Directors for the Batavia Development Corporation. "The New York Main Street Grant program is very competitive and the Batavia Development Corporation continues to be successful in identifying and executing grant opportunities that help projects, like the Batavia Player’s, for the betterment of our community."

The Batavia Players Inc. and Main Street 56 Theater consists of a dedicated group of professionals and community members whom have brought theater and the performing arts to our community. They are unique in New York State with their ambitious schedule of performances while maintaining a high level of quality and diverse productions.

For more information regarding the Batavia Players Inc., Main Street 56 Theater, and Main Street 56 Dance Studio, please visit www.bataviaplayers.org.