Bonacic: Senate Supports Catskill Center's

State Senator John J. Bonacic (R/I/C - Mt. Hope), today announced that he has secured $50,000 in State aid to help The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development continue its Main Streets initiative in the Catskill and Hudson Valley regions.

Last year, the Senator secured $40,000 for that purpose, along with an additional $50,000 to help the Catskill Center with initiatives relating to the Catskill Park's Centennial Celebration.

"The Catskill Center is doing great work with its Main Streets initiative across our region. I am pleased to have been able to work in support of these funds, which will help initiatives in Ulster, Delaware, and Sullivan Counties," Senator Bonacic said.

Tom Alworth, Executive Director of the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development said, "Helping communities revitalize their downtowns is an important part of what we do to address the "development" half of our mission. Balancing both conservation and development is difficult work, but we are proud of the progress we have made in this areawith the Senator's help."

For the past decade, the Catskill Center's Main Street Program, under the leadership of planner and Assistant Director Helen Budrock, has assisted dozens of communities in Delaware, Greene, Sullivan, and Ulster Counties with Main Street Redevelopment Initiatives.

"Main Street redevelopment can take on many different phases,"Budrock explains, "and we are there to help communities with their downtown plans from beginning to end." "The first step is to help them formulate a vision for where they want to go, then help them get a few tangible projects off the ground and running. This is where the Senator's funding is crucially important - through our Main Street Micro Grant Program, we are able to provide small seed grants to communities for bricks and mortar projects designed to beautify and breathe new life into downtowns.

Recent examples of the Center's work, done with the support of Senator Bonacic, include new facades on four downtown buildings in Delaware County, downtown landscaping in Phoenicia (Ulster County), and several projects in Sullivan County such as boulevard banners in Barryville and Hurleyville, a downtown mural and pocket park in Mountaindale, and a commercial sign replacement program in Rock Hill.

"The Catskill Center is working hard to support sustainable economic development and the revitalization of our downtown areas. I will continue to support these two goals and look forward to working with the Catskill Center to do so," Senator Bonacic said.

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