County Secures $1.7M To Bring Color to Artspace Project in Patchogue
By Hank Russell
Patchogue-Medford News
In giving a boost to the Village of Patchogue’s renovation plans, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy has announced on December 17 that he has provided $1.7 million to help the village in its Artspace project, which will provide 45 affordable housing units, workspace for artist, and retail space.
The renovation project entails the Terry Road corridor from South Ocean Avenue to Rider Avenue, according to Village Mayor Paul Pontieri. “One of the problems we have in the village is being able to provide affordable housing in the village,” he said. “This [program] will provide affordable housing and [the village] will become a destination by bringing in artists here.” He said affordable housing is the only way to “keeping our young kids here on Long Island.”
This is one of Suffolk’s six workforce housing infrastructure improvement projects as part of the county’s $4.5 million program to improve roads, drainage and sewer systems and other improvements as well.
“One of the ways government can help make new homes affordable is to work with developers on providing some of the necessary improvements,” said Levy in a statement. “This type of incentive helps keep the overall cost down, which is passed on to new homeowners and residents of the workforce units.”
Out of the 45 units, 34 will be eligible for those whose income is 60-80% below the average median income, and the other eleven will be for those who are 60% below the average median income, according to Pontieri. He also said that, in order to qualify, all applicants must present a portfolio of their work.
The goal of the Artspace project is two-fold: to bring affordable housing into the village, while bringing a certain artistic aesthetic to Patchogue — much of what is in line with what Artspace, a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based coalition, is trying to accomplish, bases on its mission statement.
According to Artspace’s website (www.artspace.org), the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based organization’s goal is to “create, foster, and preserve affordable space for artists and arts organizations. We pursue this mission through development projects, asset management activities, consulting services, and community-building activities that serve artists and arts organizations of all disciplines, cultures, and economic circumstances. By creating this space, Artspace supports the continued professional growth of artists and enhances the cultural and economic vitality of the surrounding community.”
The funding for the Artspace projects comes from various sources, said Shawn Patrick McLearen, Artspace’s project manager and director of international consulting. According to information from the Artspace website, it is a $16 million project.
“It is my opinion that as we work with this forward-thinking leadership to identify and address the space needs of the local creative sector, we are partnering to bring the Artspace model of mixed-use facilities to the Village of Patchogue and, by extension, taking practical steps toward shared goals of providing Long Island with new models of affordable housing, sustainable cultural infrastructure, and an increasingly entrepreneurial creative sector,” McLearen said.
The project is expected to begin between “late spring and early summer,” Pontieri said. “We completed all the site plan reviews. All the applications are in place.”
Pontieri said he is anticipating a $100,000 grant from New York State that has already been earmarked. However, with Governor David Paterson announcing there is a budget crisis and the state’s financial issues need to be resolved now, Pontieri was asked if there is a chance the funding might not come through.
“We’ve been told by the state they are ready [to give us the funding],” Pontieri replied. “My sense is that we should be OK with it, but with this economy, you never can tell.”
PHOTOS: Above - This is a rendering of the proposed $16 million Artspace project in Patchogue Village. Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy has announced that $1.7 million will go to help fund the project.
Illustration Courtesy of Artspace
Below - The Terry Road corridor between South Ocean Avenue and Rider Avenue is the site of the Artspace project.
Photo by Hank Russell/Patchogue-Medford News
