Assemblyman Bill Reilich (R,C,I-Greece) today announced that Gov. George Pataki has awarded a $70,000 Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) grant to the village of Spencerport to help officials pay for a new visitor center on the South Side waterfront.
"I applaud the governor for his continued efforts to make these funds available for our community," said Reilich. "This grant will help maintain the beauty of the village of Spencerport."
Village officials plan to use the funds to restore, renovate and relocate the Rochester, Lockport and Buffalo Trolley Depot to serve as a visitor center with public restrooms, showers and laundry facilities for canal travelers. The proposed site is a village-owned parcel adjacent to the Erie Canal on the South Side waterfront. The project is being designed to complement previous development of the area paid for under an earlier EPF award.
According to Reilich, since 1995 Gov. Pataki has invested more than $13 billion to protect and preserve New York’s environment, including a record $150 million in this year’s state budget. That’s a 20 percent increase over last year’s funding amount and represents a six-fold boost over the last decade. Annual funding for environmental programs this year totals more than $1.4 billion.
More than $62 million in EPF grants have been awarded for 576 municipal open space, recreation and historic preservation projects to communities across New York since 1995. More than $3.7 million of that total has been invested in park and preservation projects in Ontario, Orleans, Genesee, Monroe and Wayne counties.