Binghamton Plaza Revitalization Efforts Move Forward With Project Advisory Committee, Website Launch
Residents Encouraged to Share Their Vision for North Side Site
(BINGHAMTON, N.Y.)—Mayor Jared M. Kraham on Tuesday announced the City's efforts to revitalize the Binghamton Plaza site are moving forward with the first meeting of the Project Advisory Committee and the launch of a new website to collect public input and provide project updates.
Mayor Kraham said: "With the Binghamton Plaza site now under public control, we are closing the chapter on decades of decline and moving toward new opportunities for the North Side. I'm encouraging community members to visit the new project website to sign up for the latest updates, provide their input and help us shape the future of this site."
MKSK Studios, a Rochester-based planning firm, was hired by the City earlier this year to lead a feasibility study and help create the site's redevelopment plan.
As part of that work, MKSK has launched a new website to serve as a central location for project updates and community engagement: engagemksk.mysocialpinpoint.com/binghamton-plaza-plan.
Residents can sign up to receive information about public engagement opportunities and provide their input for the redevelopment plan.
MKSK's work is supported by a $75,000 Empire State Development (ESD) grant the City received last year through the State's Strategic Planning and Feasibility Studies (SPFS) program to advance redevelopment planning at the Binghamton Plaza site.
The Project Advisory Committee, which is tasked with guiding the public engagement process for the Binghamton Plaza redevelopment plan, held its first meeting last week.
In addition to Mayor Kraham, City of Binghamton staff and New York State agencies, including the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Project Advisory Committee consists of:
- Nicholas Corcoran, City of Binghamton Planning Commission Representative
- Lesley Cornwall, Assistant Director, Binghamton Housing Authority
- Stacey Duncan, Executive Director and CEO, The Agency and Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce
- Tony Fiala, Commissioner of Planning and Economic Development, Broome County
- Joshua Greenblatt, Town and Country Redevelopment Representative
- Nate Hotchkiss, Binghamton City Council, 4th District
- Mary Kaminsky, Broome County Legislature, 14th District
- Janet McHenry, Northside Neighborhood Assembly
- Paula Perna, Executive Director, United Way of Broome County
- Kelly Robertson, Chief Operating Officer, Greater Opportunities For Broome And Chenango
- Jennifer Yonkoski, Executive Director, BMTS
The City formally took title to 33 West State Street, the site of the Binghamton Plaza, earlier this month, nearly two years after winning its eminent domain case against the plaza's owners.
Colliers Engineering and Design, of Binghamton, has begun environmental testing, demolition design and related engineering services at the site. Pre-demolition asbestos surveys will be completed in the coming weeks.
The City is continuing to work with existing businesses in the plaza on relocation and next steps ahead of demolition. Popular business New York Pizzeria has identified a new location at 71 Robinson Street in Binghamton.
Several outbuildings on the parcel, including a day care, are not included in demolition plans at this time.
In 2015, plaza owners worked with the DEC to complete cleanup activities at the site, a former municipal landfill, and address contamination through the State's Brownfield Cleanup Program. The City will work closely with Colliers to determine if additional cleanup should be completed to allow for enhanced redevelopment options.
Last year, representatives from the DEC, Department of State and NJIT's Technical Assistance to Brownfields team joined the City to host a public engagement session on the future of the Binghamton Plaza and provide the community with information on the process for redevelopment of formerly contaminated sites.
