BY CRAIG FREILICH
North Country This Week

POTSDAM – Citizens attended a second open house by the Downtown Revitalization Initiative program Tuesday to consider a pared down list of project proposals and indicate which ones they were most interested in and were not in favor of, and those they would like to see more information on.

A list of 47 projects has become 11 projects that have made it to a “preliminary projects” list of projects that are so far preferred, and 12 on a list of conditional “additional projects for consideration.” People attending the open house were asked to cast their opinions on projects from those two lists.

Those on the “preliminary” list include five village projects, the North Country Children’s Museum expansion plan, the Potsdam Food Co-op relocation plan, the Scoops ice cream building plan at 22 Main St., the exterior renovation of the Roxy Theater, improvements at the McDuff’s building at 59 Market St., and upgrades to the Clarkson Inn.

Projects where the DRI Local Planning Committee (LPC) of local people, outside consultants and state representatives would like to see more information before further consideration include proposals for four of Clarkson’s old downtown buildings including the apartments plan at Snell Hall, a North Country Arts Center on Raymond Street, the Fall Island Skate Park, the Market Square Mall improvement plan, and three more Market Street building improvement plans.

Several projects submitted by Larry Hazen of Trezza Realty for funds for an assortment of building improvements were consolidated into one of the conditional projects, for sandstone facade and masonry improvements at five historic buildings in the Market Street Historic District.

They include the Arlington Inn at 4 Market St., Lee’s Hawaiian Grill at 3 Market, 17 Market where the Isle of You is, the Maxfields building at 5/7 Market, and the Cactus Grill at 11 Raymond St., but not his proposals for 25, 29, 15 and 4 Market St., nor Mama Lucia’s at 1 Constitution St.

The LPC will meet later this month for further consideration of which plans will get a share of the $10 million in state grants, those which might be better served by other funding sources, and those which might not meet the DRI goals but still might be worthy of funding from other sources.

As the process goes on, the committee has been asked to come up with a list of projects to get between $12 and $16 million, since some if them will drop out or be excluded, or might find other funding, leaving the rest to share what remains of the $10 million in state grants after some fees and operating expenses are met.

This month the LPC will draft what is called the DRI Strategic Investment Plan for doling out the grants, and finalize a statement of strategies to apply to the work.

In April, the committee will draw up its recommendations and finalize its Strategic Investment Plan. A third and final open house will be held in April on a date that has not yet been set.

In May, all documents get a final edit.

In time, the governor will have the honor to announce the funded applicants.

Several caveats continue to apply at this point. Not all of those on the preferred list are guaranteed to survive, and not all of those on the conditional list will go through after more information on them is gathered. The proposals that are accepted might not get all the DRI funding they asked for.

There is much more information on the process at PotsdamDRI.com.