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$5.6 million to fund turning Snell Hall into multi-use complex with 59 apartments

Posted 5/20/19

POTSDAM -- A $5.6 million grant will help transform Snell Hall into a mixed-use complex with 59 apartments. The $5.6 million for Potsdam to fund the transformation of Snell Hall, an underused …

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$5.6 million to fund turning Snell Hall into multi-use complex with 59 apartments

Posted

POTSDAM -- A $5.6 million grant will help transform Snell Hall into a mixed-use complex with 59 apartments.

The $5.6 million for Potsdam to fund the transformation of Snell Hall, an underused downtown Clarkson University building, into a mixed-use complex with 59 apartments affordable to households with incomes below 60 percent of the area median income, a hub for the arts, housing the St. Lawrence Arts Council and a community theater, as well as the Shipley Center for Innovation, a business incubator.

Missouri-based The Vecino Group was confident the funding application had a better chance of approval after incorporating “good feedback” on the shortcomings of an unsuccessful application a year ago.

The St. Lawrence County Arts Council (SLC Arts) will be provided space to continue their use of a part of the building, and the university’s Shipley Center for Innovation will have some downtown space there, according to the current plan.

SLC Arts is projected to have approximately 7,000 square feet including offices, a gallery, and studios. The Shipley Center will have approximately 1,800 square feet of dedicated space in the current plan.

The theater in the former Clarkson University classroom building will be renovated for use by the village, the university’s theater group and others, and for public meetings and events.

The Vecino plan includes installation of new mechanical and electrical equipment in Old Snell Hall.

North Country Sen. Joseph Griffo was pleased that Snell Hall will get rehabilitated. Other attempts to rehab the building in recent years fell through.

"I am pleased to see that Clarkson University's Snell Hall will feature a mixture of affordable housing, a business incubator and creative and community spaces for artists and others in the region. This project will help Clarkson University to continue its outstanding reputation and will grow and strengthen the Potsdam community and the North Country," he said.

The funding is part of $175.4 million the state is awarding to build or preserve more than 2,185 affordable apartments and revitalize communities across New York's 10 economic development regions.

"These critical investments will strengthen communities in every corner of the state by creating and preserving affordable homes for families, veterans, seniors and some of our most vulnerable neighbors," Governor Cuomo said. "By strategically revitalizing neighborhoods throughout New York, we can breathe new life into these communities, making them more vibrant places to live for generations to come."