CFA Grant Awards Announced

The 2021 CFA grant awards, in Round XI of the Regional Economic Development Council Initiative, were announced today. Ten projects in Columbia County won more than $6.3 million in grant funding. Here are the winners:

• Ancram Opera House Theater Project--$255,675 to renovate a vacant building into mixed use artist housing and office space for the theater
• City of Hudson--$67,500 to develop a Smart Growth Plan that will include housing opportunities, walkability, economic opportunity, climate change and resiliency, and energy efficiency.
• Columbia County Historical Society--$75,500  to address issues of moisture mitigation caused by the 1967 pond added to decorate the front lawn at the Luykas Van Alen House. The project will drain the pond and return the front lawn to its original natural environment, address restoration of the front stoop, and stabilize the house's south gable.
• Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society--$500,000 to protect the building in anticipation of further restoration work, increase visitor safety and access, and restore the historic water system to enhance interpretative tours.
• Hudson Hall--$129,600 for the Hudson Jazz Festival, a destination festival designed to support the next generation of jazz artists and benefit local businesses, jazz artists, and audiences through positioning Hudson as a world-class tourist destination.
• Philmont Beautification, Inc.--$20,000 for a feasibility analysis and re-use options for properties in the Village of Philmont's downtown.
• South Front Street Holdings LLC--$601,234 for the Red Barn Hudson Carbon Neutral Project, to seal the thermal envelop and install energy efficient, all-elective systems and equipment for heating, cooling, hot water, and ventilation, using all energy from solar arrays.
• The Olana Partnership, Inc.--$1,868,776 from NYSERDA and $1,400,000 from Empire State Development Market New York for a sustainably designed, carbon neutral visitor center for the Olana State Historic Site.
• Galvan Initiatives Foundation--$900,000 in a grant from Empire State Development and $602,629 from Empire State Development Market New York to restore the former Hudson Community Theatre.

For more information about this year's CFA awards, click here.