By DENISE RAYMO
MALONE — The Village of Malone will have its grant application for the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program funding ready before a Sept. 16 deadline.
Trustee Susan Hafter said an artist’s rendering was produced to outline plans for continued improvements at Mill Street Park and neighboring sites that link to a proposed river-corridor trail.
“We have a very preliminary site plan that is available for people to see at future dates, but final details won’t be ready. Then, we’ll have a time for public comment.”
Hafter estimates the proposal could be put before residents by the end of October.
The village had received a $6,750 grant in 2007 from the State Department of State to begin development of a plan to improve the Mills Street shoreline of the Salmon River.
Village Board members matched that with $3,250 and accepted a related $20,000 grant for Phase 2, a feasibility study on riverfront parks.
The village contracted in January with Elan Planning and Design of Saratoga Springs to do the work, which takes eight months to finish.
The grant application will also include funding for a comprehensive watershed study of waterways connected to the Salmon River.
Mills Street Park, just south of the Main Street Bridge, consists of a pedestrian walk and decorative retaining wall, with plenty of available parking.
The overall plan shown in the artist’s rendering is to extend that pedestrian walkway farther south along the river to the former Horton Mill site.
From there, additional recreational destinations could be developed.
A footbridge would link the Mill Street path near the Main Street Bridge with a paved path on the Duane Street side of the river, where a pedestrian overlook and mural would be created.
An existing vacant building on the corner of Main Street and Harrison Place is proposed to be turned into a restaurant with an overlook deck and separate Salmon River Park to the southwest.
Salmon River Park would feature a central, oval walking loop next to the tree-lined river and provide a space for an overlook deck at the water’s edge near an existing wooded embankment to the south.
From Salmon River Park, visitors will use a grand staircase to a pedestrian crossing to reach the Duane Street Park, which would feature an enclosed playground, summer spray pool and Parents Plaza, where families can relax and enjoy the amenities.
“We really want to make it a destination,” Hafter said. “We want to have some reason for people to come to this park, especially those with small children.
“It’s right along Duane Street, which reaches the Rec Park and eventually Titus Mountain.”
E-mail Denise A. Raymo at:
draymoQ@pressrepublican.com
