Freeporters Respond to Critical Need for Blood
Once again village employees and resi-dents
answered the recent request for blood
during the month of January by donating
over 70 pints of blood to the New York Blood
Center. The annual blood drive held at the
Freeport Fire Department Headquarters
brought out more than 94 volunteers despite
the inclement weather on Friday, January 5,
2001.
Individuals who were unable to donate
blood at that time and were listed as post-poned
may contact the New York Blood
Center directly at 631-927-5000 to schedule a
new donation date. As always, the center has
asked for donors of all types of blood, but
reports that there is a particularly dire need
for individuals who have type 0 blood.
Village Water Department employee Daniel Lehane is served cookies and juice after donating blood by volunteer Freeport resident Alice Stoehrer.
READING IS FUNDAMENTAL, ESPECIALLY IN FREEPORT
Mayor Bill Glacken, Deputy
Mayor Renaire Frierson and
Trustee Don Miller all took part in
the special reading program at
the Archer Street school over the
holidays. The program, under the
direction of reading specialists,
Merily Masin and Carol
Varsalona, was held in the fes-tively
decorated Holiday House
at Archer Street. The youngsters
were delighted with the tales
read to them and wrote thank
you notes to Mayor Glacken,
Deputy Mayor Frierson and
Trustee Miller.
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to youngsters.
Deputy Mayor Renaire Frierson reading to children at the
Archer St. reading program.
Trustee Don Miller surrounded by the youngsters who enjoyed hearing the story of 'Auntie Onus"
the true meaning of the holiday spirit.
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www.FreeportNY.com THE HOME OF CHAMPIONS
Freeporfs Downtown Revitalization Plan Moves
Forward with 'Main Street Mews' Project
Mayor Bill Glacken and the Board of
Trustees have approved the Main Street
Mews project, which will be built by Time
Equities Corp. on the west side of South
Main Street in the heart of Freeport's Central
a restaurant/retail use on the ground floor
and professional offices and artists' live/work
space on the second ami " third floors. We
believe that it will serve as the catalyst for
the revitalization of our entire downtown,"
third floors. Each of the 16 lofts will contain
approximately 1,050 square-feet with a mez-zanine
loft and 16-foot high ceilings, featur-ing
large windows providing natural light.
Time Equities will include in the construction
Business District.
"This $3 million project represents the
first new construction in downtown Freeport
in nearly fifty years," explained Mayor
Glacken. "The plan calls for the construction
of a state of the art three-story building with
he added.
Time Equities, Inc., the New York City-based
developer, will build the 24,000
square-foot structure with 6,000 square feet
of ground floor retail space and 18,000
square feet of artists' lofts on the second and
project the expansion of the adjoining
municipal parking lot and a landscaped
pedestrian walkway providing access to the
parking spaces. Main Street Mews will be
located close to Freeport's transportation
(continued on page 3)
The r.evitalizatip.n of.a cpmmj^nityX.
business district is traditionally a com-plex
project that calls for vision,
patience and planning. In Freeport's
case, our downtown commercial cen-ter
had been allowed to deteriorate
over several decades. Returning it to a
healthy economic condition requires
time, money and foresight. Often
when faced with such a daunting pro-ject,
planners are inclined to bulldoze
the deteriorating structures and
rebuild from the bottom up. This may
seem like the most expedient solution
to rehabilitating a central business dis-trict,
but it is not always the best
method.
When the Glacken Administration
considered the needs of Freeport's
«CentraLBusiness. District,.JLutiljzed the
same principles that made the revital-ization
of Woodcleft Avenue such a
success. We were able to renovate and
improve the 'Nautical Mile' by consid-ering
several factors, including the
needs of the local business owners.
Many of the restaurants, fish markets
and boat showrooms preferred to
remain open during construction. In
addition, we placed a strong emphasis
on maintaining the structures that
were viable, and which provided archi-tectural
character and charm to our
working waterfront. We gave careful
consideration to the overall aesthetics
of the project by incorporating a clas-sic
Main Street look with 1920's style
lighting, flower planters, benches and
trash receptacles. While these require-ments
made the project slightly more
complicated and time consuming, the
ultimate benefits were well worth the
extra effort.
Recently, the Village celebrated
the completion of the first phase of
the Glacken Administration's Central
Business District facade improvement
program. This project provided new
windows, doors, storefronts and
signage to eleven commercial proper-ties
along Merrick Road and Church
Street in the heart of our Central
Business District. We also announced
Jhe_beginning_qf the next phase^qf the
program, which will incorporate the
rehabilitation and revitalization of
two properties on Guy Lombardo Ave.
To date, over 50 owners of commercial
properties in the village's business dis-trict
have expressed an interest in par-ticipating
in the facade improvement
program.
In addition, we have accepted a
proposal for a $3 million construction
project which will be located in the
heart of our business district. The Main
Street Mews, with restaurant and
retail space, as well as lofts specifically
desiqnedjor artists' live/work enyirpn-ment,
is expected to attract new busi-nesses
and consumers. Current plans
for the area also include a four to six
screen movie theatre, artists' galleries,
as well as book and music stores.
The revitalization of our Central
Business District is an important
project that requires time and
patience. Once it is completed, as with
the Woodcleft Avenue revitalization
project, it will bring a new generation
of residents, shoppers and visitors
to our village.
Annual Holiday Event for Youngsters fills Freeport Recreation Center
Chamber of Commerce President Wes Carmen, Freeport Trustee Bill White, Jr., Superintendent
of Electric Utilities, Hub Bianco, Freeport Judge V. Roy Cacciatare, Mayor Bill Glacken and
Chamber of Commerce first V.P. John Nuzzi, surrounded by local children.
The lighting of the Holiday
Tree, along with the official presen-tation
of the Kwanzaa display,
Chanukah lights and a Creche, took
place at Century Square this holi-day
season. Members of the
Freeport Chamber of Commerce
joined village officials Mayor Bill
Glacken, Trustees. Don Miller, Bill
White, Jr., and Don Mauersberger
at tine event, and then headed for
the Freeport Recreation Center for
the arrival of Santa Claus.
The Recreation Center was
transformed into a holiday won-derland
again this year, with
Santa's workshop, holiday trees
decorated in a wide variety of
themes, a holiday show on ice,
along with musical entertainment.
Freeport youngsters, as well as chil-dren
from neighboring communi-ties,
enjoyed the performances
while waiting to give Santa their
wish lists.
FIRST PHASE OF CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
FACADE IMPROVEMENT COMPLETED
Next Group of Local Businesses Prepare for Facelift
Freeport residents
and visitors shopping
along Merrick Road and
Church Street during the
holiday season were
impressed with the
remarkable difference
created by the first
phase of the Village's
facade improvement
program. "We were able
to create the transfor-mation
of this corner in
our Central Business
District with the help of
federal funds available
from the Community
Development Block
Grant (CDBG) Program
which matched the con-struction
dollars provid-ed
by each property owner," said Mayor Bill
Glacken.
The project was funded through
a unique grant/loan program. The
Freeport Community Development Agency
provided 50% of the cost of the
construction through grants to each
property .owner. The remaining 50% of
On hand at the official completion of the Church Street and Merrick Road Facade Improvement Project were
Freeport Judge V. Roy Cacciatore; New York State Assemblywoman Kathleen Murray; Wilbur Klatsky, CDC of LI; Ellen Kelly, Director of
Freeport's CDA; Freeport Trustees Don Mauersberger, Bill White, Jr., Mayor Bill Glacken, and Michelle Di Benedetto of Citibank.
each facade improvement was available
through a special loan program provided
by the Community Development Corporation
of Long Island using funds from Citibank from
its Citigroup Center for Community
Development Enterprise. Under the program,
owners can finance their share of the cost
either through CDC and Citigroup, or through
their own banks, or out of their
own pockets.
The next phase of the
Central Business District rehabilita-tion
project will include renova-tions
to the properties located at
31 and 33 Guy Lombardo Avenue.
The plans call for the revitalization
of the frontage on Guy Lombardo
Avenue, providing a professional
facade with a cornice, windows,
and lighting along with other
finishes which will complement
and continue the original design
of the building. "The property
owners of these buildings are
planning to upgrade and improve
the interiors of both spaces.
Ultimately, we expect these build-ings
to house both Operation
Pride and professional offices,"
added Mayor Glacken.
"With the implementation of the second
phase of this project, we are moving closer to
the complete revitalization of Freeport's
Commercial Business District and attracting
new businesses and consumers .to our
Village," the Mayor concluded.
(continued from page 1)
hub, which includes the Long Island Railroad
station, the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority bus depot,
as well as access to all
major parkways.
This Village-spon-sored
project was one
of five winning plans
in a statewide compe-tition.
An award of
$220,000 by the
Empire State
D e v e l o p m e n t
Corporation, under its
D o w n t o w n
Development Initiative
Grant (DDIG) program,
will assist in covering
the cost of the project.
"Freeport is the only
community on Long
Island to receive this
type of grant for a
revitalization pro-gram,"
explained the Mayor. He added,
"Empire State Development has publicly rec-ognized
and assisted outstanding projects
which serve as models for downtown revital-ization
throughout New York State. This is
one of them."
