Glens Falls, the only city in Warren County that sits along on the Hudson River, received the most federal funding in the county through the American Rescue Plan Act, signed by President Biden in 2021.
The city received $12 million in ARPA money, roughly $2 million more than the county’s award.
Glens Falls Mayor Bill Collins says the city has been working to make sure the funds are used efficiently as part of a decadelong effort to revitalize the downtown and modernize infrastructure.
“The City of Glens Falls, I believe, has always been perfectly positioned right between Saratoga and Lake George. And, those communities have succeeded for their own reasons for years and years and years. And Glens Falls has always been as successful but never as successful in the tourism market as Lake George has been or in the track and the – and actually Saratoga was able to achieve something that I don’t know many other upstate communities have ever achieved, which is three quarters to a full year-round destination of walking downtown, right? Where shopping has been busy in Saratoga for at least three quarters of the year, maybe not the dead of winter, for a long time. And they’ve been the envy, I think, of many cities,” said Collins.
But Collins says he doesn’t see Glens Falls as competing with Lake George and Saratoga Springs. He says the city has its own qualities that make it stand out.
“I believe that the reason that Glens Falls is the place to be is because over the years Saratoga and Lake George both, their prices have increased as communities evolve and they become more and more attractive. Glens Falls, again, has been nestled right in-between. One other thing that I think toppled Glens Falls over the—right, we’ve always been on this precipice; we’ve been talking about it. But for years you would meet with people, young people, your age, that would come to Glens Falls and say, ‘I’d love to be here, this is a great community! It’s not quite as busy as I’d like.’ This is not as busy as a major city, right? And so, we’ve struggled there.
Having received $10 million from the state Downtown Revitalization Initiative, Collins says the city is performing a balancing act – making sure that federal and state funds are used together toward a common goal.
The largest ARPA investments in Glens Falls are improvements to Dix Avenue, a main thoroughfare, as well as upgrades and repairs to the city’s aging water and sewage treatment plants.
The Glens Falls’ sewage facility received $650,000 to repair some key parts of the treatment process.
Glens Falls Water and Sewage Superintendent William Norton says the ARPA funding has enabled progress on some vital improvements, like much-needed electrical upgrades and recoating two processing tanks: massive concrete holes with slowly rotating arms that separate out the remaining solid material from the sewage waste they’re filled with.
“This is an empty primary tank, so, like I said, these are the flights that we just saw in there. They’re fiberglass, years ago they used to be metal and energy intensive and the metal would rust away after years, but the fiberglass, you know, it wares but it lasts a lot longer,” said Norton.
The sewage treatment plant is steps from the Hudson River, so maintaining facility integrity is a constant priority.
While Norton’s work isn’t always nice to look at, or smell, his department provides an essential, if often overlooked, service to Glens Falls.
Here in the facility, the untrained eye may miss just how much the federal monies have improved the department’s ability to serve Glens Falls’ growing population.
“Part of that ARPA funding that the city received—right now were doing it in electrical upgrade design. So, that’s gonna lead to an upgraded—change out of all of our MCCs throughout the plant – motor control centers – that handle all of the electricity and spreads the electricity out to all the equipment. We’re gonna replace one of our blowers. We’re gonna change out everything—the 480 volts, compared to what it was at the higher voltage. That’s the next big thing, that’s probably gonna be in excess of $10 million. We’re also looking at upgrading our whole water distribution system. You know, a little bit at a time. That’s roughly about, you know, 50 miles of distribution pipe that’s been in the ground since the late 1800s, some parts of it,” explained Norton.
The city’s water filtration facility, located in a separate building, received roughly $1.7 million in ARPA funds to make several necessary upgrades. The overall filtration capacity has been expanded, meaning the facility will be ready when the demand grows in years ahead, as the mayor is anticipating.
The newly renovated water treatment facility can process upwards of 8 million gallons of water a day; Glens Falls currently only uses between 2 and 3 million gallons per day. Norton says that extra capacity is important.
“Two reasons. Failsafe is one, then make sure you have the redundancy if something should happen. And two was if you built out all the industry in town, you know, the one thing you don’t want – to turn away industries that want to move into town and have the ability to move into town, with the proper zoning and regulations and that – to tell them that we don’t have enough water or sewer capacity to accept you,” said Norton.
Much of the ARPA funding is going into projects invisible to the general public. The city’s drainage infrastructure has to be upgraded piece by piece.
An overhaul of Dix Avenue on the east side is supported by a $1 million ARPA allocation. Not only was the road in major need of repairs due to years of wear and neglect, but the combined stormwater and sewage lines needed to be separated.
Mayor Collins explains…
“When that waste treatment plant – it’s quite old – when our sewer and storm systems were created, and our water systems were created, they were combined. So, storm water would go into sewer water. And 70 plus, 80 years ago that was probably acceptable. And anything that would overflow in that in a heavy rainstorm would go into the Hudson River. Well, that hasn’t been acceptable in a long time. So, the city of Glens Falls has spent millions of dollars over the last 20 years separating out its storm and sewer water,” said Mayor Collins.
On top of the infrastructure under Dix Avenue, a new bike lane was added on the surface. To improve pedestrian safety, crosswalks were more clearly marked along the roadway.
“I mean, we started in the summer here, so we got that experience of the summer traffic, but it’s definitely been a lot busier since we moved locations; foot traffic, calls, records definitely, and sales up in general.”
Joseph Brunelle works at the Hifi Loft, a mix between a record store and audiophile haven with top-of-the-line home-audio equipment and vinyl. The store recently moved to Dix Avenue from a location 10 minutes west off Route 9 following the ARPA-funded upgrades.
Brunelle says the upgrades have improved business…
“The bike path definitely helps. So, constant traffic from people walking, even in the fall time too. Just because the cold’s here doesn’t mean people are gonna stop walking. Cooper’s Cave is a big help, they’re also our landlords of the building so they really help push things over too with the restaurant. And, honestly, just how busy of a road Dix Ave has become, people are driving by and just stop in because they see the sign,” said Brunelle.
“That’s why I stopped.”
“Exactly, you don’t see a lot of stores like ours anymore so people see it and pull right in,” said Brunelle.
Like Mayor Collins, Brunelle also foresees a new era for Glens Falls.
“I mean, you see a lot of construction around town, all throughout town now. I mean, the roads, like I said they just redid Dix Avenue I think like last year I believe it was. And then, I mean, what they’re doing downtown – all the murals, South Street, what they’re doing with all the business popping up – they’re definitely pouring a lot of money into the town and it’s nice to see it. Because this area here used to be run down a little bit and now it’s really on the up and coming. Back in the day Glens Falls was “Town of America,” I believe, like a couple decades ago. But, it was a destination back then, and it’s nice to see they’re making a point to make it a destination again,” said Brunelle.
In October, officials broke ground on the construction of a $5 million Event and Marketplace building that would help revitalize one of the city’s more neglected corridors. The DRI-funded project boasts an impressive amount of financial leverage. Collins’ administration says they were able to turn the $10 million state grant into nearly $40 million worth of public and private investment.
Two restaurants, The Golden Monkey Lounge and Taco Kings Jalisco, opened across the street that same day, under the promise from Collins, a la “Field of Dreams,” if the city built it, the crowds would come.
One of the families that has taken heed is the Gazetos, who have been running various incarnations of the New Way Lunch in several locations in and around Glens Falls for more than century. Their signature hot dogs have kept loyal customers coming back year after year, but they recently announced that they would be closing their Queensbury location.
Nick Gazetos, the heir apparent to the New Way empire, says his family decided to consolidate their locations to give him and his sister’s parents a chance to enjoy retirement. Gazetos says the family will be able to focus on its South Street location on the edge of the city’s DRI project, which has been years in the making.
“I’m just excited, you know what I mean? Now, we’re right where we need to be. We’ve done all this updating inside and out of the building. And we’ve updated it accordingly, almost as other things—other people have made improvements or upgrades. Like, we’re kinda trying to go with the flow of that, especially the outside of the building per say. But I’m excited, the more people the better. You know, it doesn’t matter if they’re restaurants or not. Everyone’s gotta eat, and everybody doesn’t eat the same thing every day. And we have our little niche here for the hot dogs and that’s what we’re known for and that’s what were trying to keep for another hundred years,” explained Gazetos.
Nick’s father, Peter Gazetos, is grateful for the city’s push to revitalize downtown Glens Falls – even if the improvements made with the city’s record ARPA funds aren’t all obvious.
4:12 “If you don’t have infrastructure, how do you operate? You know, so that to me is money well spent. As long as the money is going to something that’s going to be a benefit to the community as a whole, it doesn’t bother me, that’s what I like to see,” explained Gazetos.
Gazetos emphasized the importance of a thriving downtown in the success of his family’s business.
“You gotta remember; you can’t forget where you came from, Aaron. You know, people forget, I haven’t forgotten. New Way Lunch is here because of downtown Glens Falls because that’s where we started,” said Gazetos.
The city is aiming to continue to use state and federal funds to keep the weight of the city’s growth off taxpayer’s backs.
