ECGRA Investment in Erie County Anchor Buildings Strengthening Communities
The Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority (ECGRA) has invested more than $700,000 into Anchor Buildings around Erie County over the past two years. The Anchor Building Program provides funding to enable local governments, non-profits, and municipal authorities to strengthen a community, neighborhood, or commercial district by redeveloping, enhancing, and preserving an underutilized or vacant building that has the potential to serve as a catalyst for greater investment and commercial or social activity.
In 2019, ECGRA invested in six Anchor Buildings. The successful program supports major repairs, system upgrades, or rehabilitation of area buildings. From the Erie Center for Arts & Technology's Wayne School Reimagined project to Housing and Neighborhood Development Servies' Boston Store Place revitalization effort and Impact Corry's rehabilitation of Railway Express Office in Corry, Anchor Building funding is at work stabilizing Erie's aging building stock.
In 2020, ECGRA invested in four Anchor Buildings including the Woman's Club of Erie to help with their renovation and preservation of the Downing Galbraith Mansion and the Borough of Union City for the Union City Hall Building project.
"Anchor Building Grants have made a tremendous impact on projects across several communities that may not have been able to continue their ongoing community revitalization efforts," said Dr. Perry Wood, Executive Director, ECGRA. "By directing our focus on areas with historic buildings that can be adaptively re-used thanks to the quality of original construction and marquee locations, we are investing ECGRA dollars wisely and stimulating economic impact as well as postive community outcomes."
An Anchor Building defines a locale and is special from an architectural, historical, and cultural perspective. ECGRA's Anchor Building Grant Program is designed to be a part of the financing structure necessary to launch re-use development of marquee buildings, preserving and adapting them to once again become viable businesses, community and cultural centers, and/or residential dwellings that support the tax base.
To view the complete list of Anchor Building Recipients from 2019, click here.
To view the complete list of Anchor Building Recipiejnts from 2020, click here.
