SCHUMER ANNOUNCES ROCHESTER TO RECEIVE NEARLY $1.5 MILLION IN MAJOR BOATING GRANT FROM THE DEPT. OF INTERIOR; FUNDING CROSSES LAST MAJOR HURDLE TO BEGIN ROCHESTER MARINA PROJECT

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, in cooperation with the City of Rochester, BIDCO Marine Group, and Edgewater Resources, will receive $1,450,000 to revitalize the Port of Rochester and boost boating and recreation on Lake Ontario. The funding will be used to construct a new Marina at the Port of Rochester, add 64 transient slips with dockside utilities, create a deepdraft safe harbor, create an access point for the City of Rochester, and provide boater services and education on Lake Ontario. The funds for these improvements come from the Department of the Interior's Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) Program. Senator Schumer wrote directly to high ranking program officials in support of this application.

"Recreational boating on Lake Ontario means big business for Rochester and the surrounding communities," said Schumer. "This grant is the final piece of the funding puzzle needed for Rochester to start the major development project of the public Marina, and will greatly improve our boating infrastructure, boosting the economy and creating new economic opportunities for our waterfrontrelated businesses, while generating at least 90 construction jobs and 30 permanent jobs in the process."

This $1.45M Department of the Interior grant clears the way for the City of Rochester to construct their new Marina in the Spring of 2012.  The Marina construction project involves removing some of the cityowned surface parking lots adjacent to the Port Terminal Building and digging out a basin to form the new Marina.  The Marina is the centerpiece of a Phase I Port Public Marina and Mixed Use Development Project that the City is conducting now to redevelop the Port of Rochester Lake Ontario waterfront area. The project will use $18.9 million in public investments to leverage millions in new private sector development.  The Marina construction will create approximately 90 new construction jobs and lead to the development of a new marinerelated businesses creating 30 permanent jobs. The marina construction is expected to be completed in Spring 2013. An October 2009 Rochester Democrat and Chronicle poll showed that this Marina project, and the waterfront redevelopment project as a whole garnered the most public support of any community project in Rochester. 

The construction of the Rochester Marina is the central component of the Phase I Port Public Marina and Mixed Use Development Project, and will be the catalyst to drive new public and private sector development.  City of Rochester economic reports anticipate that the overall redevelopment project will generate 2,500 construction jobs and 300 permanent jobs.  The Port Public Marina and Mixed Use Development Project is expected to stimulate private development of adjacent residential and commercial projects that will support the City's tax base adding between $530,000 and $1.6M annually to the city's tax rolls.

Funding for the Boating Infrastructure Grant program comes from the Sport Fishing and Boating Trust Fund, formerly known as the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund, which boaters and manufacturers support through excise and other taxes on certain fishing and boating equipment and boat fuels. Grantees use Boating Infrastructure Grant funds to construct, renovate, and maintain facilities with features for transient boats (those staying 10 days or less)  that are 26 feet or more in length and used for recreation. Grantees may also use funds to produce and distribute information and educational materials about the program and recreational boating.