State Senator George Maziarz today announced that he secured $400,000 in state funding for the planned ice rink and recreation center in the City of Lockport.Lockport Ice Arena and Recreation Center, Inc., the entity created to make the project a reality, will in turn acquire the former 62,000 square foot former Jubilee building from Benderson Development located on Market and Chestnut Streets in downtown Lockport, with the help of a property contribution valued at over one million dollars.“This is a significant milestone in our efforts to finally bring back an ice skating and recreation center to the community and we are extremely grateful to Senator Maziarz for his efforts to secure this critically important funding,” John Ottaviano, chairman of the committee, said. “We also are extremely grateful to Benderson Development for realizing how important this project is to the community and surrounding region in agreeing to a donation covering the acquisition costs beyond our available funding.”The Committee has quietly spend the last 18 months undertaking various planning and feasibility studies, including a detailed needs assessment, engineering, and designing plans, as well as outreach to key constituencies who would benefit from utilizing the facility.“This project became a priority for me as a result of the overwhelming support being expressed by the community, from school superintendents and athletic directors to civic and business leaders, bur most importantly from the parents of children who want this project to happen,” Senator Maziarz said.“While many communities throughout Western New York are trying to build ice arenas, this project is unique in many ways,” Lockport Mayor Michael Tucker said. “It is the only rink being proposed in an urban center and it has the unconditional support of the community at large. To have an existing structure that will save one to two million dollars in construction and real estate costs also makes this project unique, but even more importantly this project continues the resurgence and revitalization of downtown Lockport.”“Benderson Development has a long history of giving back to the local communities where we do business and this is just another example of our corporate commitment,” Todd Benderson, regional president of Benderson Development, said. “We are very pleased to play a part in the continuing resurgence of the Lockport community.”Initial funding for the committee to hire consultants, including engineers who determined it was feasible for the building to be transformed into an ice rink and recreation center, was provided by the Grigg Lewis Foundation.“We strongly believe that the funding being provided by our organization for this great project fulfills the mission and vision of Henrietta Grigg Lewis when she started this foundation in 1968,” William B. May, secretary and executive director of the foundation, said. “We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the committee and community as this initiative moves forward.”#####
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