Clay, N.Y. – New York is providing the town of Clay with more than $1 million in grants to advance the town’s goal of turning its Three Rivers Point park into a waterfront community.
The state is giving the town $973,987 to make shoreline improvements and $149,578 to build a boat launch at the park.
Three Rivers Point off Route 57 overlooks the confluence of the Oneida, Oswego and Seneca rivers.
Town officials envision turning the site into a development that would draw people from all over Central New York to stroll along a riverfront boardwalk, dine at waterfront restaurants, visit entertainment venues and bike miles of trails.
The site once contained the Three Rivers Inn, a popular night club that attracted national acts including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Louis Armstrong, Peter Lawford, Nat King Cole, Jimmy Durante and Duke Ellington.
The inn burned down in 1973, and the town began acquiring the property in the early 2000s. It now owns 85 acres, including nearby land on the east side of Route 57.
Clay has turned the site into a park, with three gazebos for public use. It’s also the scene of a weekly “cruise in” classic car show during the summer.
Town Supervisor Damian Ulatowski said the town has been applying for years for state grants to advance its plan — and now has finally succeeded in getting them.
“It absolutely floored me,” he said. “We applied and applied and applied and finally rung the bell.”
One likely reason the town’s application were approved this time? Micron Technology is starting site work on a massive semiconductor manufacturing plant seven miles away at White Pine Commerce Park.
Micron says its chip-making plant will recreate 9,000 jobs in Clay and draw supply chain and other companies that will create more than 40,000 other jobs in Central New York. The new jobs are expected to draw thousands more residents to Clay.
Ulatowski said he expects the influx of new residents to draw the interest of developers willing to build housing, retail and other attractions in and around Three Rivers Point, especially given its proximity to the Micron site.
The state money will go toward a car-top boat launch at the park, allowing people to launch watercraft that can easily be transported on the roof of an automobile.
Improvements to the shoreline will include rehabilitating a terminal seawall where boats can tie up and building a promenade along the waterway.
Already, the town owns 65 acres in and around the old inn. Ulatowski said the town plans to issue a request for proposals from developers interested in carrying its vision for the property.
The town does not have a timeline for requesting formal proposals. Ulatowski said a request likely would be made closer to when Micron’s chip plant construction is well underway because that’s when interest in Three Rivers Point will be greatest.
In the meantime, improvements the town can make to the waterfront, including the boat launch and promenade, will help attract developers when the request for proposals is made, he said.
“I think it will make it more attractive to developers, who won’t have to spend money for a boat launch or shoring up the seawall,” Ulatowski said.