'Historic Moment': Kings Park Awarded $10M Downtown Revitalization Initiative NYS Grant

KINGS PARK, NY — The Town of Smithtown received the Long Island region $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant for the Kings Park business district, the town shared after Gov. Kathy Hochul's announcement on Jan. 18.

Kings Park is the eighth Long Island community to receive the grant. Previous region grant winners include Westbury, Hicksville, Central Islip, Baldwin, Amityville, Riverhead and Huntington Station.

"This is a historic moment for the hamlet of Kings Park and the people of Smithtown at large," Smithtown Supervisor Edward Wehrheim said in a news release. "Ever since the State hospital closed its doors, the small business district of Kings Park has slowly deteriorated. The lack of proper wastewater infrastructure prevented new restaurants and entertainment venues from choosing Kings Park as a home, as outdated wastewater systems gave rise to penalties and limited property owners from leasing space to wet-use tenants. The progress and potential for growth became frozen in time and with it… the area suffered greatly."

Wehrheim said massive community support, a talented planning team, environmental experts and government partners allowed Smithtown to push forward a community-based plan to revitalize.

"I want to thank Governor Hochul, Empire State Development, and the Regional Economic Development Council for recognizing our unwavering commitment to creating a vibrant, sustainable downtown in Kings Park," Wehrheim said.

When notified by the Regional Economic Development Council, the Town of Smithtown said it will begin efforts to form a local planning committee, made up of Kings Park residents, community leaders, and representatives from the various organizations who will conduct extensive community outreach and engagement.

"Their goal will be to identify appropriate projects to fund that support the Town’s vision (based on rigorous community input in updating the Comprehensive Master Plan) to create a walkable, vibrant downtown, centrally located to the Kings Park LIRR station, with easy access to restaurants, retail, entertainment, public space and park system," the town statd.

In 2017, the Town of Smithtown was awarded $20 million from the state under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo as part of the state's Transformative Investment Program (TIP) for Suffolk County to connect the Kings Park Business District to Suffolk County Sewer District No. 6. That work has been engineered, financed — with an additional $5.4 million in funding from Suffolk County —and is currently underway, the town said.

In November, Suffolk County awarded Smithtown with a JumpStart grant of $2.5 million for traffic calming and streetscape improvements in Kings Park, which the town says will complement the completed sewer connection.

The $10 million in DRI funding will complete the town’s downtown revitalization efforts in the Kings Park Business District, it said.

This marks the second business district to see revitalization in the township, with the construction of the sewer connection underway and streetscape work planned for downtown Kings Park.

An active plan is also in place to complete downtown Smithtown along Main Street, the town stated.

In 2021, the Town of Smithtown completed the Lake Avenue business district in St. James. Prior to construction, which began at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the Lake Avenue Business District was primarily vacant storefronts, the town said.

"Lake Avenue has been transformed into a thriving, walkable downtown with great little boutique shops, restaurants and offices," the town stated.

Suffolk County is currently in the process of upgrading the sewer district #28 at Fairfield in St. James, which Lake Avenue property owners will be able to hook into upon completion, according to the town.

Questions regarding the Kings Park DRI grant can be directed to Supervisor@SmithtownNY.gov or the Smithtown Planning Department at planning@smithtownny.gov.