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ITHACA, N.Y. — From bowling shoes to gumshoes. The Ithaca Common Council approved the purchase of three adjacent land parcels on Third Street, including the former Bowl-O-Drome location, in the city’s Northside neighborhood for a potential new public safety facility in the future.The city will spend $1.37 million total on the purchase, representing a lower cost than what had initially been estimated to acquire land for a future public safety facility. Further work on assessing the feasibility of potentially building the facility at that location will be paid for by the leftover money of Common Council’s 2022 allocation of $4 million for a previously discussed property acquisition for the facility. The city’s submitted materials and Wednesday’s discussion both indicate the public safety facility, if it is proposed and approved in the future, would likely mean a new station for the Ithaca Police Department (IPD). However, the use of the site is not set in stone — any tangible plans for a future use for the site would need to be approved and separately funded by Common Council, meaning council members could change course in the future if they decide. City officials have discussed plans for a new Public Safety Facility since 2016. Ithaca’s police station on Clinton Street was found to be the most deficient of the city’s buildings during an analysis around the time. But it was determined in 2022 that a redevelopment of the existing police station into a larger, modern facility wasn’t feasible at its site right next to Six Mile Creek downtown.Still, according to the city’s memo on the acquisition, the need persists. “The existing IPD station is at the end of its useful life and faces cost-prohibitive repairs, is insufficient for current IPD needs, and will not be able to accommodate certain reforms envisioned by the Reimagining Public Safety process,” City Attorney Victor Kessler wrote in the memo. Once the city made its 2022 determination about replacing the current IPD headquarters with a building at the same site, officials began working with a consultant. Thirteen potential sites were evaluated for acquisition and development, and but a deal for the first option didn’t materialize after Common Council allocated the $4 million. The Bowl-O-Drome site was deemed an acceptable alternative, with the originally allocated acquisition money still available for use to buy the alternative site, which eventually led to Wednesday’s resolution.The acquisition does not commit the city to any future use. The purchase essentially banks the property for a future date when the city has money to commit to a new Public Safety Facility, or it may decide to use the land for something else at a later date. That will be up to the approval of the Common Council at a future date, and the ability of city staff to procure construction funds.During the meeting, councilmember Phoebe Brown expressed concern that Third Street may not be an appropriate location for a police station. Mayor Rob Cantelmo stressed that the property’s future use was not being decided Wednesday.“The resolution before us is authorization for potential siting of a new Public Safety Facility. What council is being asked to do this evening is to authorize funds for purchase of the land, not what the use of the land will be,” Cantelmo said.Kessler echoed Cantelmo’s statement during Wednesday. “Council could in the future change its mind about what it wants to do,” Kessler said. “No funds have been allocated to construct something there. This is just using an existing capital project for the acquisition of the land itself.”With that, Common Council passed authorization of the land unanimously 9-0, with Alderpersons Tiffany Kumar (D-Ward 4) and Clyde Lederman (D-Ward 5) absent.Credit: Casey Martin / The Ithaca VoiceThe Bowl-O-Drome was built at 401 Third Street in 1961, renovated in the 1980s, and has been for sale for the past several years. The 17,295 square-foot building sits on 1.43 acres and was last listed for a sale price of $1.95 million. Per Tompkins County, the assessed value of the property is $550,000. The property also includes a vacant lot on Adams Street assessed at $45,000.The city’s purchase includes a house in disrepair on a small parcel of land at 414 Adams Street, assessed at $120,000. While the city is buying the Bowl-O-Drome location well below asking price, at $1.37 million, the collective purchase price for the trio of properties will still be above the assessed value.While the Bowl-O-Drome property is zoned for business uses (B-2a), under New York State law, the city is not obligated to follow existing zoning or commit to a public hearing process for projects that are for public service use, such as government-owned buildings. Similar to the county’s proposed new Center of Government or the new Ithaca Fire Station No. 2 finishing up on Dryden Road, the governing body may solicit feedback from groups like the Planning Board, but there is no requirement for a formal review process.“I know this has been a conversation for some time, so we are really excited to move forward,” Ithaca Police Department Chief Thomas Kelly told The Ithaca Voice. “I believe this purchase of land for a public safety building speaks volumes about the City of Ithaca’s commitment to Public Safety. The acquisition of this property extends an opportunity to create a space for [the] community to collaborate with officers, outreach workers and other responders to enhance community safety.”Ithaca Voice Editor-in-Chief Matt Butler contributed reporting to this article. The post City to buy Bowl-O-Drome site for possible future public safety facility appeared first on The Ithaca Voice.First published by The Ithaca Voice.

Daily Archives: April 2, 2025

City to buy Bowl-O-Drome site for possible future public safety facility

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