ECGRA Invests over $570,000 in Neighborhood Anchor Buildings
The Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority (ECGRA) held a press conference today at the Sarah A. Reed Children's Center's St. Ann's Campus to announce the recipients of the 2025 Anchor Building program.
With more than $570,000 awarded across seven projects, ECGRA continues to invest in revitalizing Erie County through adaptive reuse and preservation of Erie's unique historic roots.
Hosted by ECGRA and held at Sarah A. Reed's St. Ann's Campus, the event welcomed community leaders, project partners, and stakeholders. Remarks were given by ECGRA, Sarah A. Reed Children's Center's Associate Vice President of Development Gary Bukowski, MA, CFRE and Erie Downtown Development Corporation (EDDC) CEO Drew Whiting.
"With this round of Anchor Building grants, we've invested more than $570,000 into projects that repurpose and restore buildings across Erie County," said Perry Wood, Executive Director of ECGRA. "These are investments you can see. ECGRA is helping our community partners to preserve Erie's identity while building our future legacy."
"Do we really want all these incredible structures that have survived so much of Erie's history to be demolished for something else? I know I would rather have Erie's historic character and soul flourish with its development," said Wood.
Most often, historic buildings located in the heart of the community are anchor buildings with intrinsic historical, architectural, and/or social qualities that make places special or unique. Similarly, these buildings can be adaptively re-used due to the quality of original construction, location, and/or suitability for new uses.
Unfortunatley, communities find that these older buildings are difficult to re-use due to construction costs relative to new building codes, lack of financial resources, or appraisal values that do not support local lenders making an investment.
ECGRA funding serves as a vital part of the financing structure to bridge that gap. These projects can boost the real estate market, assist in developing equity, and enhance the quality of place. Often, this type of investment in anchor buildings in neighborhoods makes securing more funding and furthering projects more attainable.
At the event, $55,000 was granted to the Sarah A. Reed Children's Center's St. Ann's Campus for their Campus Centennial Restoration Project.
"This grant allows us to continue improving the learning environment at our historic campus, which proudly celebrates its 100th Anniversary this year. It's not only an investment in a treasured landmark, but in the neighborhood, education and well-being of our students, faculty, therapists and the families and community we serve," said Sarah A. Reed Associate Vice President of Development, Gary Bukowski.
Following the press conference, guests were invited to tour the St. Ann's Campus and view first-hand the successful results of adaptive reuse made possible through community investments.
A list of Anchor Building grant recipients can be seen here.
