Second “Reimagine St. Luke’s” Reuse Community Meeting Set for April 30th

Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. announced today that the second community meeting for the redevelopment Master Plan of the former St. Luke’s Hospital Campus will take place on April 30th in New York Mills.

“Public participation for the first community forum was excellent,” Picente said. “We received extensive input and valuable feedback, and are hoping to build upon that with even more engagement on April 30^th. A robust public discussion will be invaluable as we move forward to explore design alternatives for the site.”

The Community Visioning Workshop will take place from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 30 in the auditorium of New York Mills Junior/Senior High School located at 1 Marauder Boulevard. It is hosted by Oneida County, Mohawk Valley EDGE, Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) and the Town of New Hartford.

It is the second public meeting associated with the “Reimagine St. Luke’s - Planning for the Future” project. Fu Wilmers Design, the firm selected to lead the Master Plan effort, will be present to engage with the public. This meeting will focus on the market and site analysis of the former St. Luke’s campus. Design approaches and models that might be helpful for guiding reuse will also be discussed.

The project partners will be conducting a series of public engagement events between February and September 2024 to introduce the planning project, identify challenges, craft a community vision, generate site alternatives and help shape the overall campus reuse strategy.

An Advisory Group made up of community leaders and representatives from the surrounding neighborhoods, community service organizations, faith-based groups, small business owners, housing organizations and real-estate developers will meet prior to public meetings to contribute to the project by providing input on the challenges and potential for the site as the re-use strategy is developed.

There are four Advisory Group and four Community Visioning Workshops planned. Three different concepts will be produced as a final result of the Master Plan study.

A Facilities Study for the former hospital site, also commissioned by Oneida County, MV EDGE, MVHS and the Town of New Hartford, is being headed by Weston & Sampson. It kicked off in November 2023 and is running concurrently with the Master Plan study. It will help inform the Master Plan by looking at the present physical conditions and determining what portions of St. Luke’s can potentially be reused or are not suitable for reuse.

MV EDGE is administering the contracts with the consultants on both projects and Oneida County is providing the funding.

More information about “Reimagine St. Luke’s – Planning for the Future” can be found on the project website at: www.reimaginestlukes.com.