Laberge Group was retained by the City of Amsterdam to update their decades-old Local Waterfront Revitalization Grant Program (LWRP). Working collaboratively with City leadership and members of the public, Laberge Group will develop a plan that identifies strategies and specific projects that will be used to:

• Stimulate and guide economic growth and development
• Establish sustainable approaches to mitigate climate change impacts and improve resiliency
• Redevelop vacant and underutilized industrial structures
• Increase waterfront access and connectivity to downtown tourism, as well as opportunities for recreational boating.

Like many surrounding communities, Amsterdam’s waterfront was historically largely a working waterfront that was the heart of the industrial and fishing communities. However, Amsterdam has a significant opportunity to rewrite its future of its waterfront to incorporate tourism, economic development, and waterfront access – meeting the needs of today’s waterfront users.

Laberge Group’s approach to developing this LWRP will maximize public involvement and emphasize consensus-building to determine the most appropriate future use of the waterfront area.  This will begin with collaborative sessions with City leadership. This inclusive process with also include hands-on activities with the City, Project Committee, and the public to review prior projects, identify new opportunities, develop strategic linkages, expanding community, and promote economic development.

When complete, the Plan will act as a significant catalyst for positive change. A graphically represented vision and strategy will be developed. These will be accompanied by suggested code amendments for specific areas of the waterfront and identification of potential funding resources. The code amendments and funding strategies are pragmatic tools that will facilitate the implementation of projects proposed within the plan.

This project is funded by an LWRP Grant from the NYS Department of State, and, once completed, will open the possibility of additional grant funding to implement targeted projects and strategies specified within the plan.