Abandoned plaza could become home to apartments, entrepreneurial center

CANTON, New York (WWNY) - Canton’s abandoned Midtown Plaza could be renovated and turned into affordable apartments and an extension of a local college.

According to village Mayor Michael Dalton, multiple stores have opened and closed there through the years.

“There was a drug store, there was a sporting goods store. There was a clothing and dry cleaning store at one time,” said Dalton.

There was a Jubilee grocery store there until it closed in 2000. For more than 20 years, the building has been abandoned.

Now village officials say that they’re ready to buy the property and turn it into something new.

The proposed $17 million project would revitalize the entire plaza. Plans include an entrepreneurial center with commercial space and two floors of new apartments.

The village and SUNY Canton have been working on it for 7 years.

SUNY Canton’s President Zvi Szafran says this project aims to revitalize the Canton community.

“The entrepreneurial center will help create new jobs and opportunities and businesses. The apartments will have more people living in the downtown area, which will certainly be good for all the stores that are located there, and the commercial space will add more commercial space to this side of town,” said Szafran.

“When the village purchases this, it’s our intent that contractor or developer will take this over and in the next three to five years, the ownership will transfer to a developer,” said Dalton.

Both Dalton and Szafran hope the project will spark new economic activity for the village.

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