WATERLOO — When a devastating fire in January 2025 destroyed several businesses in downtown Ovid, the outpouring of support for the community was nothing short of overwhelming.
It may also be proving true for efforts geared toward revitalization.
Ave Bauder, vice president of the Seneca County Local Development Corp., is the liaison between the county’s LDC and the Ovid LDC. On Thursday, he gave the county LDC an update of progress in Ovid.
Seneca County has put out a request for proposals for firms to assist the county in development plans for the revitalization of the village’s downtown; they are due back April 15. The project aims to provide guidance for revitalizing Ovid’s Main Street and enhancing local economic sustainability. It is led by the Seneca County Department of Planning & Community Development, in partnership with the Ovid LDC and the village, and supported by a $100,000 grant from New York State Empire State Development that is being matched by Seneca County.
However, at the same time, the Ovid LDC has a partnership with Design Connect through Cornell University. Design Connect is a multidisciplinary, student-run, community design organization. It fosters the mutual exchange of expertise and experiential learning between Cornell students and local municipalities in Upstate New York. Participating in Design Connects provides students with practical experience and municipalities with low-cost, viable design and planning services.
Bauder said there is no consensus on the Ovid LDC board as to the roles of the potential professional consultants and the students, who want to conduct a survey and hold public meetings to gain community input regarding a plan for the future of the Ovid downtown.
There’s worry about creating community confusion, Bauder said, with part of the Ovid LDC board wanting to wait until there is a professional consultant in place that is being paid to do the research and offer the county assistance. The rest of the board wants to keep the students involved, but maybe not so much in the public eye as to avoid creating a muddle of information from too many sources.
Bauder and members of the county’s LDC said they could see both sides of the argument, but the hope was to keep both entities involved and have them work together. County LDC member Dan LaGasse said that would necessitate good communication between the students and the professionals.
Bauder said another idea is to have the Cornell students concentrate on a segment of the area’s population that won’t be targeted in the professionals’ work: the high school populations of the South Seneca and Romulus school districts. He noted that having many different segments of the population feel invested in the revitalization is important.
Another concern regarding redevelopment: Ovid has no comprehensive plan, which is necessary to be qualified for Downtown Revitalization Initiative funds through New York State, Bauder noted.
The Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council has agreed to help put such a plan together for $23,000, with $15,000 provided by the Seneca County Industrial Development Agency and $4,000 each from the town and village of Ovid. The IDA and the town have signed off on the funding, but Ovid’s village attorney has more questions, Bauder said, noting the municipality has yet to agree to on the matter.
