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City outlines Shines Theatre history and legal action as state grants remain with New York
Summary
Assistant City Manager Jenny Haynes summarized decades of restoration attempts at the Shines Theatre and told the council the city has moved forward with an Article 19‑B legal action to transfer title; state restoration grants remain reimbursement programs held by New York State.
Assistant City Manager Jenny Haynes told the council on May 22 that Shines Theatre has a long restoration history and that the city has initiated a legal process to acquire the property after owner inactivity and unpaid taxes.
Haynes traced ownership and grant history: the property moved from Pentagon Realty to the Cayuga County Arts Council in 1998; state grants funded early roof and masonry repairs and later lobby and electrical upgrades; Bowers Development formed Shines Theater LLC and the property transferred to that entity on Dec. 5, 2018 for $15,000 with planned phased renovation estimated at roughly $6 million including hazardous‑material abatement. The city provided $800,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for environmental remediation; Shines Theater LLC later secured Empire State Development capital grant funding, and the city secured a $1,000,000 Restore New York grant. Haynes told the council that only the hazardous‑materials phase had been completed by the owner and that subsequent construction did not move forward.
Haynes and city officials said taxes on the property were unpaid and that the city’s corporation counsel moved forward with a legal action under Article 19‑B (proceeding to transfer title of abandoned commercial property). Assistant City Manager Haynes and other staff emphasized that the state grant funds remain with New York and are reimbursement programs that cannot be transferred to the city absent eligible expenditures and meeting program requirements. “Those funding sources are still in existence with the state of New York,” a council official noted on the record, and city staff reiterated that any state reimbursement requires the owner or city to expend funds and satisfy program requirements before drawing state monies.
Why this matters: The Shines Theatre is a large downtown property with multi‑year restoration plans and state and federal grants involved. A successful transfer of title under Article 19‑B would allow the city to control next steps — such as issuing requests for proposals — but does not automatically convert the outstanding state grants into city funds because state programs are reimbursement‑based.
