Kings Park gets grant to help downtown revitalization

The Town of Smithtown received a $500,000 grant to help advance downtown revitalization efforts in Kings Park.

The funding, provided by Suffolk County’s Jumpstart program, will be used to create a municipal parking lot just west of Park Bake Shop at the corner of Pulaski Road and Main Street. The project will add 23 new spaces to an area that has lacked sufficient parking, making it more challenging for residents and shoppers supporting local businesses.

In 2017, the state provided $20 million to add sewers in Kings Park, which would allow the town to explore new transit-oriented development around the Long Island Rail Road station. Sewer construction is expected to begin in April 2021 and be completed in October 2023, according to Peter Scully, Suffolk’s deputy county executive.

Suffolk County’s Jumpstart program is part of the county’s broader economic development efforts designed to help facilitate and improve projects in the county’s downtowns. Since 2013, more than $11 million dollars in Jumpstart funding has been awarded on Long Island.