69´«Ã½

The plans were revealed when the local planning committee for the villages of Aurora, Cayuga and Union Springs met Monday to review Downtown Revitalization Initiative project submissions. The villages are developing a plan for how to spend $10 million on public, private and nonprofit projects. 

Among the submissions is a proposal from the village of Aurora to buy the former Wells College president's house, 165 Main St., and the nearby boathouse on Cayuga Lake. The village is seeking $1.2 million in DRI funds to renovate the president's house into a community center. The building would also house the village offices. 

Orman told 69´«Ã½ that moving to the village offices would tie Aurora to Cayuga and Union Springs, which also have offices on the waterfront. 

What Orman envisions is a campus that includes the former Wells College president's house, the boathouse and adjacent open space. If the village is successful in acquiring the boathouse, it would likely allow the Aurora Farmers Market to remain at that location. 

Aurora will ask the state attorney's general office, which is overseeing the disposition of Wells College's assets, to transfer the boathouse, president's house and open space to the village. Orman added that the water plant, which is owned by the college, would also be included in that petition. 

"That's what we would like to do," he said. "It's just perfect and now there's an opportunity for it." 

MacAdam, who is the medical director of the Community Medical Center on the Wells campus in Aurora, is also hoping to get state support for her proposal. 

The medical center is requesting $187,000 in DRI funds to support a $250,000 project. The upgrades would include renovating the existing building to make it more energy efficient and adding a handicap-accessible restroom. 

MacAdam also hopes to expands wellness services, such as access to dieticians and physical therapists, at the medical center. According to her DRI project submission, 1,000 square feet of space within the medical center would be renovated to accommodate physicians and other health care providers. 

While MacAdam says her top priority is "continuing to provide care for my patients," her vision isn't limited to the existing medical center. She wants to acquire the Schwartz Athletic Center on the Wells College campus, which would ensure the community has access to the fitness center, pickleball courts and pool. 

"I think it would be wonderful for our extended community, not just Aurora, but Cayuga and Union Springs would benefit," she told 69´«Ã½. 

The uncertainty of the Wells College closure process may complicate those expansion plans. The state attorney general's office will decide the fate of the medical center, which is on the college campus. MacAdam's primary focus is to ensure the center can continue to operate at its current location. 

The state attorney general's office will determine whether to transfer the athletic center to the medical center or another entity. 

MacAdam is also aware the potential acquisition of the athletic center may not align with the village's desire to have a "one-campus" sale of the Wells property. But Orman said the village supports the medical center "and any expansion they may entertain." He noted, though, that the state attorney general's office will have the final say on the property. 

Between how Wells College's assets will be handled and the ongoing DRI process, there is much work to do before any of the projects come to fruition. Orman's message, especially about the village's plan to take over the college president's house and boat house, is that these aren't wild dreams. They are, he says, valid concepts that would be transformational. 

"If you combine that with a park at the beginning of Aurora down at the southern end, that whole village just changes and becomes more enticing to an investor on the core campus," Orman said. "We have to put those building blocks in place."