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National Women's Hall of Fame moves into new location

Greg Cotterill

Seneca Falls will be getting a big economic boost from New York state.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced that the town will get $10 million in funding as part of the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul delivered the news Wednesday at the new home of the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

“It is gifted with a history that others can only dream of; what happened here, an epicenter of social movements that literally propelled our nation into a far better place,” Hochul told those gathered in Seneca Falls.

The announcement of the grant coincided with a ribbon cutting for the new home of the Women’s Hall at the historic Seneca Knitting Mill Building. 

The president of the board of the Women’s Hall of Fame, Kate Bennett, says the grand opening will be next spring, to coincide with the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment, which granted women the right to vote.

“We have been working hard to make sure that we write women into history and we identify women who have done extraordinary things that need to be recognized,” Bennett told WXXI News.

Credit National Women's Hall of Fame

The Hall of Fame operations move into the knitting mill on Thursday. But it will be closed to the public except for a few special occasions until the grand opening next spring.

Bennett says $9 million has already been spent on rehabbing the first floor of the knitting mill and efforts continue to raise money to renovate the other three floors.

It hasn't been decided yet which projects in Seneca Falls will get funding from the new  $10 million state grant. Bennett is hoping the renovations at the Women's Hall of Fame may be able to get some additional state funding.

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.