Westfield has more downtown money committed right now than at any point in recent memory. That includes a $4.5 million NY Forward award, a state parks grant, Appalachian Regional Commission dollars and a county infrastructure grant. As of early October 2026, none of the big projects has a public record showing construction underway. The delays don't come from missing money. Every project depends on several agencies, and each one has to sign off before the next step can start. The former Portage Inn site on North Portage Street is the first project waiting on those sign-offs, and the rest of the list is lined up behind it.
The lot that was supposed to open in July
Last December, the Observer laid out the plan for the Portage Inn site: a terraced outdoor amphitheater and park, built where a three-story hotel and restaurant opened in 1908 inside the renovated H.L. Kent Paper Warehouse. The Portage Inn closed in 1999. The Village Board approved demolition in December 2015, and the village now owns the property, which also holds a memorial park honoring first responders. The site sits along Chautauqua Creek, which is why state documents call it the village's creekside amphitheater.
The December schedule called for construction "as early as March, with a potential opening by July." The funding was already lined up: a $450,040 Environmental Protection Fund grant through the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, plus $131,514 in Appalachian Regional Commission matching funds. The article said those two sources fully covered construction. Larson Design Group was handling final design, the environmental review had been approved, and Andrew Thompson's Westfield Public Works Department was set to administer the work.
July came and went. The September 18 and 19 Grape & Wine Festival used Moore Park, according to the village's September 8 work-session minutes. We found no public record of the amphitheater hosting anything this year.
Why a funded project still needs one more signature
The most recent step is in the Village Board's August 17, 2026 minutes, under Resolution #19-2026. The resolution explains the delay in the order it happened:
- The amphitheater was awarded Appalachian Regional Commission funding.
- ARC requires a "Basic Agency with construction capacity" to be involved.
- USDA Rural Development agreed to be that agency and sent the village a Letter of Conditions.
- That letter requires a separate Village Board resolution for each construction contract, and each award is contingent on USDA approval.
- The board awarded the contractor portion to low bidder XL Excavating for $789,719.60, contingent on USDA's sign-off. Trustee Harp made the motion, Trustee Cunningham seconded, and it carried unanimously.
So as of mid-August, the project had money, a design, a completed environmental review, a low bidder and a unanimous board vote. It still needed approval from a federal agency that joined because a different federal funder required it. That's the paperwork reason the July opening slipped. The village's September 21 agenda has no new item on the project, so the next public sign of progress will probably be equipment on the site.
The stage can't come before the amphitheater
On May 8, 2026, the state announced Westfield's nine NY Forward projects. One of them is a $149,000 permanent roof over "the performing arts stage planned for the Village's creekside amphitheater." The village was already planning for that roof last December, when it said it was pursuing NY Forward money to add a covered stage for year-round programming. The stage is funded, but it has to sit on an amphitheater that hasn't been built yet. A slip on the Portage Inn site pushes the covered stage back by the same amount.
The other eight awards fall into rough groups based on what each one depends on:
- On North Portage, next to the amphitheater site: the $816,000 Clinton Street pocket park, with ADA-compliant restrooms, seating, a water fountain and a bike rack and repair station. Project profiles place it at 10 Clinton St. and 28 N. Portage St., which puts it next to the amphitheater's 18–28 N. Portage St. footprint.
- Village-owned civic spaces: $167,000 for Moore Park, potentially covering decorative LED lighting, a new power system, carillon clock repairs, a new emergency siren and a security system, plus $800,000 to stabilize and modernize Eason Hall, the combined village and town hall.
- Privately sponsored buildings on East Main: $589,000 to rehab the vacant upper floor of the Burns Block at 61–63 E. Main St., sponsored by 6163 East Main LLC, and $328,000 for a makers' co-op with shared tools, classrooms and small retail spaces in a former variety store at 93–95 E. Main St.
- A local producer: $143,000 for CK Natural Juice, LLC at 148 N. Portage St. to add a new roof, drainage, natural gas service, a walk-in cooler, paving and signage.
- Building owners generally: a $508,000 Small Project Fund for exterior and interior work, equipment and public art in commercial and mixed-use buildings.
The state announcement lists scopes and amounts but no start dates. A Post-Journal report from December 2025 said selected projects are generally expected to start construction within two years of the award and finish within five. Measured from May 2026, that sets a soft deadline of spring 2028 to break ground, so a fall 2026 start would be early. We found no public notice that the Small Project Fund has opened applications.
The same pattern at Portage and Main
The C.E. Welch Building shows how the problem grows when a project has more funders. Dr. Charles E. Welch had it built in 1909, and it served as headquarters for the Welch's Grape Juice Company. It sits in the French Portage Road Historic District. Welch Foods sold it in 2005. The Town of Westfield acquired it in 2014, and a team led by Savarino Co. became designated developer after a 2021 request for proposals. The building has been empty since 2005.
The plan calls for 46 apartments and 3,700 square feet of commercial space in the building's original storefront at the corner of Portage Road and Main Street. The commercial space is aimed at a mix of tenants that includes a food and beverage or retail operator. When the County of Chautauqua Industrial Development Agency updated the project in November 2025, it listed support that had built up over four years: PILOT and tax incentives approved in 2021, a $475,000 loan in early 2023 that helped secure the purchase, an Empire State Development infrastructure grant, Restore NY funds and a pending $1 million NY Forward request. That NY Forward money was granted in May. At the time, the timeline showed construction in spring 2026 and tentative completion in summer 2027.
Spring passed without a start. In June, Mark Geise, the county's Deputy County Executive for Economic Development, said part of the delay comes from funding arriving through many different agencies, which slows approvals. The project also changed hands on paper. Savarino Companies is still behind it, but it now runs through Upstate Economic Opportunities, LLC in place of 2 Portage, LLC. On June 24, the county legislature voted unanimously to move the $800,000 infrastructure grant to the new LLC.
"It's a long time in the making but they've assured us that it's going to start soon." Mark Geise, speaking to the county legislature's Planning and Economic Development Committee in June 2026
Geise said Sam Savarino told him the work would begin before the end of the year. Rebecca Wurster of the county Planning Department said renovation would take one and a half to two years once it starts. We found no report of a groundbreaking through early October. If work starts in December, the storefront at Portage and Main would open sometime between mid-2028 and the end of that year.
What will show up first, in order
Put the dates side by side and a likely sequence for downtown emerges:
- USDA approval of the XL Excavating contract. This is the step the amphitheater is waiting on. Once it clears, construction on the Portage Inn site can start, and the covered stage and the pocket park next door can follow.
- A Welch groundbreaking by December 31, 2026. This is the county's stated expectation. If it happens, an 18- to 24-month build follows.
- A Small Project Fund application window. This is the piece of NY Forward most likely to put small improvements on Main Street storefronts, and no opening date has been announced.
- A 2027 grant application for Barcelona Beach Waterfront Park. The town allocated $18,500 for Larson Design Group's planning work there in August and is gathering public feedback for that application.
Until those steps happen, Friday nights downtown look the way they usually do. Five & 20 Spirits & Brewing at 8398 W. Main Road has its Westfield Happy Hours lineup posted through November 27, with Shani Bills on October 9 and Midnight Frolic closing the run. The venue notes the schedule may change.
At Matthew Wroda and the Nielsen Wroda Team, we follow these Village Board and county votes because they shape what Portage and Main look like a few years out. If you'd like a plain-language update when the amphitheater or the Welch building clears its next approval, or you want to know how the planned work around North Portage might affect a property you own, reach out and we'll share what the public record shows.
