SHERBURNE – The nonprofit, Save the Sherburne Inn Restoration Project (SSIRP), will begin the restoration of The Sherburne Inn this year, after receiving the first of two $500,000 grants.

SSIRP was first awarded $500,000 in Dec. of 2013 through the NYS Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, after applying for the program's economic development grant. Governor Andrew Cuomo started the program to boost economic development in rural areas of the state, and it has awarded millions of dollars to different projects, including eight projects in Chenango County. Despite SSIRP being one of the eight projects chosen, renovations for The Sherburne Inn could not begin immediately because the contract for the grant was not executed until Dec. 4, 2014.

President of the SSIRP Board of Directors, Kathleen Yasas said, “We were very excited when we got the news of the grant award in December 2013, but we had no idea it would take this long to get a signed contract from the State. It’s been frustrating, to say the least. However, we’re putting that frustration behind us now that we can begin to move forward with the initial steps of the restoration.”