The village of Tupper Lake has some decisions to make.

Recently awarded $10 million through the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, it’s a chance for the community to get back into the conversation with the very popular, and nearby, Lake Placid. If that happens, it could lead to the village becoming a destination as well.

“This old mill used to employ 500 people and it was the biggest wood producing factory in the state of New York,” Village of Tupper Lake Mayor Paul Maroun said, standing outside the large, vacant property on Route 3.

But for years, it’s sat empty, deteriorating, taking up valuable real estate for a community that needs it.

So as part of Tupper Lake’s big $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative, mayor Paul Maroun says a plan is in place to convert it into 90 housing units, both market rate and income-based mixed, and a bottling plant for a local beer distributor.

“We need housing in Tupper Lake. We need housing in the Tri-Lakes area. This is going to promote that,” Maroun added.

In addition, that money can be used to upgrade Tupper Lake’s downtown. Not only visually, but with new business. Several vacant properties, some of which have sat for years, are getting a serious look from new business that want to check out what the northern New York region can offer.

It’s a win where the PR is almost as valuable as the money itself.

“I think that, for a while, we were on the back burner. I think that we’re finally starting to get some recognition because of things we can now have available,” Coldwell Banker Whitbeck Real Estate Salesperson Matt Ellis said.

However, Tupper Lake also has a much bigger vision in mind. One to market itself to the entire northeast.

The line is famous, but also rings so true: If you build it, they will come.

Tupper Lake is also home to what used to be a massively popular ski resort. The mountain, Big Tupper, easier to ski than nearby Whiteface, allowing for families, children and beginners to enjoy the slopes. But it too has been closed for decades.

If this money really does get Tupper Lake back on the Map, being so close to Lake Placid, then it could be much easier to market the mountain and get it back up and running once again. Bringing in people from all over.

“It brings tourism. It promotes jobs. It’s a draw to Tupper Lake and the Tri-Lakes because I can’t ski Whiteface, I’m not that good a skier, but I can ski Big Tupper,” Maroun added.

That Maroun says, is how a trip to Lake Placid, becomes a trip to Tupper Lake and Lake Placid.

The village hopes to have a finalized investment plan this summer.