Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul joined Middletown Mayor Joseph DeStefano at the ribbon cutting for the opening of the renovated Woolworth Building in downtown Middletown.

The historic building, boarded up for more than 20 years, has been revamped and refurbished into a new shopping center named Rail Trail Commons. 

"When people have been down for a long time and you go past boarded-up storefronts like the Woolworth's, like the other ones you saw pictured here today, it sort of takes you down if you're not a strong person or a strong community, but then there's places like Middletown," said Hochul.

The city was awarded a $10 million grant in July 2016 for Governor Andrew Cuomo's Downtown Revitalization Initiative. Now, four new businesses are on track to open their doors in each of the retail spaces in the building.

Painted Horse Chocolates is just one of the shops set to open after winning the city's "Race 4 Space" contest.

"We're going to be selling artisanal chocolates, hand painted as well as gourmet fudge and popcorn," said Painted Horse Chocolates owner Rachel Guarino.

Guests also got a chance to sample the fare from Oak & Reed, a restaurant set to open in one of the other retail spaces.

John Degnan has lived in Middletown his whole life and remembers when Woolworth's department store was a mainstay in the downtown area.

"You would do a lot of Christmas shopping here for your real young children and you'd be able to get hardware and toys," said Degnan, the executive director for Middletown's BID. "It's very gratifying to see this, because for a very long time, it was closed, and you never want to see vacancies."

Since the city won the grant, there have been more than 40 property purchases in the downtown area, totaling more than $20 million in private investment. City officials are hopeful it's a sign that the opening of Rail Trail Commons is the beginning of downtown Middletown's new lease on life.