The construction fencing on the Byram River has been up since March 10. The Village bills the project as the first phase of the "Port Chester LOOP!", a walking route meant to tie the waterfront to the train station and the Capitol Theatre. On the contractor's own bid sheet, though, the performance stage and the pergola over the performance area together cost $1,715,000. That is close to twice the $940,000 for the stamped-concrete walkway. Behind those fences, Port Chester is building a riverfront event space, and the path is the piece that connects it to everything else.
Most of the Money Goes to the Performance Area
The Village Manager's January 5, 2026 memo to the Board of Trustees recommended awarding BID 2025-11, called "Downtown Waterfront Improvements," to Jablko Construction of Katonah for $4,756,000. That figure includes a $250,000 contingency. The itemized bid form attached to the memo shows where the rest of the money goes.
| Bid item | Quantity | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Performance area pergola | 1 | $925,000 |
| Performance stage | 1 | $790,000 |
| Promenade shade structures | 4 | $680,000 |
| Stamped concrete walkways | 1 lump sum | $940,000 |
| Electrical improvements | 1 lump sum | $300,000 |
| 16-foot lamppost lights | 17 | $110,500 |
| LED bollard lights | 35 | $105,000 |
| Gateway sign | 1 | $40,000 |
| Benches | 4 | $26,000 |
| Trees | 2 | $1,500 |
The 22 base items add up to $4,506,000 before the contingency. The stage, the pergola and the four shade structures account for $2,395,000 of that, which is more than half. The walkway that will carry people along the river is the largest single line at $940,000, a bit more than the pergola alone.
The Village spelled out the same priority in its March announcement. One of the stated goals is to "establish a new urban waterfront park showcasing a live entertainment performance space," alongside restoring the promenade, improving access and adding lighting, security and irrigation.
The Walk Itself Is Built to Look Different
The walkway is the cheaper part, but it has a design brief of its own. The memo says the LOOP's hardscape, landscaping, lighting, "even the color of the cement sidewalks," will follow a palette set apart from the "generic" infrastructure elsewhere in the village. The $40,000 gateway sign does the same job. A person standing on Abendroth Avenue should be able to tell where the LOOP begins.
According to the Sound Shore Dispatch, Jablko is paving roughly 1,600 linear feet of decorative stamped concrete. The newsletter put Phase 1 between the southernmost corner of "The Gut" and Bar Taco. The memo gives the boundaries in street terms. The waterfront segment meets Abendroth Avenue at both its north and south ends, and later phases are meant to continue up Willett Avenue and Westchester Avenue from those points.
Most of the rest of the sheet is about evening use. There are 17 lampposts and 35 bollard lights, plus $300,000 in electrical work, which a stage needs as much as a path does. The furnishings are modest by comparison: four benches, two bike racks, six planters, six trash cans and two new trees.
Who Paid for the Room by the River
The bid came in well under the Village's estimate. While building the 2025–2030 Capital Plan, staff projected about $6,225,965. Jablko's bid was $1,469,965 below that figure and the lowest of seven. The highest bid was $7,376,001. With up to $250,000 added for construction administration by Delaware Engineering, staff recommended setting up a $5,006,000 capital project.
The money comes from the following sources:
- Grants: $1,656,048. Empire State Development, $980,000. Climate Smart Communities, $676,048.
- Westchester County: $1,123,298. BLA capital funding, $1,000,000. DIG grant, $123,298.
- Development-linked contributions: $1,692,759. Mariner Development proffer, $528,858. Abendroth fair share contribution, $497,336. Abendroth Green parkland funding, $406,000. Abendroth Green community facility funding, $260,565.
- Village fund balance: $533,895, recommended to close the gap.
The development-linked money is the largest of the four groups. At $1,692,759, it is about a third of the $5,006,000 project and more than the county's $1,000,000 BLA grant alone. That BLA grant traces back to August 2025, when, as Talk of the Sound reported, the County Board approved $1.025 million in bonds and an intermunicipal agreement for waterfront and downtown improvements in Port Chester.
Summaries of the project have usually credited outside grants. The Rye Record described the initial work as largely funded by the county BLA fund and the Empire State Development and Climate Smart Communities grants, "topped off by other grant funding and local sources." Those three sources do cover about 53 percent. The "local sources" are the bigger story, though. A large share of the new riverfront park is being paid for by contributions tied to private development around it. The Village's general fund covers about 11 percent.
Why a Village With the Capitol Wants a Second Stage
Port Chester already has a famous room for live music. The LOOP plan sets out to connect that room to the river. The Village describes the full route as a pedestrian path from the waterfront to the train station and the Capitol Theatre. Along the way, walkers would pass local businesses, Summerfield Park and Liberty Square. The Rye Record described the finished LOOP as a 1,600-foot sidewalk circling the downtown core between Broad Street and the waterfront, bounded by Westchester and Willett avenues.
In that version of downtown, a night out could include a show at the Capitol, an outdoor performance on the river, or both, connected by a single path that is easy to recognize. Village Manager Stuart Rabin told the Rye Record in December 2025:
"It's an incredible move forward toward improving the quality of life and the atmosphere of our downtown business district."
The same article said Rabin hopes businesses will market themselves as being on or near the LOOP and draw in Capitol Theatre visitors and people looking for outdoor dining. Several of those businesses are already on Abendroth Avenue. Westchester Magazine lists Felice at 55 Abendroth Avenue, a restaurant the Sound Shore Dispatch describes as having views over the water. Colony Grill's site lists its Port Chester location at 35 Abendroth Avenue. Bar Taco marks the far end of Phase 1. A performance space between those addresses would give diners a reason to stay outside after the meal, and give showgoers somewhere to walk before and after.
Where the Loop Goes After the Water
This phase finishes one project and starts another. The memo calls the waterfront work the final phase of the Port Chester Waterfront Revitalization Project, which began in 2021, and Phase 1 of the LOOP. The next sections would head inland along Willett Avenue and Westchester Avenue, but no published schedule or funding plan exists for them yet. Rabin told the Rye Record that the full project's completion is "several years out."
On the waterfront, the most recent public timeline is the June 2026 Sound Shore Dispatch update. It reported active construction three months in and put Phase 1 completion in late 2026. That fits Rabin's December 2025 estimate of finishing "by this time next year." When construction started, the Village warned of crews and equipment in the promenade area and the marina parking lot, and of temporary changes to pedestrian access. Anyone parking at the marina before the fencing comes down should plan around that.
There is separate work underway on the street the LOOP is meant to follow later. On October 24, the Village announced that water main replacement had started on Westchester Avenue. The notice gave no end date. The Village's project announcement links to the LOOP plans and bid documents for anyone who wants to see where the stage sits on the site plan.
At Sunbelt Realty, we watch public projects like the LOOP closely because they change how a block works long before they show up in a sale price. If you own near Abendroth Avenue, Willett Avenue or Westchester Avenue and want to talk about what the waterfront work could mean for your property, call or text Juan Carlos today.
