Construction is set to begin on Finger Lakes Community College’s new Culinary Arts Center of Excellence, a project designed to bring culinary education, workforce training and New York food and beverage programming together in one location.
A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday for the $24 million facility, which will be built on a 2.519-acre parcel along Lakeshore Drive in the City of Canandaigua. The site was subdivided from property owned by the Canandaigua Area Development Corporation at 150 Lakeshore Drive and is located west of the Speedway gas station and across from Kershaw Park.
The approximately 19,287-square-foot center will become the permanent home of FLCC’s Culinary Arts Program while also housing offices for the New York State Wine and Culinary Center, better known as New York Kitchen, and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ontario County. The facility will feature shared demonstration kitchens and teaching spaces to support culinary education and workforce development.
New York Kitchen will relocate from its current location at 800 South Main Street and will operate retail and tasting areas showcasing New York-produced food and beverages. Plans for the new facility do not include a restaurant. The current New York Kitchen property is expected to be sold after the move.
The project is funded by the State University of New York, the Sands Family Foundation, the Canandaigua Area Development Corporation and other project partners. Construction is expected to be completed in late summer 2027.
Representatives from Ontario County, the SUNY Board of Trustees, FLCC, LeChase Construction, the Canandaigua Area Development Corporation, New York Kitchen, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ontario County, the City of Canandaigua and the Sands Family Foundation are expected to attend Tuesday’s groundbreaking ceremony.
The project site is a former brownfield that has completed environmental remediation and operates under a management plan approved by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
The development has also received all required local approvals, including subdivision approval from the Canandaigua Planning Commission and City Council approvals for sewer and pedestrian easement relocations, parking lot modifications and adjustments to access points on Muar Street and Lakeshore Drive.
