After 15-Year Wait, Former Westover BAE Site Redevelopment Moves Forward with Public Hearings

For years, the chain-link fence wrapped around 27 empty acres in Westover has stood like a question nobody could answer. Weeds grew through cracked pavement where thousands of Broome County residents once clocked into work at 600 Main Street.

Now, after nearly 15 years of silence, a massive effort is underway to bring the former Air Force Plant 59 site back to life; local residents are about to get their first real look at the future.

The Broome County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) and the Town of Union have scheduled two critical public meetings to lay out the redevelopment plans, address flood concerns, and take feedback from the community.

How to Have Your Say: Meeting Details

If you want to know what is happening to one of the most visible pieces of land in the Southern Tier, mark your calendar for these two upcoming sessions:

Meeting 1: Public Information Session

• When: Wednesday, May 27, 2026, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
• Where: Town of Union Board Room, 3111 East Main Street.
• What: A chance to meet with the IDA and its engineering team, ask questions, and view the proposed site blueprints.

Meeting 2: Official Public Hearing

• When: Tuesday, June 9, 2026 (During the regular Planning Board meeting).
• Where: Town of Union Planning Board.
• What: The formal site plan review process, where community members can enter their public comments into the record.

Frozen in Time Since the 2011 Flood

For generations, the massive 620,000-square-foot facility at 600 Main Street was an economic powerhouse for the region, housing major operations for Remington Rand, General Electric, and BAE Systems.

That history came to a screeching halt in September 2011 when Tropical Storm Lee sent catastrophic floodwaters tearing through Westover. The damage to the facility was total. The building was eventually demolished, the federal government stepped in for a multi-year environmental cleanup, and ownership was transferred to the Broome County IDA in 2018.

Since then, the land has sat empty. Until now.

The Million-Dollar Challenge: Beating the Floodplain

Every Southern Tier resident knows that you can’t rebuild on the waterfront without a plan for the next big storm.

To prevent history from repeating itself, officials aren't just building on the lot: they are physically changing it. Backed by a state FAST NY Track C award, the IDA is moving forward with a plan to physically elevate a massive portion of the property out of the floodplain.

The goal is to create a "shovel-ready" development pad that is safe from future high-water events, making it immediately attractive to commercial buyers and new employers.

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More Than a Construction Site: A Community’s Turning Point

In a region where factories have disappeared, jobs have left, and rivers have rewritten entire neighborhoods, the fate of 600 Main Street is about more than just zoning permits and dirt.

It is a visible scar from 2011 that is finally healing. For a neighborhood that has spent a decade staring at a fenced-off memory, these upcoming meetings are the first real step toward turning a symbol of the past into an engine for the future.