OHA awarded $3 million state grant for renovation project

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Onondaga Historical Association (OHA) will use a $3 million New York State grant for a renovation project at its building at 321 Montgomery St. in downtown Syracuse.

New York State Assemblyman William Magnarelli (D–Syracuse) secured the grant funding for the OHA project.

The project will involve installation of better air conditioning, humidity controls, and the renovation of its research center, which is a “huge resource for the community,” Lisa Romano Moore, executive director of the OHA, said.

“We hold multiple collections from artwork to newspapers to clothing,” Romano Moore said. “All of those are to be stored in the spaces that need good environmental controls.”

Romano Moore spoke with reporters outside the OHA on Thursday morning. She noted that the project’s total cost will approach about $4 million and private donations will also help pay for the renovation effort.

The project also involves adding some bathrooms and a kitchen on the second floor, so that OHA can accommodate more public programming in its space. The project will also involve adding better internet-connectivity technology as well.

The project should take about a year to complete. OHA is in the final stages of reviewing project designs from IPD Engineering and still needs to choose a contractor for the project.

“Hopefully by the fall, we’ll be underway with construction,” Romano Moore said.

OHA occupies the former Bell Telephone building that Romano Moore described as previously serving as the “largest switchboard on the East Coast,” and the building includes photos and equipment from those days.

“The building itself is a historic building. We’re in a historic district of the city, so this is a really important time for us to make some changes,” Romano Moore said.