OHA set for big renovation project at downtown Syracuse museum

SYRACUSE — The Onondaga Historical Association (OHA) is preparing for a renovation project at its museum building at 321 Montgomery St. in downtown Syracuse. OHA will use a $3 million New York State grant for the effort. New York State Assemblyman William Magnarelli (D–Syracuse) secured the funding for the OHA project. “Preserving the history of our community is an extremely important task,” Magnarelli said in the OHA’s announcement about the project. “To do this properly, the Onondaga Historical Association must have facilities that are suitably equipped for preservation but also welcoming to the public.” 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 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.” The OHA news release on the project says it’ll include the move of the Richard & Carolyn Wright Research Center from its current location on the second floor to an enlarged space on the third floor. Romano Moore spoke with reporters outside OHA on Aug. 1. She noted that the project’s total cost will approach about $4 million and private donations will also help pay for the renovation effort. “We’ll be putting some rooftop units in, so at some point there’ll probably be a crane and scaffolding on street level that will bring some of that equipment up to the roof,” Romano Moore told reporters. “We get a lot of questions about people wanting to have events here but we don’t really have a kitchen to accommodate catering and bathrooms on the second floor, so that will support more community programming.” 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. As of Sept. 5, OHA was in the final stages of reviewing project designs from IPD Engineering and still needs to choose a contractor for the project. “We’ve been planning this for a while. We’ve looked at floor plans. We’ve been looking at asbestos and lead in the building as well and understanding what that dynamic will be in the construction project. But it was really the Assemblyman’s support that really gave us a chance to move forward,” Romano Moore said of Magnarelli. The OHA announcement stated that the association is “grateful” for additional support from the Central New York Community Foundation; Russ King; the estate of former OHA board member and OHA Medal recipient William Burrows; and the estate of Dawn Cottrell. OHA will also accept donations from the general public for the renovation project, Romano Moore noted with a smile. 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,” she concluded.