Oncenter renovation work planned as it marks 30 years

SYRACUSE — As the facility marks 30 years of operation in downtown Syracuse, Onondaga County has plans for some renovation work at the Oncenter Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center. 

The plans include work on meeting rooms that will be starting soon and continuing through next May. The county expects to add five new meeting rooms with 3,000 square feet of meeting space outfitted with presentation technologies. 

The renovation work will also include some new restrooms and new flooring and lighting, along with and heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning units in the venue’s ballroom atrium. 

“We are going to look at an ambitious and aggressive plan for the needs of our new economy here, and future investment in this facility and in the Oncenter campus is going to be a big part of that,” Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said. 

McMahon shared details during an Oct. 24 press event in the convention center’s atrium area. The renovation work should cost between $2 million and $5 million, he told reporters covering the event. 

“This building is evolving, and certainly every year we put capital into this venue,” the county executive said in his remarks. “With the latest news in the community [Micron Technology coming to Clay], we need to look at the opportunity in front of us now and this venue needs to meet the needs of the community moving forward.”

McMahon then added, “Our community is now instantaneously the semiconductor hub for memory technology in the world.” 

The convention center is part of the Oncenter complex. “It’s more than just this [convention center] building. We have the Upstate Medical Arena at the Oncenter War Memorial, the John H. Mulroy Civic Center Theaters, all managed under the Oncenter brand since 1992,” McMahon explained. 

Los Angeles, California–based ASM Global currently manages the Oncenter complex.

Former Onondaga County Executive Nicholas J. Pirro, for whom the facility is named, was out of town and couldn’t make the event, McMahon said. 

However, Edward Kochian, longtime deputy county executive, was among those attending the event. The county office building at 600 S. State St. in Syracuse is named in honor of Kochian.