Projects announced for southwest Syracuse area in Downtown Revitalization Initiative

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The City of Syracuse has chosen the projects it will pursue with the $10 million in funding in the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI).

Brian Stratton, director of the New York State Canal Corporation, announced 12 projects for the Syracuse’s “Southwest Gateway” and eight project for the city of Oneida.

Stratton announced the projects during a Wednesday afternoon appearance at the Southwest Community Center at 401 South Ave. in Syracuse.

The Syracuse projects include more than $1.1 million efforts for interior and exterior improvements at the Southwest Community Center. They also include a $1 million project to build a new facility for the Rescue Mission on a vacant parcel on West Onondaga Street.

The event also include the announcement of projects for the city of Oneida. They include a $2.9 million effort to renovate the vacant Hotel Oneida and a more than $1.5 million project to restore and improve the Devereaux building.

After Stratton announced the projects, both Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh and Oneida Mayor Helen Acker shared remarks with those gathered.

Even though the state’s program is focused on downtown areas, Walsh noted in his remarks that the announcement took place in a building that isn’t part of the downtown area. “We’re standing in a building on South Avenue, which is connected to West Onondaga Street, which as [Syracuse Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens] likes to say are the arteries that feed the heart, which is downtown Syracuse,” Walsh said. “You can’t have a successful downtown with successful neighborhood business districts and corridors and neighborhoods, and the beauty of this project is that it is going to help us extend the investment and the momentum that we have seen downtown through these arteries and breathe new life into the surrounding neighborhoods.”

Some additional Syracuse projects

• Revitalizing and repurposing three historic abandoned buildings — DRI award: $1,217,000. The project involves restoring three vacant historic buildings at the corner of West Onondaga Street and South Avenue, the “two anchor avenues of the Southwest Gateway.” Crews will renovate Trinity Church, Gillette House and the Parish House and converted for use as a brewery, office space, and housing.
• Constructing the Trinity South Avenue mixed-use development — DRI award: $1,000,000
• Redesigning and reconstructing the Salina & Onondaga intersection — DRI award: $1,001,000
• Beautifying the South Avenue streetscape — DRI award: $1,378,000

• Constructing the Jubilee Workforce Center — DRI award: $500,000