County legislators hope to keep the lights and heat on at closed Ogdensburg prison
Aug. 2—OGDENSBURG — The St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators hope to keep the heat and lights on at the shuttered Ogdensburg Correctional Facility.
During their board meeting Monday, legislators unanimously passed a resolution appealing to Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul to continue heating the facility until her Prison Redevelopment Commission develops an actionable plan for its reuse.
The prison, which closed in March, is slated to be repurposed by the state, but the resolution says no plan has yet been proposed.
Until there is a plan, the legislators ask that the lights and heat stay on in order to protect the historic building from deterioration, which could frustrate future redevelopment plans and become an eyesore.
"It has recently been learned that state officials plan to shut off the heat and lights to the facility even though state officials are aware that such an irresponsible decision will result in speeding up the deterioration and destruction of these facilities," the resolution states.
The resolution calls on the governor "to keep the heat and lights on until the redevelopment commission she created has successfully transitioned the facility into new, productive use that results in new jobs, new economic development opportunities, and real growth for Northern New York."
Legislator James E. Reagen, R-Ogdensburg, who spearheaded the resolution, hopes that another historic Ogdensburg building won't be allowed to decompose.
"I've been in a lot of buildings at the psychiatric center right next door to the prison, and over the past 40 years I've watched them slowly deteriorate and fall apart while the state repeatedly promised to cooperate with efforts to redevelop them," he said. "Sadly, repeated efforts to work with the state have resulted in nothing but beautiful, historic buildings collapsing before our eyes."
He said it's "critical" that the state "keep the heat and lights on until such time as a realistic plan for redevelopment is in place and put into effect."
"If they do that," he said, "we can take those buildings and turn them into an economic engine to create new jobs, spur development and benefit our region."
He said the state needs to be "realistic" and understand that developers aren't lining up to purchase the enormous property, which isn't in a region of the state where property values are higher.
"I think it's important that we as a board call upon the state to work with us and make this a show place and a pilot project for the entire state on how to redevelop these vacant properties," Mr. Reagen said.
Legislator David W. Forsythe, R-Lisbon, introduced an amendment to the resolution, changing the original language — "and transfers the property to a responsible agency that can immediately begin implementing the plan" — by removing the word "responsible."
"A lot of times we bring these resolutions forward and it will sound intimidating or adversarial," he explained.
He said this change would go a long way to prevent that impression.
Both the resolution and the amendment to the resolution passed unanimously.
