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Old courthouse tower could find new home in SyracusePlanned bus transfer hub considered as possible site for 19 th-century stonework.Bv John MarianiStaff writerThe tower from the long-demolished old Onondaga County Courthouse could rise again 3 — this time, over the new down-i town Syracuse bus transfer hub j being planned by Centro.“Such thoughts are very, very preliminary. I don’t want to give anyone the impression that that’s going to happen. But it’s one of the architectural considerations [ that we are at least willing to I look at, Centro Executive Di~ j rector Frank Kobliski said Thursday.If Centro officials decide to go* that route, Syracuse officials arealmost positive they know where the tower’s original Onondaga limestone blocks can be found.“We’re almost 100 percent sure they are out at the (Hancock) airport, City Hall spokeswoman Colleen Deacon said. “But theyTe under a lot of snow right now.The tower was part of Onondaga County’s third courthouse. Designed by Horatio White, the Anglo-Norman-style courthouse stood at North Clinton and West Genesee streets from 1857 until 1968, when it was razed to make way for The Post-Standard building.The building housed county offices until 1907. when the current county courthouse opened. The Syracuse Board of Education occupied it until 1945, followed by the Syracuse PoliceDepartment.Rather than demolish the tower, workers took it down stone by stone and numbered the blocks, with the thought that the landmark could be rebuilt elsewhere. The stone was brought to the backyard of the city Parks, Recreation and Youth Programs office on Spencer Street, where it sat for more than three decades while ideas came and went about where to reassemble it.Centro officials, meanwhile, began laying plans for a new, enclosed shelter to replace itsopen-air Common Center transfer hub at South Salina and Fayette streets. Last fall they and government leaders settled on a proposed site at South Warren, East Adams and South Salina streets and began seeking comment.The transfer station took uppart of Kobliski’s talk before the Thursday Morning Roundtable at Drumlins. When Roundtable moderator Sandra Barrett asked whether officials had considered using the tower in the design, Kobliski said it was “on our radar screen.Dennis Connors, curator of history for the Onondaga Historical Association, had called Centro’s marketing department with the idea a couple of weeks ago, Kobliski said later.A history buff, Kobliski said the notion appealed to him: “I thought, ‘You’ve got to be kidding — I wonder if it will work?’ Two significant factors could be part of the equation.For one, the numbers paintedonto the blocks to guide their reassembly weathered away over the years. But Connors said he thinks that problem can be overcome.“There are very good photos of the tower, he said. “If someone spread the blocks out in a parking lot, with the photos to guide them, I’m sure it could be rebuilt.The other is the exact location of the stone.Hancock Airport Commissioner Tony Mancuso said his staff is almost positive the stone is on a 2-acre site by an abandoned runway where other unneeded gear is stored. That could not be verified Thursday, he said, because the plot is covered with snow.“I told Colleen (Deacon) I would get back to her after the weather breaks, Mancuso said.
Newspaper Details
Syracuse Post Standard
Syracuse, New York, US
Fri, Feb 09, 2007
Page 57
Full Page
Clipped by
Eddie E.
NA, 17 Dec 2022
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