Oswego PD Project Moving Forward. Wish List Includes Ponzi Building Renovations
By Stefan Yablonski
The momentum continues in the Port City.
“I am very happy with all the good things happening, all the grant money. Of course, you don’t get every one that you apply for,” Mayor Robert Corradino said.
The city is going to be starting the new police department on West First Street in phases, he said.
“The plan was to build a police station and a fire station. However, a lot of people, mostly senior citizens, told me that we need a better community center. So, we took out the fire station component and added a community center,” he said.
They scaled back the project, making it a police station, but making it designed as such so that they can add on a community center. Phase one is to knock down the old building, the mayor said.
They hadn’t started yet because they were working on a large project on West First Street, he explained.
As part of an energy contract, the city converted approximately 3,000 streetlights, purchased in 2024, to high efficiency LED lighting city wide.
Streetlights were a big part of that project, but a lot of HVAC units were upgraded, new weather stripping on some buildings and more, he added.
“We were awarded $5 million in grant funding from New York state Environmental Facilities Corporation to replace the Ellen Street water tank. That’ll be another big project,” he said. “And for the Gardiner Hill High Service Zone Interconnection Improvement project.”
According to the mayor, this major infrastructure initiative includes the demolition of the deteriorated Ellen Street water tower, rehabilitation of the Gardiner Hill tower and construction of a new interconnection between the two high service zones. The project also features upgraded water distribution lines and enhancements to the existing booster station.
Wish list
“There is one thing that I really would like to do, but we don’t have enough money yet, is to fix up the Ponzi Building over at the fort. The estimate is $4 million. There is a lot of work to do there. That is really one of the things I really want to get done. But, again, we are short on the funds,” he said.
The city has secured some state funding for the Ponzi Building restoration.
In December 2024, the city was awarded $1 million through Empire State Development. The city reapplied for the same grant in 2025. In December 2025, Oswego was awarded an additional $775,000.
“We are now approximately halfway toward full project funding,” Mayor Corradino said.
“I think we have done a good job being fiscally responsible. But there are always challenges. We find cuts where we can. We don’t overspend. We have received grants to help with some projects. We are already talking about the 2026 paving program,” he added. “We are getting two new fire trucks this year.”
The city plans to repurpose the current police station once the new site is operational.
“We pay rent for some offices, such as HUD and the Visitors’ Center across the street,” he said. “What I’d like to do is bring them all into there. We won’t be paying rent and we will save the city money.”
The mayor highlighted some of the accomplishments of 2025:
• The fire department was awarded nearly $13,000 in State Homeland security Grant Funding.
• The rental assistance program awarded nearly $72,000 in grant funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
• Paved about $1 million of city streets.
• $4.7 million in grant funds awarded for lead service line replacement.
• The city will see a new planned development of 32 duplex homes at John Paul Drive in the Seventh Ward. And 10 new homes on Fourth Avenue.
• A new website will start beginning in the spring (March or April).
• And four new pickleball courts will be constructed at Fort Ontario Park.
