Residents of the Oswego community have expressed their concerns about the access and safety to Lake Ontario after Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that Oswego won the $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative. 

On July 14, Cuomo announced that downtown Oswego was selected as the winner of the $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative in Central New York which has been in the final plans of implementing.

Oswego Mayor William Barlow held three public meetings to discuss how the  grant should be spent to revitalize downtown. Nearly 100 residents gathered in December to express their opinions about what the grant should be spent on.

“Winning the $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative provides Oswego with an extraordinary opportunity, and now it is time for our community to come together to develop a plan to transform downtown and capitalize on such an opportunity,” Barlow said in a press release from June 1.

In addition to the access and safety to the waterfront of Lake Ontario, residents expressed concerns about downtown parking, the need for renovations to sidewalks and better promotion of the historic districts.

According to the official Oswego County website, the closest free access public beach to Oswego is Mexico State Park. The beach is open for swimming, weather permitting, mid-June through Labor Day.

Oswego State student Ryan Cobane said because the closest beach is not close at all, he goes down the man-made stairs near West Campus, to get down to the lake and swim.

“If there was a public beach closer than Mexico, I would definitely go there,” Cobane said. “But until then, I am going to swim on campus.”

According to Mitch Fields, associate vice president of facilities services, in the 1970s, residents of Oswego could swim at a public beach known as Sheldon’s Beach. When Niagara Mohawk constructed a fence around the area a decade later in connection with the steam plant construction, residents could no longer use the local swimming spot.

On the Oswego State campus, there are stairs on East Campus to get down to the lake.  Fields said they have been there since Sheldon Beach was there.

“Even the longest tenured employees at the college say the stairs were there when they were children and came to the beach with their families,” Fields said.

Cobane said the path on West Campus is difficult to get down, especially if it rains a few days prior.

“I am always so nervous going down the stairs,” Cobane said. “I feel like I am going to slip and fall 15 feet down the very steep, very unsafe trail. I am surprised [Oswego State] hasn’t added stairs on west campus, like there are on east campus. It would make it easier and safer.”

The Central New York Regional Economic Development Council selected Oswego as the winner of the grant as part of a $100 million effort to improve the urban vitality of the city centers across the state.

“New York is working to generate opportunity in every corner of this state and with the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, we are building on that progress,” Cuomo said at the press conference announcing Oswego as a winner. “Through this funding, we are giving Oswego the opportunity to invest in its rich historical, cultural and scenic assets and transform its downtown into an economic anchor for the entire Central New York community.”

Mercedes Niess, the executive director of the H. Lee White Maritime Museum of Oswego, said she often has visitors ask where the closest beach is and are surprised when she has to direct them to places outside of Oswego.

“I think this is something that people have been wanting for a long time,” Niess said. “I am hoping that they can find a solution that residents will be happy with.”

Mexico resident and Oswego State student Melinda Fatiga said she does not think the lake is clean enough to swim in, but that she would go down to socialize with friends.

“I think going down to hang out would be cool,” Fatiga said. “Having a beach or stairs would be safer than climbing down rocks to access the shoreline, as well as having a lifeguard on duty.”

Niess said that having a beach would add more safety issues and concerns.

“I think this issue raises questions about where to put stairs,” Niess said. “There is no natural sandy beach in Oswego. I think this is more than stairs, we would need life guards and that would raise staff concerns.”

Fatiga said a friend of hers passed away from an accident in the lake, so she attended the meeting urging Oswego to add safer access to Lake Ontario.

“I think supervision, in addition to safer access, is also an important aspect if the town is going to encourage the lake access,” Fatiga said.