Port of Oswego Authority begins renovations on west dock
Sign of Historic Goble Shipyard, photo credits Brian Rudman.
OSWEGO, N.Y.– The Port of Oswego Authority has begun its first of multiple renovations on its docks. The project that is underwaly now is focused on the west dock in particular, by upgrading the concrete and the bumpers for the boats among other things.
“We’ve had wear and tear over the years using a dock,” said Bill Scriber, Port Authority Executive Director. “A dock is not something that lasts forever. You have to have an upgrade and replacement plan in your overall vision.”
This dock in particular is closing in on 100 years old. It was built back in the early 1920’s. These improvements will help the company’s who use the west dock, Lehigh Company and WT. According to Scriber, these upgrades will benefit Oswego economically by creating jobs through the company’s that dock there.
“The harbor in Oswego is a huge supporter of not only jobs in the area but jobs throughout the Central New York area,” said Scriber.
WT will add additional ships and in turn, additional jobs to the port. Lehigh on the other hand has docked at the Port of Oswego for around 40 years. The not only provide jobs to the area, but serve in the community as well.
“They support a number of the concrete construction projects throughout upstate New York,” said Scriber. “These are local employers, local businesses, that with the availability of modern docking systems are very competitive with bringing in their product.”
This will not be the only renovation project that the Port Authority will make on the docks. Scriber says their is a reason for the push to upgrade one of the things Oswego is best known for.
“They call it the port city for a reason,” said Scriber. “It’s not the hotel city, the tourist city or the walk around the water city. It’s the port, because the port has been the driver of the economy and innovation and industrial here since 1799.”
There will be two other dock projects that will take place between 2021 and 2022. Those two projects on top of the current one will cost around 4 million dollars.
