BY JIMMY LAWTONNorth Country This Week

OGDENSBURG —  Ogdensburg received welcome news that the State Dormitory Authority intends to demolish and clean up additional buildings at the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center.

In August, DANSY notified the city of intent to demolish the Letchworth Building Complex.

Now in a letter received Oct. 30, DANSY has expressed interest in expanding the project to include the demolition of Buildings 38, 49, 50, 56, 57, 58, and 86, located on a parcel bounded by NYS Route 37, Entrance Avenue, Cottage Drive, and Hanes Drive. 

According to the letter, the project would be completed in a single phase and would include hazardous and regulated material removals. 

The buildings to be demolished total approximately 31,832 square feet. 

It also noted that the buildings have been vacant for many years and are in a dilapidated and deteriorated condition.

Interim City Manager Andrea Smith said the news came after the city submitted a request to the state to consider demolishing buildings at SLPC that were already in disrepair.

The parcels included in DASNY’s latest proposal are what city officials have referred to as Parcel A, and the city has been seeking action from the state on those properties for about a decade.

“This is exciting,” she said. 

Smith noted that the properties slated for demolition are what the city asked the state to consider in August.

“It’s very encouraging that the state is looking at the campus,” she said.

Smith said the state also took note of the city’s request to preserve salvageable materials during the demolitions for both environmental and historical factors.

The city is set to act on a resolution Monday which would allow DASNY to proceed on the proposal.

Over the last 40 years, the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center has downsized substantially and more recently the state closed the Ogdensburg Correctional Facility. 

In recent months councilors have asked the city to repurpose the prison and have long called on the state to at least tear down the “dangerous” buildings at the psychiatric center.