BY ADAM ATKINSONNorth Country This Week

GABRIELS -- An approval in the State Senate to put a former prison campus in nearby Franklin County up for sale could create a template for similar future sales of abandoned state properties. 

This might include the derelict Ogdensburg Correctional Facility, but only if the measure doesn't get the death sentence on the floor of the Assembly.  

Senator Dan Stec (R,C-Queensbury), who represents Potsdam, Canton, Massena and other areas of St. Lawrence County, proposed the amendment to facilitate the sale of Camp Gabriels in the Town of Brighton in Franklin County, and it passed the state Senate June 6, said a press release from Stec's office. 

Senate bill S548 enables the property to be sold or leased and ensures that the funds from the sale go toward forest preserve acquisition in the Adirondack Park. 

But, it should be noted that this is the fifth consecutive year Stec’s legislation has passed the Senate and still awaits first passage in the Assembly.

Passage of this legislation in both houses of the Legislature this year is the necessary first step in making the amendment a reality, said the senator in a press release. Stec said the measure must pass both houses this year, and again in 2027 or 2028 during the new Legislative Session before it can be eligible for voters.

“The continued dormancy of the Camp Gabriels facility has had a negative impact on our local economy and quality of life,” Stec said. “If we’re serious about repurposing closed prisons and using them as economic drivers, a constitutional amendment to facilitate the sale of Camp Gabriels is necessary. Passing it removes this financial liability from the state and helps our region move forward on projects to generate the jobs, revenue and economic activity we’ve needed in Franklin County since Camp Gabriels closed in 2009.

“In addition to the economic potential, this amendment ensures we continue forest preservation in the Adirondack Park for years to come,” he continued. “I’m hopeful that the Assembly will also take action this year, as it is the vital next step in bringing this amendment to voters and ensuring this site can improve our region.”

Many local officials have decried the state's inaction on its abandoned, tax exempt facilities in St. Lawrence County, especially in Ogdensburg. 

In March 2022, Ogdensburg Correctional Facility, a medium security men's prison located on part of the former state psychiatric facility campus, was shuttered by the state and remains vacant and off the tax rolls with presumably no plan in sight for reuse. 

Over the years since the prison in the city closed, there has been at least some private interest in the lots. 

In 2023 Watertown developer Rick St. Jean, of Kirkland Realty, had floated the idea of repurposing Ogdensburg Correctional along with the other abandoned state psychiatric buildings to be used as affordable housing. The proposal for the facilities would have cost an estimated $300 million to $400 million and would have included housing at the prison as well as a business making shipping container homes for the region.

The city council at the time did not pass any cohesive measure of support for the idea and at least one councilman, Dan Skamperle, shot down the proposal stating that the city already had enough low income housing and the idea was not a good fit for the city. 

And, the New York Prison Redevelopment Commission at one time released the publication "Unlocking Opportunity: The Report of the Prison Redevelopment Commission," a 140-page report that includes detailed site analyses of 12 closed prisons and considers redevelopment opportunities for each site. However, there was little in the publication regarding reuse of the Ogdensburg facility. 

Recently some progress has been made in Ogdensburg at the abandoned state properties to at least remove the more dilapidated structures there. Over the last year, approved demolition of more than 30,000 square feet of former State Psychiatric Facility buildings has been underway. And, a local grassroots movement was able to secure the reclamation of at least some of the Potsdam sandstone used in the original buildings for future use in Potsdam on upkeep of the community's historic structures. 

In addition to pushing for repurposing the North Country's abandoned prisons, Stec has been a vocal supporter of keeping the functioning prisons open in the North Country, recognizing that the facilities are often economic drivers for the region. In early 2024 he brought an amendment to the Senate floor to the state budget bill to prevent closure of five more prisons across the region. However, Stec's amendment at that time was voted down by Senate Democrats in a party line vote.