Tim’s Notes: Hidden Gem — Oswego Civic Arts Center
Center draws on collaborations, community by Tim Nekritz | nekritz@gmail.com It’s a gorgeous, sunny Saturday afternoon in late August. A small group of volunteers are in the Oswego Civic Arts Center’s Frances Marion Brown Theater painting and hanging lights for the next Oswego Players’ production. In the western end of the east side building, the Art Association of Oswego has two exhibitions up in its galleries and spaces ready for the next class or gathering. While this humming center for creatives of all types is a hidden gem for some — and is among the properties that might be included in a new national park — those who know and love the spaces welcome the added attention to the fruits of their labor. If you were to walk into what was then known as Building 31 as recently as the early 1960s, you would have seen an abandoned building, where the only occupants documented were pigeons (and their droppings). This space definitely houses a comeback story. Constructed by the state from 1903 to 1905 as part of Fort Ontario’s operations, the building initially housed Fort Ontario’s quartermaster. But it subsequently played a role in one of the Port City’s most (more…)
