Demolition of 10 St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center buildings to begin this spring

Matt Curatolo, Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
·1 min read

Mar. 20—OGDENSBURG — Demolition of 10 buildings in the Letchworth Complex at the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center, deteriorated and dilapidated, will begin later this spring.

Last summer, the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York announced that 10 buildings in the Letchworth Complex — buildings 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125 and 210 — would be demolished due to being in a "dilapidated and deteriorated condition."

The Letchworth Complex was constructed in 1890 and has been vacant since 1988.

DASNY has executed a contract with Neuber Environmental, a demolition and environmental remediation firm from Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania, to complete the demolition project. The project is expected to start sometime this spring.

An exact date was not known. The first full day of spring was Wednesday and the season lasts until June 20.

"A demolition schedule is being developed by the contractors and work is expected to begin in the spring," James Plastiras, director of communications for the state Office of Mental Health, said in a statement.

The state abandoned some of the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center stone buildings beginning in the early 1980s, according to reports. Many of the buildings have been empty since the mid-1990s, when the center's operations were consolidated into new buildings which stand among the abandoned ones.

Once the first 10 buildings have been demolished, the OMH has its eyes on seven additional buildings to be torn down in the St. Lawrence Center complex, petitioning DASNY for a second demolition project.

That second project would focus on buildings 38, 49, 50, 56, 57, 58, and 86, located on a parcel bounded by Route 37, Entrance Avenue, Cottage Drive and Hanes Drive. The square foot of the buildings to be demolished totals approximately 31,832 square feet.