OGDENSBURG, New York (WWNY) – If you look at the long-closed St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center in Ogdensburg, you see roofs torn off, buildings falling down.
The state closed the psychiatric center and abandoned it to the elements.
Local officials don’t want it to happen again, and they’re afraid it could with the Ogdensburg Correctional Facility, closed in March.
They’d like at least a minimum of heat kept on this coming winter- but it’s not going to happen.
In a statement, the Department of Correctional Services tells 7 News “when facilities are decommissioned, utilities to the facility are shut down, water pipes are drained, electrical and heat services are shut off to each building and buildings are boarded up …”
Ogdensburg Mayor MIke Skelly doesn’t like that answer.
“Those will not be the same buildings. They will not be nearly as viable in the spring,” Skelly said Thursday.
Skelly calls what happened at the Psychiatric Center “absolute, total devastation. Everything’s gone.”
And he isn’t alone in wanting the heat left on, as they look for another use for the facility.
State Senator Patty Ritchie and other state and local leaders have signed a letter urging the state to change its mind.
“We request these utilities remain on until a suitable reuse can be identified,” the letter states.
The letter points out there are major differences between Ogdensburg’s prison and Watertown’s, which closed last year. The letter states that in the year since it closed, it’s clear time has taken a toll on Watertown Correctional.
“Save these buildings. Save them for the year it takes to transfer them. Don’t let them be destroyed for a small amount of cost for heating them,” Skelly said.
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