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The Fort Ontario Special Resource Study being conducted by the National Park Service (NPS) will be the subject of the next ‘History on Tap’ program.
It begins at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 1, at G.S. Steamer’s Restaurant in Oswego.
During the program, officials of the NPS will describe the process and criteria of evaluating Fort Ontario’s national significance and the feasibility of designating it a unit of the national park system using the Zoom meeting platform.
The 2018 Fort Ontario Study Act (Public Law 115-255) directed the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of the Fort Ontario Military Reservation National Register District in Oswego.
The NPS is evaluating the district using congressionally established criteria for national significance, suitability, feasibility, and the need for direct NPS management. Based on that evaluation, the agency will determine whether the site meets the criteria for inclusion in the national park system and prepare the study for the Secretary of the Interior. The study findings along with any recommendations will then be submitted to Congress.
Community engagement and public outreach are crucial to completing the study. The NPS will hold public discussions about the proud military history of Fort Ontario from 1755 to 1946, including the unique heritage of the fort’s use as a shelter for European war refugees during the WWII era. A virtual public meeting will be held in the fall to receive the public’s ideas and opinions about the study and the site.
G.S. Steamer’s Restaurant is located at the Clarion Inn, 70 E. First St. (end of NYS Rte. 481), Oswego. For more information on ‘History on Tap,’ contact Paul Lear at 315-343-4711 or paul.lear@parks.ny.gov. Program information and updates will be posted on the Friends of Fort Ontario Facebook page.
