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Oswego council authorizes lease with Safe Haven Museum for former Fort Ontario building
Summary
The Oswego Common Council unanimously approved a lease allowing the Safe Haven Museum and Education Center Inc. to use the former Fort Ontario Emergency Shelter Administration Building; a public commenter recalled Ruth Gruber's role in the museum's founding.
The Oswego Common Council on a 5-0-2 vote authorized the mayor to sign a lease agreement with Safe Haven Museum and Education Center Inc. for use of the former Fort Ontario Emergency Shelter Administration Building.
The lease (Resolution 16) passed after brief council consideration. Councilor Plunkett moved the measure; Councilor Burge seconded. The roll call recorded yes votes from Councilor Walton, Councilor Burge, Councilor Venucci, Councilor Goseck and Councilor Plunkett; Councilor Walker and Councilor Allen were listed as excused.
The vote follows public comment urging support for the museum. A member of the public identified in the record as Mister Goetzick told the council he hoped the resolution would pass and asked members to remember Ruth Gruber, saying Gruber "was the lady that actually brought those refugees here and came to Oswego to get that museum where it is today." Goetzick also thanked local volunteers he named — Mike Cloonan and Timmy Murphy — for helping secure space for the museum decades earlier.
The resolution authorizes the mayor to execute a lease for the specified building to the nonprofit Safe Haven Museum and Education Center Inc.; the text of the lease itself and the lease term were not specified in the meeting record. No amendments to the resolution were recorded.
Votes and formal actions recorded in the meeting packet show the measure carried by the council with five affirmative votes and two members excused. The council did not specify an effective date for the lease during the meeting.
The Safe Haven Museum and Education Center Inc. operates a museum that the public commenter tied to local refugee-resettlement history involving Ruth Gruber and visits by Eleanor Roosevelt; those historical details were provided during public comment and were not cited as conditions of the lease in council action.
