Clinton Square

Clinton Square was named in honor of prominent 19th century New York politician DeWitt Clinton. Clinton served three terms as mayor of New York City, two terms as governor of New York State, briefly as a United States senator and ran a failed campaign for the presidency against James Madison. During his tenure as governor, he was instrumental in the creation of the Erie Canal.

From 1825 up until roughly the turn of the 20th century, Clinton Square was the Grand Central of Syracuse. The Erie Canal that cut through the square was the single most important commercial thoroughfare in the state. The packet docks were located here at the square. At the packet docks, smaller companies which did not have private docks on the canal shipped and received goods and supplies, making it a busy business center.

Over the years, Clinton Square has been redesigned time and again. At the turn of the century, it was a lightly planted oval with a low fence around it. By 1909, the plants and fence had been removed, leaving a plain, grassy oval. This was probably in preparation for the erection of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument which was dedicated in June, 1910. The Erie Canal was filled in during the 1910s and the southern half of Clinton Square was used as a parking lot during the 1920s. By the 1930s, the square gained its southern half, complete with central fountain. The blocks were shaped as clipped trapezoids which mirrored each other. In 1981, the southern park had been redesigned again with sunken and terraced sections and a brick fountain with water cascading down brick steps.

In 2001, Clinton Square was closed off and went through another redesign with much hoopla at a cost of $9.2 million. Under the direction of then-Mayor Roy Bernardi, the city hoped to make it an inviting space that would attract visitors year-round. The hope was in vain.

Today, Clinton Square is as sterile and lifeless during most hours, day or night, as it was in the 1980s and 1990s before the renovations. Except during special events and fair weather lunch hours, only a handful of people can be seen using its tables and benches at any given time.

Whatever the attractions of the newly unified square, they weren't enough to keep the Syracuse Jazz Fest downtown. Jazz Fest executive director Frank Malfitano expounded on the shortcomings of Clinton Square and dealing with city government in 2002, commenting on the square's poor acoustics. The Syracuse Winterfest, another event centered on the square, has never been as popular as expected. In Hanover Square, a block away, the Swingin' in the Square and Dancin' in the Square events have disappointed bar and restaurant owners. The Post-Standard reported that several of the 14 events in 2005 had poor attendance. ("Thursday Night Parties to Boost Inner Harbor," April 19, 2006)

The desolation is evident on the Clinton Square webcam. In thriving cities, such public spaces always have a healthy number of visitors during the day. The difference is stark when comparing with such places as Union Square, Madison Square, Washington Square, Tompkins Square and of, course, Times Square, the crossroads of the world.

Even during the often weekly festivals, merchants have complained about the barricades and other impediments to business put in place during the festivals. Others complain that with most events serving alcohol freely, they tend to attact undesirable elements including drunks.

Four years after the new Clinton Square was opened, large, green plastic wedges continue to be used as barriers. The city had promised that they were only a short-term until a decision could be reached on movable barriers that complemented the design of the new square.

When the square's redevelopment was proposed in 1999, an ice skating rink was included in the plan so people could skate in Clinton Square as they once did when the Erie Canal froze over during Syracuse's frigid winters. Then-Downtown Committee chairman Hugh Lordon said, "We've seen where outdoor public skating rinks in cities like Philadelphia and Providence have successfully attracted new people to center cities. This proposal will make Clinton Square a draw during all seasons." That has not turned out to be the case. While the rink is crowded on the first days of the season, interest rapidly tapers off. Most winter days and evenings, only a handful of skaters are on the ice. By February, an empty rink or a lone skater isn't an unusual sight.

Downtown's decline is reflected in the decision to permanently close Erie Boulevard at the square, wiping that section of the street from the map as Willow Street behind the Syracuse Newspapers building and East Genesee Street between Salina and Townsend Streets had been previously destroyed. The city noted that the east-west traffic through the square was light enough that spillover onto adjacent streets would not be a problem. Traffic on Erie Boulevard East increases dramatically east of Teall Avenue, the first exit on Route 690 outside of Downtown.

This photograph taken from the State Tower Building shows Clinton Square circa 1937 and the many buildings that have been lost since then.

To the left of the wedge-shaped Federal Building, the Stevens Block with the Socony sign on top abutted the Amos Block. (Socony was the Standard Oil Company of New York, born from the breakup of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil monopoly. Socony merged with fellow Baby Oil company Vacuum in 1931 to become Socony Vacuum, which later became Socony Mobil before being finally renamed Mobil in 1966.) Both this building and the building that formed the western bookend for the Amos Block were demolished in the 1980s when they were declared unsafe.

To the right of the Federal Building, a 19th century, four story building at the northwest corner of the Square was left to deteriorate all through the 1990s. The vaults beneath the sidewalk caved in and the city placed steel plates atop the vaults until the building was finally condemned and demolished, another victim of demolition by neglect. A claustrophobic mini-park, hemmed in on two sides, now fills the site.

Just below that building was the Third Onondaga Courthouse.

Next to the Courthouse were buildings including the Electric Terminal Railroad Station (sort of a Common Center for the trolleys of the time) and Empire House.

Finally, the rooftops of the Wieting Block and Wieting Opera House are visible above the Onondaga Savings Bank building.

The Empire House was a large hotel that was built on the north side of Clinton Square in the mid-19th century.

A fire destroyed the Empire House in 1942. The Atlantic Building, a two-story Art Moderne commercial structure filled the site until 1968. The Syracuse Newspapers constructed their new building using the entire block in 1971.

The Syracuse Savings Bank building is one of Downtown's oldest and is historically protected. The building has anchored Clinton Square since 1876 and was the first building in Syracuse to have a passenger elevator.

The architect of the building, Joseph Lyman Silsbee, had his offices on the top floor, surrounded by balconies. Silsbee moved to Chicago in 1886. He partnered with Edward Kent to form Silsbee & Kent, which briefly apprenticed a young Frank Lloyd Wright in 1887. Kent would lose his life on the ill-fated Titanic, although he heroically helped others into lifeboats as the ship sank.

Syracuse Savings Bank operated from 1849 to 1987, when it was acquired by the newly merged Fleet/Norstar Financial Group. In 1995, the name was officially changed to Fleet Bank. Most recently, Bank of America acquired the FleetBoston Financial Corporation and all Fleet branches came under the new brand.

One of Syracuse's world class cultural institutions, the Opera House was donated by noted physician and medical lecturer John Wieting in the mid-1800s and sat on the south side of Clinton Square, a spot now occupied by the undistinguished Atrium Building. Among other distinguished performers, Charles Dickens himself performed a reading from "A Christmas Carol" and "The Pickwick Papers" in the Opera House in 1868. The Syracuse University chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity housed its brothers in lodgings in the Wieting Block next door for a few years. Alas, the Wieting Block was prone to fire. The building caught fire three times and was rebuilt three times.

The charmless, boxy Atrium Building was built to house the E.W. Edwards & Son department store in 1972. Edwards advertised itself as "Syracuse's Largest and Most Complete Department Store." The store moved there from its previous location on the next block south when that location was demolished for One Lincoln Plaza. The store had an annex on South Clinton Street, in the former McCarthy wholesale location. Edwards was famous among Syracuse children for its Christmas monorail, among other things. The building's provenance explains the mini-mall appearance of the interior and the escalators in lieu of stairs. It replaced among other buildings the Wieting Block and the Wieting Opera House.

The Bennett Companies converted the building to office use in the 1980s after the demise of the Edwards store and rechristened the building with its current name. Bennett was eventually discovered to have perpetrated the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history, defrauding investors of over $600 million and the company was forced into bankruptcy. Patrick Bennett was sentenced to 30 years in prison and the Atrium was sold.

The landmark Gridley Building was originally built to house the Onondaga County Savings Bank in 1867. What is not widely known or noticed is that the building was actually built in two sections years apart. The original section was the wedge-shaped one facing Clinton Square. It had a raised Salina Street entrance, at the same level with its current Washington Street entrance, with broad stone steps. The entrance was sealed in the 1960s and the steps were removed. The second, rectangular section to its east was added in 1876. The bank built and moved into a larger building across Hanover Square in 1897, which it used as its main branch. The newer building remains used by the bank's successor, M&T Bank.

The Gridley Building has long-vacant spaces directly overlooking Clinton Square. The ground floor spaces have sunken entrances, a vestige of the early 20th century, before Hanover Square was built up to its current street level. Those spaces have seen a number of businesses fail since 1990, including Sunshine Gifts, Sterio's Landmark, the Melting Pot, Gridley's and Marcia's Caribbean Cafe, Reggio's, Tsunami Asian Grill and Appetito Ristoranti Italiano. The string of restaurants in this location has led to the Syracuse New Times referring to a "revolving door" theory for some Syracuse locations.

The Clinton Exchange was once Syracuse's main post office. It replaced the US Government Building which was located at the intersection of East Fayette and South Warren Streets. Mail loading docks dominated the wide, Franklin Street side of the building. The dock platforms were demolished during the conversion into Clinton Exchange and large floor-to-ceiling windows now frame the a large conference room.

The main post office was moved out to East Taft Road in North Syracuse, while the downtown station moved into its present, smaller location at 444 South Salina Street, next to the building that formerly housed the Paramount Theatre. In the late 1990s, most of downtown's delivery operations were moved to the new Franklin Square post office on Division Street north of downtown, leaving only counter service and post office boxes at the Salina Street station.

The Amos Block was built in 1878 to house a wholesale grocery business owned by Jacob Amos, who would later serve as mayor of Syracuse from 1892-1895. This woodcut is from that first year and shows the building as it was constructed. Eventually, adjoining buildings were built on the east and west lots, but those were declared unsafe in the 1980s and demolished, leaving parking lots on the block's eastern and western ends.

The parking lots were covered with coarse gravel for decades before they were finally paved over. Developers announced in late 2003 that they would be redeveloping the Amos Block as a luxury apartment and commercial complex. They had hoped to secure government funding, break ground in the summer of 2004 and begin leasing space in the new buildings a year later. Work was begun on the western lot then halted. The broken asphalt was punctuated by weeds.

In late 2005, a different company finally purchased the building and began converting the building into 21 luxury apartments.