NPS - National Park Service
NPS - National Park Service
02/08/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 02/08/2024 21:24
National Park Service completes study evaluating Fort Ontario in New York for potential inclusion in National Park System
News Release Date: August 2, 2024
Contact: [email protected]
WASHINGTON - The National Park Service (NPS) has completed and delivered the Fort Ontario Special Resource Study to Congress. The study concludes that a portion of the area encompassing four historic buildings, all of which are associated with the World War II era Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter, meet all established criteria for new National Park System units. This was the only refugee shelter established in the United States for Europeans fleeing World War II.
The study finds that the former gatehouse and three adjacent historic buildings on approximately two acres of land owned by the City of Oswego meet all Congressionally established criteria for new additions to the national park system. The study's materials are available online at parkplanning.nps.gov/FortOntarioSRS.
From August 1944 to February 1946, Fort Ontario welcomed 982 European refugees as the only World War II European refugee shelter ever opened in the United States. In 1946, the fort was decommissioned and transferred to the state of New York. Later, the New York Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation opened it as Fort Ontario State Historic Site. Portions of the former fort were subsequently transferred to the City of Oswego and currently house a variety of recreational, cultural and municipal activities. The City of Oswego leased the fort's former guardhouse to Safe Haven, Inc., a not-for-profit organization which currently operates the Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum.
The Fort's long military history from the mid-18th century to 1946 is associated with two centuries of North American military actions. The Fort Ontario Military Reservation is included on the National Register of Historic Places.
The study used criteria consistent with the NPS Special Resource Study guidelines to evaluate the study area, including the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation's Fort Ontario State Historic Site, which currently encompasses the core fortification of Fort Ontario as well as the buildings within the star fort and the 20th-century post cemetery. The study area also included the City of Oswego, New York's numerous recreational and cultural facilities within the former Fort Ontario's area. Public Law 115-255, the Fort Ontario Study Act, authorized the study.
Special resource studies provide Congress with non-binding analytical information about the potential creation of new additions to the National Park System. Special resource studies are not decision documents. For more information about NPS special resource studies, visit: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/SpecialResourceDocuments.cfm
About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 430 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.