SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Salt City Coffee will operate Barb’s Bistro inside Le Moyne College’s McNeil Firehouse at 1150 Salt Spring Road in Syracuse later this summer. Following renovation work, the McNeil Firehouse is expected to open in mid-September, Le Moyne tells CNYBJ. Salt City Coffee is the anchor tenant of the Salt City Market on […]
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Salt City Coffee will operate Barb’s Bistro inside Le Moyne College’s McNeil Firehouse at 1150 Salt Spring Road in Syracuse later this summer.
Following renovation work, the McNeil Firehouse is expected to open in mid-September, Le Moyne tells CNYBJ.
Salt City Coffee is the anchor tenant of the Salt City Market on South Salina Street in Syracuse and has four other locations in the region.
Le Moyne is currently renovating the firehouse building using $250,000 in state-government funding secured by New York State Senator Rachel May (D–Syracuse) and a private donation from Dan McNeil III, a 1977 Le Moyne College graduate.
The lead contractor for the project is Diamond & Thiel Construction Company, Inc. of DeWitt, Le Moyne informs CNYBJ.
Officially called “Barb’s Bistro – Where Everybody Belongs,” the space will pay tribute to Barb Karper, who the college says has made a “tremendous impact at Le Moyne in a variety of roles over the past 50 years.” Karper is also a close friend of Dan McNeil.
In selecting Salt City Coffee, Le Moyne says it sought a company that would sell coffee, beverages, and food in Barb’s Bistro, “while creating a sense of community as well.” Founded by Aaron and Maria Metthe in 2017, Salt City Coffee’s motto is “inspiring curiosity, creativity and community.”
Le Moyne and Salt City Coffee will partner to provide programming for the community including music, art displays, and neighborhood events.
Plans for the McNeil Firehouse were developed by a steering committee of faculty, administrators, and students that reviewed a variety of possible uses for the building.
The first floor of the McNeil Firehouse will include Barb’s Bistro and indoor and outdoor space for public events and programming, while Le Moyne will locate its clinical mental-health counseling graduate program on the second floor, along with a multipurpose room.
The McNeil Firehouse will be an “integrated community-oriented hub” for mental health, wellness, and the arts that will be open to members of the college community and the general public, Le Moyne said.
