SYRACUSE — Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh says the “Syracuse Surge” is a “big plan, probably the biggest economic growth initiative ever put forth by the City of Syracuse”

Walsh said his administration has been working with its partners in government, business, and the nonprofit community to make it happen.

He used his second State of the City address on Jan. 17 to provide details about the “Syracuse Surge.”

Walsh delivered his speech at the Redhouse Performing Arts Center at 400 S. Salina St. in Syracuse.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo a few days earlier also mentioned the “Syracuse Surge” in his State of the State address, but provided only a few details.

The Syracuse Surge is the plan “to make Syracuse a world leader in the Fourth Industrial Revolution” and “jumpstart investment to create economic growth, shared prosperity and neighborhood transformation,” Walsh said.

Earlier in his remarks, Walsh described the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” as one that “depends on connectivity — to one another, to jobs, to the internet, devices and data.”

The Syracuse Surge “will be fueled by more than $200 million in public and private funding committed already,” Walsh noted.

“Southside Campus for the New Economy”

The Syracuse Surge “will rise on a signature investment: The Southside Campus for the New Economy,” said Walsh.

It’ll include several properties in the area Southeast of downtown, “leveraging the momentum created by more than $125 million invested there over the last six years.”

“The campus will have best-in-class broadband and the ability to seamlessly pull data from sensors across the City, enabling unparalleled opportunities to teach and learn in innovative new secondary, post-secondary and vocational programs,” Walsh said.

The City of Syracuse has formed a new organization, Blueprint15, to develop a “bold vision for the holistic revitalization of this neighborhood,” Walsh noted.

The City in partnership with the Syracuse Housing Authority, Syracuse City School District, the Allyn Foundation, and community leaders and residents, “intends to restore the neighborhood to a place of hope and optimism that was the hallmark of the old 15th ward,” he added.

STEAM school

A new regional Science Technology Engineering Arts and Math, or STEAM, will be the “predominant” feature of the campus school. It will be built in a fully restored and modernized former Central High School.

The school — planned in a partnership between the City, Onondaga County, Syracuse City School District and Onondaga-Cortland-Madison Board of Cooperative Educational Services (OCM BOCES) — will “capitalize on the city’s successes” in career and technical education, making it available to students from districts throughout the region. 

Additionally, the Southside Campus will house an expanded workforce-development center in the “fully renovated and expanded” SUNY Educational Opportunity Center complex adjacent to the STEAM school.

New street lights

The first step in “Syracuse Surge” has already been taken, Walsh said in his remarks.

The City of Syracuse is purchasing more than 17,500 street lights that are located throughout the city. The street lights will provide more than $3 million in annual savings for the City’s operating budget, “based on maintenance and energy efficiencies.”

“We will know the moment a light goes out, allowing us to provide a better, proactive service,” Walsh said.

As Walsh continued, he announced that, in partnership Gov. Cuomo and the New York Power Authority, the City has selected Bedford, Massachusetts–based CIMCON Lighting, as well as New York City–based Presidio and San Jose, California–based Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), to implement the street-light project and also “to make Syracuse the flagship smart city in New York State.”

CIMCON is a provider of intelligent wireless outdoor lighting, Walsh noted.

As Walsh described it, “being a ‘smart city’ increasingly means leveraging technology to advance our economy and create opportunity for all of our citizens.”

New York Center for Smart Cities

The New York Center for Smart Cities will be a “first of its kind space in the state and in the country.” It will be home to a municipal command center, where practitioners from across regional-government departments can learn from the data captured by the street-light network in order to make “better” real-time decisions on the best way to deploy municipal resources.

For example, in the case of a major building fire, the municipal command center would be able to quickly pull up the history of incidents at that property.

Center City Innovation Hub

The Center City Innovation Hub is an “expansion of the innovation infrastructure” at the southern end of downtown with Warren Street serving as its “spine.” 

Walsh noted the growth of companies, such as TCG Player and SpinCar, which are operating in that area. 

The Center City Innovation Hub will provide the infrastructure necessary for “ongoing growth of our innovation economy.” Future plans include expanding the Tech Garden and “executing major improvements” to the streetscape around AXA plaza and the “nearby convention district.”