OSWEGO — Five Star Urgent Care has formally opened a new walk-in medical clinic at 200 E. 1st St. in Oswego, adding to its growing list of upstate New York locations.

The new office serves patients daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The company says its staff treats patients on a walk-in basis with most insurance accepted. Patients may view up-to-date wait times at the facility on the urgent care provider’s website. 

The facility is “equipped to offer treatment for non-life-threatening ailments, such as bronchitis, sprains, strains and gastrointestinal ailments, as well as providing onsite x-rays, lab testing and diagnostics,” Five Star said in a news release.

Launched in 2012, Five Star Urgent Care opened its first clinic in Big Flats. The company continues to expand its footprint and plans to open additional offices throughout the state in 2018. Its other current locations are in Cicero, Fairmount, Fayetteville, Geneva, Greece, Ithaca, Jamestown, Lancaster, Liverpool, Oneonta, Oswego, Plattsburgh, and Vestal.

MANLIUS — By July, the 23-year old Craftsman Inn & Conference Center in the town of Manlius will have a new look and the inn’s Limestone Grille may have a new name.

Phase one of the two-phase renovation plan has begun, explains Robert Richie, director of sales and marketing at the Craftsman, located on East Genesee Street. The 69-room inn, on the west side of the property, is undergoing renovation. Part of the work involved selling furniture that would not be needed after the renovation.

However, Richie tells CNYBJ, that the Craftsman Inn will continue to feature Stickley furniture, a signature of the inn since it opened in 1995.

On a recent morning, workers could be seen tossing items into a dumpster in front of the main building while printed signs directed visitors to the temporary registration desk in the building on the east side of the property. Work is being carried out by crews from DeWitt–based Widewaters Group, Richie says. Widewaters purchased the property to become part of its Widewaters Hotels in 2016.

Phase one of the renovation involves updates to the rooms and the lobby of the inn section. It should be done in April, Richie says.

Phase two will involve renovating the east-side building, including 21 suites, meeting rooms and the Limestone Grille, he says.

The work will require the restaurant to close from March 4 until sometime in July, Richie says. When it returns, much will be changed.

“The restaurant is going to have a brand new concept that Syracuse has never seen,” he says, declining to offer more details on the concept.

Architect renderings of the renovations show added space under cover matching the craftsman style of the existing buildings. Part of the new space created, a covered patio with infrared heat, is meant to allow diners to extend the al fresco season, Richie says. Changes may even include a new name for the Limestone Grille, though that isn’t settled yet, he says.

Richie says the independent hotel is stressing that it is a “community hotel,” a place where families can mark life’s major milestones with wedding receptions, baby showers and even post-funeral gatherings. “We get to know who everybody is,” he says of the hotel located on the Fayetteville village line.

“We work with local vendors and give back to the community,” he adds, noting upcoming charitable fundraisers. “People know we are a community hotel,” he says. That is reflected in who uses the hotel on weekends, he adds. People check in for events at Syracuse University or Cazenovia College, as well as to attend local weddings.

More than 100 meetings of various kinds are hosted at the hotel and conference center each year. With 4,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, Richie says the Craftsman Inn can accommodate up to 200 people in a single room for an event. 

According to the Widewaters website, the company has 21 hotels, including three being renovated or under construction. 

CANASTOTA — The Village of Canastota will use a nearly $1.7 million Restore NY grant to help pay for the construction of a facility that will be the new home for Dutchland Plastics’ New York operations.

“We are very excited to welcome Dutchland Plastics to the Village of Canastota. This Restore NY project is a great example of remediating and revitalizing an abandoned industrial site and bringing it back to life as a value-added economic property in our community,” Carla DeShaw, mayor of the Village of Canastota, said in a news release that the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued Jan. 22. 

The expansion will facilitate the creation of at least 42 new full-time jobs over the next two years in addition to the 23 positions that will be retained. The state expects construction on the new facility to finish by the end of 2019.

In order to encourage Oostburg, Wisconsin–based Dutchland Plastics to expand in Central New York, Empire State Development (ESD) has offered up to $475,000 in performance-based tax credits through its Excelsior Jobs program, which are tied to job-creation commitments, Cuomo’s office said. 

Additionally, ESD has reallocated a nearly $1.7 million Restore NY grant to the Village of Canastota that will assist with construction of the new building. 

The company will invest $2.6 million for capital equipment and to customize the new facility, which will sit along the Erie Canal, Cuomo’s office said.

Dutchland is the third largest contract rotational molder in the U.S., Cuomo’s office said. It described the firm as “country’s leading contract plastics rotomolded product manufacturer.” 

“We are very excited about this expansion,” Randy Herman, CEO of Dutchland Plastics, said in Cuomo’s release. “This is a tremendous opportunity and I want to thank Gov. Cuomo, Madison County Industrial Development Agency Executive Director Kipp Hicks, and especially Canastota Mayor Carla DeShaw, who will be assigning resources to help the company recruit and train requisite new hires from the local community.”

As a custom plastics-products manufacturer, Dutchland Plastics services recreational, commercial, outdoor, food and beverage, furniture, and marine industries. The company manufactures products like Yeti coolers and NuCanoe boats, according to Cuomo’s office.