A nearly 190-year-old building in Oswego that most recently held Coleman's Irish Pub, is the subject of a legal battle between the city and a local developer who says he wants to buy the building and renovate it. While the lawsuit drags on, the building, which over the years has housed a chandlery, customs office and a fish market, deteriorates.
Tom Millar told the Oswego Common Council last week his plan to purchase the building and renovate it into apartments, office space and a restaurant was going smoothly until September of last year. That's when Millar says the city asked for proof of financing from him and his partners, and then later reneged on the deal.
"I'm here to let you know that I embrace this project to the point that I met with councilmen in my ward and you, Mr. Mayor, to express to them that they were breaching our contract," Millar said. "That was a full year ago."
Millar then decided to sue the city.
During his statement to the Common Council, Millar, who has completed another development project in the city, said the standoff sends the message that Oswego is actually closed to businesses.
"This behavior has set the precedent that when you shake people's hands and you vote in favor of their plans and you sign contracts with them, and if you back out, you make everyone involved look bad," Millar explained.
Oswego Renaissance Association director Paul Stewart was one of several residents who spoke at the council meeting in favor of Millar's plan to renovate the building.
"One of the great things about this city is its historical buildings, without question," Stewart said. "To let that building deteriorate would be a tragedy."
Millar says although he's at odds with the city on the project, he hasn't given up on his plan to turn the building around.
"I want to repair it," Millar said to the council. "I want to take on the challenges the building presents, and my development company can do this."
City officials won't talk about the issue because of the litigation, but issued a written statement saying Millar's lawsuit has "no merit or legal basis." The city says it is working with engineers to protect the building from further decay, and has plans to tarp over the building's partially collapsed roof.