There’s been a bit of panic among Syracuse’s festival community over news that the city’s most-used festival ground, Clinton Square, will have to close when reconstruction of Interstate 81 comes to downtown.
That’s what Mayor Sharon Owens said Thursday as she and the engineer in charge of the massive I-81 project reassured everyone that nothing’s changing this year.
There was, Owens said, “kind of a panic” after city officials said they were making plans to improve public space at the Inner Harbor so festivals could consider locating there because Clinton Square will be closed during construction.
As for this year, Owens offered reassurance: “We love our festivals. Our festivals love being here. Let's enjoy 2026.”
Owens said festivals such as the Taste of Syracuse, Juneteenth and the Syracuse Crawfish Festival could move to the Inner Harbor or in front of City Hall. Both spaces host festivals now.
“I also like the idea of spreading our festivals around,” she said. “We are not looking for any of our festivals to leave us. We want to keep them here, we want to ensure that we’re meeting [their] need, but we also want to be partners on this 81 project.”
The largest construction project in state Department of Transportation history involves rerouting Route 81 onto what is now Route 481 around the east side of the city. The new Business Loop 81 will channel traffic through downtown at street level. As the highway is being rebuilt, the state will also install a mile-long stormwater drainage line in the same area.
DOT Regional Director Betsy Parmley, who is in charge of the massive project, said that disruptions to downtown Syracuse for drivers and pedestrians will usually happen one block at a time, with simple detours.
“We've built important protections into our contract requirements,” Parmley said. “These include avoiding disruptions to major community events like the St. Patrick's Day Parade and the annual tree lighting right here. We'll also be maintaining safe pedestrian access, implementing block-by-block vehicular detours, and making sure we work with business owners so we understand their access needs for deliveries.”
Contracts for the street and drainage work haven’t been awarded yet. Parmley expects construction to begin in 2027.
In the meantime, Owens said the city will work with its festivals to assess their requirements for issues such as space and electrical access and try to match them to spaces within the city. Merike Treier, who heads the Downtown Committee of Syracuse, said her group is already talking with others about keeping festivals in downtown Syracuse, including the ones the Downtown Committee operates.
“Our goal is to maintain as many festivals as possible happening within the district because it brings the foot traffic to our downtown businesses,” she said.
