Otisca Building / Old Thomas Ryan Brewery
This is a shot of the Otisca Building, the home of the former Thomas Ryan Brewery. Now a little bit of history: Most of this rambling complex (a block long) of two and three story red brick industrial buildings dates from the Ryan's Brewery expansion in the 1880s . It was once more ornate, with Beaux Arts decoration and a prominent towered upper story on the corner. Some Beaux Arts medallions are still affixed to the brick facade, giving a hint of how 19th-century industrialists linked industry and art. The brewery made a beer called Onondaga Lager, among others. It is said that when they were cooking hops you could smell it on the North Side. Ryan later served as mayor of Syracuse, NY from 1883 to 1885. Ryan's brewery was one out of about ten that flourished in Syracuse mostly on the North Side, during the city's brewing heyday in the late 1800s. The brewery is remembered for the huge electric sign that stood on the roof - it showed a bottle of beer being emptied into a schooner (a large beer glass). No one has made beer here since the 1920s. There are stories that there was a tunnel that ran under Butternut Street which connected the Ryan Brewery to the Haberle Brewing Company which was on the other side of the street. It is also said that Haberle's continued to use the tunnel after Ryan's went under in 1924. When some inspectors, not too long ago, went down in the the basement they didn't find any tunnel but they did say it could have been bricked up. So perhaps they'll know for sure when the building is demolished. Haberle's, who made Congress beer, closed in 1962 and a shopping center now sits on their site. Otisca Industries Ltd, a company that made fuel from coal slurry, purchased the building in 1979 but went out of business a decade later. At one time the building housed the the Jay Gere Corp which sold plumbing and heating supplies. It has been vacant since 1989. City records show that the building still belongs to the Otisca Co of LaFayette and that the city plans to seize it for back taxes, estimated at more than $577,000. Apparently this company only exists on paper as far as the city of Syracuse knows. The old brick building is set for demolition. Glass from shattered windows sometimes ends up in the driveway of Our Lady of Pompei convent, which is four blocks away. Bricks have been falling and a crack on in the North McBride Street side is an inch wide and growing. There are plans for apartments to be built on that spot eventually. Located at 501-11 Butternut Street at the corner of McBride Street in Syracuse, NY (25) UPDATE: The city of Syracuse recently demolished this building. There are plans to build apartments on the site.
Otisca Building / Old Thomas Ryan Brewery
This is a shot of the Otisca Building, the home of the former Thomas Ryan Brewery. Now a little bit of history: Most of this rambling complex (a block long) of two and three story red brick industrial buildings dates from the Ryan's Brewery expansion in the 1880s . It was once more ornate, with Beaux Arts decoration and a prominent towered upper story on the corner. Some Beaux Arts medallions are still affixed to the brick facade, giving a hint of how 19th-century industrialists linked industry and art. The brewery made a beer called Onondaga Lager, among others. It is said that when they were cooking hops you could smell it on the North Side. Ryan later served as mayor of Syracuse, NY from 1883 to 1885. Ryan's brewery was one out of about ten that flourished in Syracuse mostly on the North Side, during the city's brewing heyday in the late 1800s. The brewery is remembered for the huge electric sign that stood on the roof - it showed a bottle of beer being emptied into a schooner (a large beer glass). No one has made beer here since the 1920s. There are stories that there was a tunnel that ran under Butternut Street which connected the Ryan Brewery to the Haberle Brewing Company which was on the other side of the street. It is also said that Haberle's continued to use the tunnel after Ryan's went under in 1924. When some inspectors, not too long ago, went down in the the basement they didn't find any tunnel but they did say it could have been bricked up. So perhaps they'll know for sure when the building is demolished. Haberle's, who made Congress beer, closed in 1962 and a shopping center now sits on their site. Otisca Industries Ltd, a company that made fuel from coal slurry, purchased the building in 1979 but went out of business a decade later. At one time the building housed the the Jay Gere Corp which sold plumbing and heating supplies. It has been vacant since 1989. City records show that the building still belongs to the Otisca Co of LaFayette and that the city plans to seize it for back taxes, estimated at more than $577,000. Apparently this company only exists on paper as far as the city of Syracuse knows. The old brick building is set for demolition. Glass from shattered windows sometimes ends up in the driveway of Our Lady of Pompei convent, which is four blocks away. Bricks have been falling and a crack on in the North McBride Street side is an inch wide and growing. There are plans for apartments to be built on that spot eventually. Located at 501-11 Butternut Street at the corner of McBride Street in Syracuse, NY (25) UPDATE: The city of Syracuse recently demolished this building. There are plans to build apartments on the site.