Rally Set to Support Upgrading Fort Ontario Status
Fort Ontario has stood for the bastion of freedom for years.
A public rally to support a process leading to elevating Fort Ontario State Historic Site and the Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum to national monument status and into the National Park Service will be held at 6 p.m. Nov. 12 at the Lake Ontario Event and Conference Center in Oswego.
U.S. Congressman John Katko, R-Camillus, will open the program. Elected officials, veterans, active duty military, business and community leaders, representatives of historical organizations, parks officials and members of the public are invited to provide input and participate in the event.
The Fort Ontario National Landmark Committee, sponsor of the rally, is striving to raise awareness of Fort Ontario's international historical significance and develop its economic potential by achieving national monument status for one of the nation's most historic military posts.
The committee is also working to list Fort Ontario as a National Historic Landmark and UNESCO World Heritage Site based on its complete history as a military post from the French and Indian War through the War in Afghanistan, and its unique history as the only emergency refugee shelter in the United States for victims of the Nazi Holocaust during World War II.
The Lake Ontario Event and Conference Center is located at the north end of the Best Western Hotel at 26 E. First St., Oswego.
For more information, email tourism@oswegocounty.com.