Build it and they will come. It worked for Kevin Costner in ‘Field of Dreams.” Robert Congel enjoyed the same success Thursday at the Destiny USA groundbreaking ceremony.

And he had just started.

New York state politicians and over 2,000 local residents attended the ceremonial groundbreaking for the parking garage of the Grand Destiny Hotel. The 1,300-room resort hotel will house the anticipated 40 million tourists who will visit DestiNY USA each year. For many, the groundbreaking also marked the end of speculation and the beginning of action.

‘Today as the shovels go into the ground the doubters are silent and doubts are put to rest,’ said Senator Chuck Schumer in a speech before the groundbreaking. ‘I’ve never seen so many people at a groundbreaking ceremony, and I’ve never seen more shovels.’

Over 2,000 shovels were given to people as they lined up to enter the tent at the northwest entrance of Carousel Center Mall. Along with the shovel, each person received a green hardhat and T-shirt. Pyramid, Congel’s business planning DestiNY, spread dirt over the parking lot set aside for the event. Each person who came early enough for a shovel could participate in the symbolic groundbreaking.

A year ago, Pyramid announced their plans to expand the mall, now known as the Carousel Center. As time progressed, so did the plans. Today, DestiNY planners say the $2.2 billion project will house hundreds of stores and restaurants, a water park, an aquarium, a rooftop park, and an indoor version of the Erie Canal. All construction should finished by fall 2004, DestiNY spokespersons said.

But turning visions into reality proves harder in Syracuse than in Hollywood. Along the way DestiNY’s plans have proven controversial. Many wondered if DestiNY would ever get built. Although building has begun, many still question whether DestiNY will succeed.

Pam Corcoran works for a local hotel chain near the airport as a night auditor. She’s worked in the hotel industry for 16 years.

‘I just don’t know how they’re going to draw people,’ said Corcoran. ‘I think they’ll have a hard time supporting such a large hotel without bringing in conventions, very large conventions.’

Often malls fade out unless they undergo renovations, Corcoran said. Still, she remains hopeful that DestiNY will deliver all that’s promised to the Syracuse area.

Before any digging started, the politicians and founders of DestiNY spoke to the crowd. Gov. George E. Pataki, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Senator Chuck Schumer, U.S. Rep. Jim Walsh and New York State Senator Nancy Larraine Hoffmann arrived along with Congel and his ‘delta force’ DestiNY team.

‘We are here to break ground on a facility that will insure that upstate stays a tourist destination in New York,’ Pataki said. ‘Let’s get building.’

Pataki stressed the connection between DestiNY’s goal of being 100 percent fossil fuel free and the Syracuse University Environmental Center for Excellence. Through the use of ‘solar, geothermal, wind, fuel cell technology and other energy alternatives’ Syracuse will become a leader in environmental technology, Pataki said. This partnership will create thousands of high-tech jobs in the Syracuse area, he said.

Jobs and economic revitalization were the centerpiece of Pyramid’s ceremony. The Master of Ceremonies, Dr. Roosevelt ‘Rick’ Wright, associate professor in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, said, ‘It’s all about jobs. It’s all about putting food on the table.’ Wright dedicates his time to promoting DestiNY’s plans and is committed to informing the public and making sure it all happens, Wright said. He hosted the job fair in August which confirmed Syracuse had the skills a facility like DestiNY needed.

One thousand construction workers will work on the project. The hotel expects to employ 2,200 staff members when it opens and Pyramid promises those jobs are only the beginning.

Hope like Corcoran’s permeated Thursday’s event as children dug in the dirt with their new shovels, and politicians promised jobs and economic revitalization. But those promises may prove hollow if the anticipated tourists lack a cheap method to get to Syracuse.

With the bankrupty of U.S. Airways earlier this year and the declining flights into Syracuse, getting people to DestiNY could be a problem. But County Executive Nick Pirro is not concerned.

‘As the project moves ahead, it will help the overall situation with the airlines,’ said Pirro. ‘If they can fill 175 seats, they will have the flights.’

The majority of visitors to DestiNY will use ground transportation, said Pirro. So air service becomes an issue for convention visitors and people outside the one-day drive radius, he added.

DestiNY team member and spokesman Rich Pietrafesa believes the planes will come once the mall is built.

‘It will take a few years to build. That will give the airlines time to assess the impact and respond,’ said Pietrafeso. ‘They will anticipate demand and ramp up accordingly.’

Published on October 24, 2002 at 12:00 pm