Water flows into Mohawk Harbor

PHOTOGRAPHER: Marc Schultz

The waters of the Mohawk River were let into the new harbor area at the Rivers Casino & Resort at Mohawk Harbor this week.

The harbor at Mohawk Harbor is now filled with water and almost ready to accommodate boat traffic as part of Galesi Group’s redevelopment of the former Alco site.

Sheet piles are being lifted out of the ground and the Mohawk River is slowly being pumped into the harbor as work on the 60-acre site off Erie Boulevard moves forward.

At the same time, construction has also started on a 124-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel and 206-unit apartment building around the harbor.

Galesi’s plans for the site include housing, hotels, office and retail space, and one of the state’s first commercial casinos, Rivers Casino and Resort at Mohawk Harbor. The total price tag for the project is $480 million.

David Buicko, chief operating officer for Galesi, said construction could begin on the casino as soon as operator Rush Street Gaming of Chicago is awarded a license by the state Gaming Commission, which is expected by the end of the year.

The Marriott hotel is expected to be completed in 10 months, according to BBL Construction, and the apartment building soon after, Buicko said. Groundbreaking for the Marriott took place last week.

The Alco site, which has been abandoned since the American Locomotive Co. shut down in 1969, still has two occupants, STS Steel and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s small nuclear reactor. Galesi is in discussions with STS and RPI about moving both facilities off site, but as of now, development is being planned around them, Buicko said.

The harbor cuts into the site by the reactor, separating the facility from most of the development with a wall recently placed around it. Previous plans to disguise the reactor as a lighthouse have been scrapped.

Work is still happening on the harbor, with about 50 boat slips still needing to be installed. Biking and walking paths have also been carved along the harbor.

Meanwhile, construction of the city’s first roundabout at Erie Boulevard and Nott Street is expected to wrap up later this month and resume in March. The roundabout is projected to be finished by July.