Sixteen years ago developer Robert Congel took a risk when he decided to clear away the oil storage tanks from a strip of land next to the most polluted body of water in the Northeast to build a state-of-the-art shopping mall. The mentality around the project was ‘build it, and they will come.’ The Carousel Center in Northern Syracuse has proven this philosophy correct and has established itself as the premier shopping mall throughout central New York. Now Mayor Matthew Driscoll is campaigning to stop the progress of the proposed addition, Destiny USA, which could save the struggling economy of Syracuse.

The history of this city has created an economic state in which Destiny USA may be the last chance to revitalize Central New York.

It is puzzling how a city sprung up in this cold hilly landscape. The answer is salt. Rich salt reserves buried in the soil of Syracuse led miners here in the mid-19th century. As the prospectors flocked to Syracuse to make a quick buck off the heavily demanded substance, a residential city began to develop.

Once the Salt City exploited its rich salt reserves, the economy shifted to the manufacturing industry which was dominant in the early twentieth century. This was during the glory years of mass employment by the Carrier Corporation and the General Electric campus, as described by professor David Bennett of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Bennett explained how the air-conditioning revolution may have hurt cold-weather cities like Syracuse by enabling comfortable living in the warmer regions of the country.

Yet the unanticipated outsourcing of manufacturing jobs soon got the best of Syracuse. After the United Technologies takeover of Carrier in the late 1970s, similar to the exit of IBM in Binghamton, jobs were scarce and the once thriving economy of Central New York was left behind in the global age.

Syracuse University is currently the largest employer in the city of Syracuse, which indicates the importance of SU to the city. Chancellor Nancy Cantor has been working hard to connect students to downtown, but downtown is already dependent on the university.

‘No one builds anything anymore,’ Bennett said.

Critics of Destiny USA continually repute this line of reasoning by citing its cost to the city in taxes and the traffic it will bring to the area. Yet there are two overriding advantages that will make Destiny USA a success.

First, the project would generate cash flow and jobs for a city with a questionable future. As many as 122,000 jobs would be created, paying an average salary of approximately $31 000, according to Economic Research Associates. E.R.A. also calculated that $12.5 billion of annual economic activity would result from the project and generate 35 million visitors a year. As the biggest mall in America, Destiny USA would make Syracuse an option for vacationers from the New York City area looking for an affordable alternative to the Poconos and the Jersey shore. For sports fans the incentive would be the NCAA’s promise to hold the Final Four in the city if the project is ever completed.

‘I support Destiny USA mainly to have the Final Four,’ says Syracuse native and freshman business major Brian Venuti.

The second reason SU students should back Destiny USA is for their own enjoyment. The new facility would hold a concert hall, Broadway style stages, restaurants, climbing walls, and plenty of other attractions to spice up weekends on the Hill.

‘I wouldn’t have to drive to Utica or Ithaca to see a concert,’ said Adam Hecht, freshman in The College of Arts and Sciences. ‘Also, I could take a date there (Destiny USA) as opposed to Marshall Street.’

While Destiny USA guarantees no miracles, it will at least give a breath of fresh air (and some fresh cash) to the city.