SYRACUSE, N.Y. (Dec. 19, 2025) — One of downtown Syracuse’s most recognizable landmarks — National Grid’s Art Deco headquarters, often known locally as the Niagara Mohawk (or Niagara Hudson) Building — is heading into a multi-year exterior restoration designed to preserve the nearly century-old structure while keeping it fully functional for the thousands of employees who work there. [1]
The effort arrives just a year after the building’s exterior lighting drew renewed attention across Central New York, thanks to a major upgrade that revived the structure’s tradition of holiday and community-themed illumination. Now, National Grid says it’s turning from lighting to longevity: repairing age-related wear, strengthening areas with structural issues, and restoring signature architectural details that make the building an Art Deco standout on Erie Boulevard West. [2]
At the center of the plan is a theme that resonates with the building’s origin story. Completed in 1932, the headquarters was built to symbolize the promise of electricity during the Great Depression — and, in 2025, company representatives are framing the restoration as a way to carry that “beacon” role into a new era shaped by renewable energy and grid modernization. [3]
A downtown landmark that doubles as a working headquarters
National Grid describes the Syracuse Art Deco building as a hub that supports daily operations for its downtown campus, and the company’s public statements emphasize its importance as both a workplace and a community landmark. In announcing the restoration, National Grid New York Vice President of Operations Support Srividya Madhusudhan said the project is meant to protect “an iconic landmark” while also safeguarding “the structural integrity of a workplace” serving “more than 2,000 employees.” [4]
Local coverage on Dec. 19 echoed that scale, noting the building “houses 2,000 employees” and has become one of the most recognizable features of the downtown skyline — not only for its distinctive design, but for its lighting displays that regularly mark holidays and community events. [5]
What happens first: repairing the damaged front doors
The restoration starts at street level, with a very visible fix that stems from a recent incident.
National Grid says the first phase will address the front doors facing Erie Boulevard West, after a vehicle struck them in May 2024 — destroying three original stainless-steel doors and damaging the terrazzo floor and glass panels in the vestibule. [6]
According to National Grid, replacement doors were fabricated by Rooted Construction Management & Architectural Fabrication in Manlius and finished to match the remaining doors that date back to the building’s 1932 opening. Two original push bars were salvaged for reuse, while the third is being replicated to match. [7]
In an interview reported by WRVO on Dec. 19, National Grid spokesperson Jared Paventi underscored how precise the work must be for a building with historic character: the new stainless-steel doors are being finished to match the originals, with the goal of reopening lobby access once installation is complete. [8]
National Grid’s stated timeline places completion of the door installation by January 2026, making the entrance repairs both the immediate priority and the first major milestone in a longer schedule. [9]
The multi-year scope: panels, brickwork, flashing, roof, and metal-and-glass details
While the doors are the starting point, the public scope is far broader — and aimed at the parts of the façade that take the harshest beating from Syracuse winters.
National Grid’s project outline includes:
- Replacing the building’s distinctive black spandrel panels with durable replicas made from glass fiber–reinforced concrete, designed to reproduce the original ornate designs while improving resistance to water infiltration. [10]
- Brickwork repairs, including sourcing infill materials from the original local manufacturer where needed to maintain historic integrity. [11]
- Parapet and flashing repairs, including removal of deteriorating non-original copper flashing and resetting original stone parapet caps to help resolve water leaks. [12]
- Decorative stainless steel and glass work, replacing weather-worn stainless steel and acrylic light covers above the doors and repairing/refreshing related entry details. [13]
- A new roof, after the current roof reached the end of its useful life and was patched multiple times. [14]
WRVO’s Dec. 19 report also highlighted additional exterior work extending over “the next few years,” including brickwork and flashing repairs and restoration of decorative stainless-steel and glass elements — a reminder that much of what makes the building distinctive is also what requires specialized preservation. [15]
The “Spirit of Light” will be part of the restoration story
No description of the Niagara Mohawk Building feels complete without its signature figure: the winged stainless-steel sculpture called “The Spirit of Light.”
National Grid’s project materials describe the façade as adorned with the 28-foot sculpture, intended to represent the spread of electricity — a hallmark of the building’s “Age of Electricity” symbolism. [16]
WRVO reports that the sculpture will receive attention as part of the broader restoration conversation, but Paventi suggested it remains structurally sound: he said it’s “in pretty good shape” after decades of wind and snow. [17]
That’s an important detail for preservation watchers: the building’s Art Deco identity isn’t limited to brick and panels. In many ways, “The Spirit of Light” is the emblem — and maintaining it is inseparable from maintaining the structure’s place in Syracuse’s civic imagination.
Historic preservation requirements: who’s designing it, and what rules apply
Because this is a landmark with protected historic value, the restoration isn’t just a construction decision — it’s also a compliance project.
National Grid says the restoration is being designed by Nelson Associates Architectural Engineers of Clinton, New York, and that the firm’s role includes meeting the historical restoration requirements and specifications enforced by the City of Syracuse Landmark Preservation Board, which administers Syracuse’s preservation ordinance governing exterior alterations to designated sites and preservation-district properties. [18]
National Grid also notes that the building — known as the Niagara Mohawk Building and also the Niagara Hudson Building — was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. [19]
For downtown Syracuse, that combination matters: a high-profile restoration can reinforce the city’s broader preservation goals while also testing how modern materials (like reinforced concrete replicas) can be used to maintain historic appearance and performance.
Funding and customer impact: what National Grid has said so far
One of the first questions that tends to follow any large-scale utility project is: who pays?
So far, National Grid has not publicly released a precise total cost. A Dec. 18 report carried by iHeartRadio (citing local TV reporting) said the company estimates the renovations will cost “a few million dollars,” without providing an exact figure. [20]
In local coverage published earlier in the week, National Grid Regional Director Alberto Bianchetti said funding would be assembled over “three to four years,” and when asked whether customers would be affected, he framed the effort as part of operating a utility: “The restoration of our assets… is part of the cost of doing business and providing service.” [21]
That doesn’t resolve the bigger policy debate — how utilities balance ratepayer impacts, infrastructure needs, and community stewardship — but it does clarify the company’s current public posture: this is being treated as long-term asset maintenance, not a short-term discretionary facelift.
Why this restoration matters now, a year after the relighting
In 2024, National Grid says community leaders and employees celebrated a new exterior lighting system — a highly visible modernization on a building famous for lighting up in different colors for holidays and special events. [22]
The company’s timeline underscores how the lighting story fits into the building’s larger arc:
- The exterior lighting was originally installed in 1932. [23]
- The lights were turned off in 1939 for World War II blackouts. [24]
- The lighting later returned with color capabilities in 2000. [25]
- After a 2022 malfunction, National Grid says the building remained dark until repairs restored illumination in 2024. [26]
That relighting moment helped reintroduce the building to a new generation — and, in many ways, made the condition of the exterior more visible than ever. Once the lights are back, cracks, leaks, corroded metal, and aging panels don’t just become maintenance issues; they become part of what the city sees every night.
In WRVO’s Dec. 19 reporting, Paventi connected the restoration to a forward-looking theme: he said it’s fitting that a building created at the dawn of the electric age is being revitalized as the energy industry moves toward what he described as the dawn of the renewable energy age. [27]
What happens next in downtown Syracuse
The most immediate “watch point” for downtown residents, workers, and preservation advocates is the front entrance: door work is first, with the company pointing to January 2026 as the completion target for installation. [28]
After that, the project’s sequencing will likely be shaped by a mix of preservation requirements, seasonal construction realities, and the logistical challenge of renovating a historic façade while the building continues to function as an active office environment.
For Syracuse, the significance is bigger than scaffolding and masonry. This restoration is about preserving a building that has become part of the city’s identity — a structure that helped define what “modern” looked like in 1932, and that still signals civic moments in color across the skyline today.
And in an era when downtowns across the country are rethinking how office buildings, public spaces, and historic assets fit together, a high-profile, multi-year restoration of a working headquarters may become one of the more closely watched preservation projects in Central New York. [29]
References
1. www.wrvo.org, 2. www.nationalgridus.com, 3. www.wrvo.org, 4. www.nationalgridus.com, 5. www.wrvo.org, 6. www.nationalgridus.com, 7. www.nationalgridus.com, 8. www.wrvo.org, 9. www.nationalgridus.com, 10. www.nationalgridus.com, 11. www.nationalgridus.com, 12. www.nationalgridus.com, 13. www.nationalgridus.com, 14. www.nationalgridus.com, 15. www.wrvo.org, 16. www.nationalgridus.com, 17. www.wrvo.org, 18. www.nationalgridus.com, 19. www.nationalgridus.com, 20. wsyr.iheart.com, 21. cnycentral.com, 22. www.nationalgridus.com, 23. www.nationalgridus.com, 24. www.nationalgridus.com, 25. www.nationalgridus.com, 26. www.nationalgridus.com, 27. www.wrvo.org, 28. www.nationalgridus.com, 29. www.wrvo.org
