MAKING IT FEEL FRENDLIER

With its giant oil tanks and towering cement silos, accessing Oswego's Maritime District can be a little intimidating to a first time visitor. That's how professional artist and transplanted Oswegonian Debra Daniels felt the first time she ventured onto the port authority pier, which begins at the foot of First Street on the west side of Oswego River.

"The warning signs...so severe...I turned around," she said this morning, while working on the second of three schooners that along with an imaginative paint scheme are about to turn what used to be a forbidding fence bordering the district into an appealing attraction.

Artist Debra Daniels

The wooden fence surrounds the oil tanks and terminal operated by Sprague Energy. Ms. Daniels laughed. "I never imagined it would involve so much work. The wood had to be pressure washed, and then primed - which soaked up a lot more paint than we thought."

The project has been underway several weeks, and is an all-volunteer effort. Sprague Energy provided the labor for the pressure wash and took care of materials, and Raby's Lumber donated the paint at cost.