Syracuse, N.Y. -- The campus of Cazenovia College, which closed permanently this spring after 199 years of operation, will become the temporary home of a New York state police training academy.
State police will sign a two-year lease for the buildings on the main college campus and the athletic center, the state and college announced today. The space will be big enough for 275 recruits and 115 instructors, the state said.
The lease begins Aug. 1. The first trooper class is expected to start in October.
Neither the college nor the state released terms of the lease.
The deal is part of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to add more basic police school classes. A news release from Hochul’s office said the state has budgeted $66 million for two classes of state trooper graduates. That money will help make up for academy classes postponed during the COVID-19 pandemic and increase the number of troopers investigating serious crimes, the governor’s office said.
The state plans to hold four academies over the next two years, and because there will be overlap, it looked for locations to supplement the main academy facility in Albany, said state police spokeswoman Deanna Cohen.
Cazenovia College defaulted on a $25 million bond payment in the fall, and its final commencement was May 13. The 27-acre main campus, in the heart of the lakeside village, and a nearby 244-acre equestrian center were put up for sale this spring.
