Syracuse, N.Y. — Construction crews are working in freezing temperatures to build the Onondaga County aquarium even as county officials continue to wrestle with how to pay for cost increases.
Two multi-story sections of the aquarium now line the shore of the Syracuse Inner Harbor. Of the estimated $100 million cost of the project, $26 million has been paid out to various contractors, including soft costs like engineering.
County lawmakers only allocated $85 million for the project. County Executive Ryan McMahon snagged another $6.6 million in unused federal funding to pay contractors. That leaves a gap that McMahon says will be filled by private donations…