On Saturday April 19,2003, I drove to the location of the Suttons Corner, NY GFA. It is relatively easy to find. I followed I90 west from my residence (Herkimer, NY) and turned off at Exit 34A onto I481 North. I481 is a bypass around the eastside of Syracuse, NY. Going north I481 becomes state route 481 north of the I81/I481 interchange at North Syracuse. I followed Route 481 to the exit for Route 364. The exit is marked for the villages of Phoenix and Mexico. This is the only place I know of where Mexico is north of Phoenix. I followed Rt. 364 north to its end at State Route 3. The intersection is called Loomis Corner. Approaching Loomis Corner I spotted a microwave tower off to the left and I suspected that I might be in the right place. I turned left (west) on to Rt. 3. Although there are no signs indicating so, I determined that Suttons Corner is the intersection of Rt. 364 and State Route 49 which is about a mile south of Loomis Corner.
About 300 to 400 feet west of the Rt. 3/Rt. 364 intersection I found a gravel drive on the right which headed in toward the microwave tower. Eureka, on the west side of the drive was the gravel pit indicated on the topographical map. About a third of a mile up the lane I came to a residence beyond which the drive entered the woods.
I parked my car and went up to the house to inquire about entering the property beyond. The owner`s wife told me that her husband would be home shortly if I wanted to wait. I waited along the drive until the owner arrived.
The property today belongs to Mr. Thomas Elhage who acquired the property from the government. He said he tried to buy the diesel generators but they weren`t for sale and they were shipped to Panama. Mr. Elhage has lived in the immediate area most of his life, and his holdings cover about 65 acres. He remembers when the site was constructed and even the name of the construction company. The ridge top where the site is located is the highest point in Oswego County, NY. The soil is extremely gravelly with a lot of large rocks as well. The current microwave tower stands between the owner`s residence and the former GFA site.
During the years of operation the GIs attending the site carried drinking water from Mr. Elhage`s mother`s nearby home. He also stated that tech reps from several companies would take room and board ($25/week) at his mother`s whenever they were working on the equipment.
Mr. Elhage stated that originally there was no radome over the antenna. By his recollection, the radome was added after weather related problems were encountered. Perhaps someone familiar with gap filler sets will know if the was more than one type of set installed here over time.
It is about 600 feet from the owner`s lawn to the GFA building. I could see some of the building through the trees while I waited for the owner to arrive. A recent ice storm had brought down several tree limbs which had fallen on the electrical power line to the GFA building and broke one of the support poles. There is a lot of debris stored around the building and the ice storm had littered the area with fallen limbs. The owner gave me permission to go in to the building and look around as much as I wanted (inside and out) and take as many pictures as necessary. The building is currently being used for storage.
Except for the generators, radar equipment and tower, everything is just the way the Air Force left it. The building appears to be structurally sound, but in need of TLC. The perimeter fence is still intact. The fuel tank is still there and according to the owner it is about half full of diesel fuel. The tower footings are visible and the outhouse is there as well.
The owner claims to have vintage pictures of the site and I will be contacting him to see if I can get copies of them.