Canalside: Moving in the Right Direction
On September 17,
Empire State Development (ESD) approved the Draft Generic Environmental Impact
Statement (DGEIS) for the latest version of Canalside, produced by Erie Canal
Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC). Any more acronyms? This
version of the DGEIS represents the Canalside plan which is required to
consider all reasonable questions, comments and recommendations made by the
public, during the February 2009 scoping session. Back then, many people
were upset with the previous version, released in December 2008. However it
appears that public comment may have made a significant contribution to the
improvement of the plan this time around.
Let's take a look
at a few elements of the plan that have greatly improved since the last
release, as well as some that could still be reasonably modified.
Improvements:
1. Connection to the Water - Of the major disappointments of the previous plan, the 12' raised section of the canal was probably the biggest, quite literally forming a barrier between the development on Canalside and the canal itself. In the recent DGEIS, that canal area has been lowered significantly, creating a much more permeable site by allowing continuous pedestrian movement along the canals. This allows the canals to feel more public and better integrates the canal spaces with the surrounding public streets.
Concentration of Buildings fronting water - With the canal elevated in the previous scheme, the waterways could not function as the thread linking each of the development parcels. In the revised scheme, not only is the water lowered to make the site more permeable, but a greater concentration of water based commercial activity occurs along the canals.
Restoration of Historic Street Layouts - The Dec. 2008 Canalside plan had a recreated street layout that strayed significantly from the historic grid of the site. The plan featured enormous turn radii, shaving away at the street corners, reducing the pedestrian friendliness of the site and limiting the overall impression of density. The new plan has reestablished the historic layout as the foundation for the cobblestone streets. The historic streets provide far greater urban design for the site, catering to those walking within the site rather than the automobiles traversing through.
4. Design Guidelines - As a means to ensure that the Canalside project is developed to a high standard of design, ECHDC has commissioned the development of guidelines that will mandate a set of characteristics that each piece of the site must possess. The guidelines regulate building use, mass, street frontage, acceptable parking and service locations, building materials, signage, lighting and green design. They encourage a diversity of architecture which should incorporate elements reflective of the history of the site while also possessing a modern design. A process has been outlined for the review and approval of each development project to ensure that it is in compliance with the standards of the site.
A Few Suggestions:
1. Incorporate the Erie Canal - As we're spending millions of dollars to recreate a historic canal system, the plan should incorporate at least a piece of what was the actual Erie Canal. The Erie Canal originally terminated at the intersection of the Commercial Slip and the Main & Hamburg Canal, right where the plan shows the canal turning right. Instead using interpretive signage to represent the canal, recreate a small portion of the original waterway as a means of representing the original layout of the canals.
3. Enhance Interpretive Elements - The Erie Canal Harbor is the most important historic site in the City of Buffalo. The original infrastructure and activities which took place upon it were the lifeblood of the Buffalo economy throughout its decades of prominence. To misrepresent the history of this location is unfortunate and contradicts efforts by many to cast a light on Buffalo's vibrant waterfront history.
The most inaccurate piece is likely the plan of a Waterwheel Fronting the Bass Pro Building along the Canal. Nowhere in this district, has there ever been a waterwheel. The Bass Pro building, itself, is representative of a mill building, rather than a grain elevator. These waterways were not fast flowing, where waterwheels and mills would be located to generate and house production. The "thematic" focus of development of Canalside should be on creating a quality neighborhood that respects its past.
4. Ensure that ALL Structures Follow Design Guidelines - In drafting the design guidelines mentioned in #4, above, has recognized that quality urban design is paramount to the success of the Canalside project. However, it must be ensured that all structures follow these guidelines, including those proposed by ECHDC. The graphic available at http://eriecanalharbor.com/pdf/CanalSide/DGEIS/B1b.pdf identifies the locations in which each parcel must have an active ground floor use, including the Bass Pro structure in the Aud block. However, in this graphic, the first two floors of the Bass Pro building above street level are parking. This parking will be masked by an atrium with aesthetic indoor features, however, there will be no access to the building or retail frontage at the canal level. Instead, it appears that the building has been designed with retail beginning on the 3rd floor of the building, connected to a bridge that leads only to the 3rd story open space on the opposite side of the canal. This atrium serves as only a passive use on the ground floor (canal level) of the building, contrary to the stipulations in the design guidelines that require an active ground floor use at this location. Instead, only the subterranean access to the "water tube" and the 3rd floor access to the bridge to open space are active on this façade.
In
all, the most recent plan for Canalside is a vast improvement from the previous
version. The site has become more
permeable, the smaller retail spaces have better connections to the water, the
street grid has returned to the original historic layout and the open space has
been given a better opportunity for vibrancy. However, as the public process for this project continues
tonight at the Albright Knox, there is still room for a better Canalside. Let's create one of America's next
great urban destinations allowing high quality urban design to come first and
ensuring that the major attractions follow suit.
I know it's been said 100x before, but the most ridiculous thing about this project is recreating a historical space around the Skyway! What ever became of the US DOT Tiger Grant funds which the Buffalo Common Council unanimously approved to apply for? Where are the artist renders of the rusting loud bridge sitting in the middle of all this development?