Water Park Floated for Canal Side

Sure... Because water parks have had such a successful track record in WNY. I'm sure that "Water Wonders Park" and it's "water-themed boutique hotel" is the cure for what ails us.

A sports bar?

Seriously?

Is it just me, or did any else notice that the more realistic ideas presented by these "consultants" have already been brought up over the past few years by locals?

It seems that the cultural steering committee doesn't have a clue as to what the average WNY'er is interested in.

Geez... I was just gonna go the other way! The year-round aspect of Splash Lagoon, with underground connections to hotels and restaurants, so that people can hit the water park all year round, would be perfect for this area! It does very well elsewhere, and is great for the entire family. And please please put a Wegmans down here! We DIE for lack of food down here! All the other stuff listed is nice too. I don't have a problem with the ideas, where ever they came from, as long as the smartest people gather and decide on the smartest ideas... which by the way, are Splash Lagoon, and Wegmans! :)

For Christ's sake. Build a vibrant neighborhood please. Culturally, we need to respect the historic street grid, canal alignments, and structural scales and densities. But outside of that, how many times does it need to be said, WE DON'T NEED A THEME PARK!!!! There will be museums that locate in the area, great. Like any neighborhood, it is going to be less busy in the outdoors in the winter and extremely lively in the summer.

These gimmick's are all about the fear of not achieving instant satisfaction. Its going to take years, YEARS to build the neighborhood out the right way. We don't need to artificially inject it with gimmicks - why can't it just naturally progress. Its land directly on water, and adjacent to Downtown - there will be demand for development, Please just have faith in that.

Public Market is a great idea, other than that, drop it for Pete's sake. There will be private entities that develop some of these things on their own because of the market for uniqueness.

Part of "Buffalo's rich cultural history" is being eviscerated by Chris Collins as we speak in the name of budget cuts.

I encourage the members of this Board AND consultants to incorporate as many of these effected groups as possible (Hallwalls, Shakespeare in the Park, Big Orbit, Irish Classical, all theater companies and all minority arts organizations). We are in a crisis here folks, and this is a symbiotic relationship: you have funds and they have "product" from which Canal Side can benefit.

Duh? Buffalo needs an indoor water park to compete with the one that is 25min away in NF.

I wouldn't want a water park built front and center on our historic waterfront. BUT an INDOOR water park would be a huge draw and would bring in families from a couple hours away. Just look at the one in Ohio or Erie PA or Nia Falls, ONTARIO....!! Those water parks alone help book 3 or 4 hotels all by themselves.

I support all the developments and uses cited by WCP except for one.

Please no water "recreational" waterpark in Canal Side. The thought of screaming kids/teens hanging out and otherwise unattractive semi-clad adults is unsavory. Really, I'm serious. Save this sort of thing for Erie, PA or Mall of America in MN.

However, I do love the idea of a year round water-themed artistic / botanical / sculptural sight and sound park. Think of an inviting oasis for picnics, plantings, aviary, mini concert stage, sculptures, and just plain reflection and conversation. But even this type of park should not be in Canal Side--perhaps in the Outer Harbor.

A splash recreational waterpark is not authentic to Canal side, and I can't imagine Tielman and crew allowing it. Besides Olmsted didn't envision any type of water park in the Canal Side area anyway.

The best I can find online to Olmsted's proposed Lake Erie park was for a site south and east of Tift St.

Why on earth would you want to put an enclosed water park on the water? What purpose does it serve being on the water if it is just going to be enclosed? You may as well put it on the East Side or Clarence if it is not going to utilize the geography of the waterfront. I mean it’s not like this is the birthplace of the wave pool. This just may be the worse idea I have heard to date. At least Bass Pro had a direct connection to the water making it suitable for that location. Why is there all of a sudden a rush to build something? Just build the infrastructure and let it grow organically like any real city got to where it is now. Reserve some space for a few cultural attractions but for god’s sake do not build a gimmicky water park on arguably the most valuable plot of real estate in the city. How many people do you think are going to travel to Buffalo in the winter to go to a water park? They’re going to Florida, not Buffalo.

There is no end of dumb ideas with what to do with the waterfront because there is no obvious reason to do anything at all there.

Leave it alone and turn attention to actual REAL problems, like thousands of vacant houses and high school graduates that can't read.

Why not combine the aquarium, waterpark and mafia tours to create a "Swim with the Fishes Experience!"?

Now that kinda thing reeks of class!

Jesus what a waste of time.

Doesn't anyone remember all the central planning that went into creating the Chippewa area? Thanks be to the gods for all the public hearing and meetings that went into the Elmwood Village. And Allentown? Good thing all those different community groups were involved! Three cheers for the managed re-development of the Hydraulics! Without the government chartered Hydraulics Development Corporation that place would have been a complete mess!

This message board demonstrates why nothing will get done with the waterfront in a long, long time. No homerun ideas and nobody in agreement.

I agree with Jesse completely. The ECHDC is so completely useless it infuriates me. How much is Jordan Levy getting paid? I guarantee it is too much. What has he or his organization accomplished that some MUP students at UB couldn't? Put the infrastructure there and let something happen. I guarantee whatever the ECHDC comes up with is going to be met by a ton of resistance and IF they ever do come to a decision it will be a failure.

If you look at the success of the city's pools this past summer then this is really a great idea.

How about making some good signs to be able to make it easier to find your way down to the water front? How about getting rid of the Skyway so people can drive through instead over those areas. Some direct access would be nice instead of getting lost on RT 5 or not know which way to turn when your getting off the Skyway. Or getting on by accident which I have done few times because the entrance to I-190 is next to the entrance of Skyway. Folks need easier time getting around down there.

Lake Erie is one of largest bodies of fresh water on Earth. So enclosing a park for water activities on its shores reminds me a little of someone who "took all the trees and put 'em in a tree museum. And they charged the people a dollar and a half just to see 'em".

I don't like the idea of a waterpark at Canalside but I do like the idea of it being in the area closer to where the Seneca Casino was to go. Can't we just get them to build a waterpark, casino, hotel, and do something different with Canalside?

How people here actually heard of or VISITED the Canal Museum in Syracuse which is only 2 and a half hours away? That's right probably next to no one...so why build one here when we wouldn't even travel two hours to see one. A waterpark on the waterfront could be one of the worst ideas ever. Come on people if you look around in the area you will already find there's enough water parks to fill the demand. Splash mountain, Darien Lake, Niagara Falls, you could count Fantasy Island. If we put one in Buffalo we're going to be in competition with Splash Mountain attracting tourists, so what we're going to steal the measly Southern Tier of NY population from them. Plus who wants to make a Waterpark the ANCHOR of the waterfront??? Build something that Buffalonians can enjoy without being trampled by dumb tourists from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Canada. Also Downtown and the waterfront area caters more to the Adult population so why put a waterpark for kids? No offense to people with children but we already have places like Pearl Street, Chippewa, and HSBC and you don't see 6 year olds running around there so people are most likely going to stay cooped up in their hotel rooms and not out at the bars and nice restaurants we already have downtown. I mean where else are you going to take your kid after spending 4 hours in a pool downtown? This is a garbage idea, you might as well put the water park in the suburbs

My point is that the Waterfront should be designed for the residents of Buffalo to enjoy first not tourists. The primary customers of Canalside should be us. I understand the importance of tourism and their money, but why not build something we(Buffalo) are going to consistently use year round, not something we are going to use once a year or bring our friends from out of town to that's what Niagara Falls is for. I'm not saying I want to build something that doesn't attract tourists I'm saying let's not make this into a resort that is designed for tourism primarily and filled with hotels. I really think that we should focus on developing a larger population downtown to make this more viable. There are already 2 museums at Canalside and 1 in HSBC Arena we don't need anymore. If we built a Canal Museum I would probably visit it ONCE in my lifetime, why not build something a little bit more exciting. Museums produce little money, don't attract that many people, barely employ anyone, and we already have every kind of museum possible except maybe a Space museum lol? I'm sure if anyone knew anything about the waterfront you have heard of Project for Public Spaces(pps.org)and their comparison of the Guggenheim and Vancouver Island. I want to see something that is going to make me want to visit every weekend focus on the "Smaller, quicker, cheaper" scheme. Seriously if we want to make this like "historic Buffalo or Canalside" why not give Flying Bison Brewery a new home on the waterfront. Buffalo was a Brewing power at the turn of the century but now our numbers have dwindled to just Flying Bison and a few nanobreweries. People love beer no matter where you're from especially if you're from Buffalo. But not to many people are willing to make the trip out to Black Rock to get some fresh Flying Bison Brew. I think helping them relocate would be a great addition to the waterfront. I'm not saying they should be our main attraction but having them there would be a boost.

Stupid. Nearly every day there is a post here about a new idea for the waterfront. This one is by far the worst. What is going on behind closed doors? A bunch of idiots meeting every day and burping up whatever idea they had in the night? I see nothing getting done for a very long time. Seems like there is no cohesive planning going on at all. Sad for the city that bumbles run it.

dbeau119...it is a tourism focused destination because wny'ers don't have any money to begin with.

Canalside should be a destination for both locals and tourists alike. First and foremost it should be a wealth generator. Tourism is a beautiful business. Whether its museums, food, lodging, retail etc. Find me another business out there where your customers' come in by the boat/bus/car load. Spend large amounts of money to eat/drink/sleep/shop at your destination and then LEAVE. (Without the majority of money they came with)

Even with the low number of events that go on at the HSBC arena, do you know the effect a SABRES game has on the area? Everything from food, transportation, lodging, shopping, liquor, parking fees etc. You are looking at a huge amount of money. (Does anyone have an idea how one would figure out how many sabres/bills tickets are sold to out of towners?) Do you know what Buffalo-Niagara is NOT capitalizing on, based on our 2 teams alone?

Buffalo is a one stop shop. You go to your game, your show,competition and maybe hit a restaurant and then go home. This area needs more to offer tourists and locals alike, to encourage LONGER and more REPEAT visits. Canalside should be a place that enhances the Buffalo experience and generates wealth for a city and population that sorely needs it.

I agree with the sentiment that whatever is developed here should be aimed at locals, not tourists. Make it something that locals return to again and again. If we are drawn to it regularly, then tourists will follow. But they'll never be the bread and butter. We will.

I don't like water park.

I do like using the upper floor of the train stain for something. I agree that most museums are lifeless. But a children's museum on the second floor of that terminal (they seem generally busy) or modest canal museum up there wouldn't interfere with the rest of the land available or detract from activity, as a museum plopped in the middle of the project would, imo.

I think an indoor/outdoor hands on childeren's museum or science center is needed downtown. Rochester draws many out-of-towners with the Strong museum. There really isn't many family activities downtown. It could be used year-round, employs many people and you could get business sponsorship to help support it.

I recognize that Lord Helmet Cultural Resources is an expert in whatever it is they do, but waterpark = retarded. Bass Pro was a much better idea, and Bass Pro was a bad idea.

Oh wait, I get it! "Water" front. "Water" park. They both have "water" in the name. Of course! Next up - a "water"-boarding facility. That way, it's MIXED USE! Where's my check?