It was just about a year ago today when I posted on what I felt was an opportunity to take a dead space on Court Street and turn it into a vibrant urban plaza. Since then I have run into various staff members at Visit Buffalo Niagara - VBN (formerly the Convention and Visitors Bureau), and each time I have made it a point to mention the opportunity. Surprisingly, the powers that be expressed a serious interest in the concept and even began to research what it would take to pull it off.
This past Wednesday Dottie Gallagher-Cohen (President and CEO) called me up and broke the news that VBN was moving forward with the plaza concept, and that it was going to be called the Court Street Plaza. At first I didn't believe her... I then thought that I had misunderstood her. After a long silence I asked, "Are you serious?" She told me that she was and that plans were underway to turn the rear end (or side end) of the Convention Center into a people plaza, with tables, patio umbrellas and food.
After the conversation ended, I went back to the post and realized that there had been two issues broached when I wrote the post. The first was, of course, turning the dead space into a place for people. The second was a request for bike racks. When I spoke to Peter Burakowski (Director of Communications) later in the week, I mentioned that the plaza was still in need of bike racks. He told me that he would look into it. I also mentioned that it would be nice to have food options for vegetarians. He said that they were looking into bringing food trucks to the site, and that non-meat eaters would be taken into consideration. He also mentioned that flower planters were on the way, as were new garbage cans.
Today marked the official opening of the Court Street Plaza, and by the looks and sounds of it people are really happy to see the transformation. The patio umbrellas were donated by Coke, and the picnic tables were assembled by the Boy Scouts of America. The steps leading up to the Convention Center have been repaired and bike racks will soon be on the way. I spoke with Ed Healy (VP, Marketing) after the ceremony and we felt that there should be artwork on the wall... or a fountain. We agreed that more greenery would be nice too... and musicians. This was a relatively easy lift for VBN - a big bang for a few bucks. Executive Director Paul Murphy is already planning on hosting VBN cookout events out in the plaza. Hopefully the food trucks will be enough to have food at the site on a daily basis. Eventually there may even be permanent plaza seating and tables. Court Street looked great today with all of the people sitting at the picnic tables and enjoying ice cream served up Bryce's Drive-In cart.
The message is this: there are some easy fixes out there and there are organizations like VBN that are willing to listen. Let's continue to look at these types of opportunities that can add to the quality of life for Buffalonians and visitors to the city.
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This past Wednesday Dottie Gallagher-Cohen (President and CEO) called me up and broke the news that VBN was moving forward with the plaza concept, and that it was going to be called the Court Street Plaza. At first I didn't believe her... I then thought that I had misunderstood her. After a long silence I asked, "Are you serious?" She told me that she was and that plans were underway to turn the rear end (or side end) of the Convention Center into a people plaza, with tables, patio umbrellas and food.
After the conversation ended, I went back to the post and realized that there had been two issues broached when I wrote the post. The first was, of course, turning the dead space into a place for people. The second was a request for bike racks. When I spoke to Peter Burakowski (Director of Communications) later in the week, I mentioned that the plaza was still in need of bike racks. He told me that he would look into it. I also mentioned that it would be nice to have food options for vegetarians. He said that they were looking into bringing food trucks to the site, and that non-meat eaters would be taken into consideration. He also mentioned that flower planters were on the way, as were new garbage cans.
Today marked the official opening of the Court Street Plaza, and by the looks and sounds of it people are really happy to see the transformation. The patio umbrellas were donated by Coke, and the picnic tables were assembled by the Boy Scouts of America. The steps leading up to the Convention Center have been repaired and bike racks will soon be on the way. I spoke with Ed Healy (VP, Marketing) after the ceremony and we felt that there should be artwork on the wall... or a fountain. We agreed that more greenery would be nice too... and musicians. This was a relatively easy lift for VBN - a big bang for a few bucks. Executive Director Paul Murphy is already planning on hosting VBN cookout events out in the plaza. Hopefully the food trucks will be enough to have food at the site on a daily basis. Eventually there may even be permanent plaza seating and tables. Court Street looked great today with all of the people sitting at the picnic tables and enjoying ice cream served up Bryce's Drive-In cart.
The message is this: there are some easy fixes out there and there are organizations like VBN that are willing to listen. Let's continue to look at these types of opportunities that can add to the quality of life for Buffalonians and visitors to the city.
Two thumbs up my friend. NYC has been doing this the last few years, really simple, real low cost urban vitality.