Canalside: Time to get the snowball rolling...

I wish to see a large water-fountain. Maybe a permanent stage below the Skyway.

Ditch the Party in the Plaza before games. Do something with Canalside before home games. Heck, do something for away games.

It's been discussed a bunch of times but now is another opportunity to Light it up! The Elevator across from the Wharf, the Skyway, and other Seasonal lights would be great. LED make them fairly affordable (see GLF). The Little Rocks has just about the only light down there at night. Buffalo is the City of Light.

Extend Winterfest/Pond Hockey - it's a great event but could so easily be stretched out over a few weeks. Allow pick up Pond Hockey, weather permitting.

Halloween Haunted House

Harvest Market

Sled hill - there's already a slope utilized for the bands

Warming station - Hot Cider/Chocolate, heated tent

Bonfires at night.
Hot cider.
Skating on the canal.

snowball fights in skivvies.

just kidding, that's a bidwell pkwy kind of thing.

seriously, though: snow sculpture contests.

There are so many things to do in the snow that are cheap and fun. Let's make the most of what has historically given Buffalo a bad name.

1. It's called the City of Light, um... let's build a kick-butt Christmas light display. Build an incredible spectacle from Thanksgiving through New Years, lighting up the skyway, boats, grainmills, and everything in between. Better yet, get all the major neighbourhoods to participate, encouraging suburban folks to go through the Elmwood village, Allentown, waterfront, etc... It could be a historical play on light, maybe not the modern day equivalent to Christmas lights?

2. Open an Ice-Bar, a bar made of ice specializing in mulled wines, warm apple ciders, etc...

3. Build a floating ice-skating rink

4. Host the World's Biggest Snowball Fight

5. Replace the current lawn with a heated outdoor area featuring bonfires, build a menu with only food you can cook on the fire

6. Host a Christmas market, similar to Union Square in NY

7. Snow fort competition

8. A snowman competition

9. An ice sculpture competition

10. Hold chili cook-off

11. Hold a soup cook-off

12. Hot Chocolate festival

13. Build an outdoor hot spring

14. Build an ice castle that kids can play in

15. Hold a charitable knitting competition, everyone knits a blanket, all go to charity

16. Polar bear dip

17. Christmas cookie bake-off

18. Sleigh rides

19. Broadcast Bills and Sabres games on the grain mills

20. Not sure what the stars are like in this area, but if they are easy to spot, hold an astrology night

21. Friday smore bar! Every Friday, people can go to the waterfront, reserve a bonfire and have their own smores party.

22. Pre-game tailgates

There should be a temporary ice rink - A really friggin big one and it should host regular tie ins to theSabres in the form of an NHL Experince type thing. This is not such a hard thing to do. People building ice rinks in their backyards all the time. Start making strong connections to the things unique to this place.

The drive-by lights display in Delaware park was always so impersonal. Sure you could stay warm inside the car, but you lost the touch of interacting with others. I remember as a kid, going up to the Festival of Lights in Niagara Falls, walking around, stopping into shops or the Wintergarden (sigh) to warm up. Ice skating around Lackey Plaza, the cheesy animated displays, the Festival of Trees.

Even Jamestown has the Ice Castle Festival, it used to be like a winter carnival.

CanalSide could be a great place to bring all that together. Bring out the AM&As style window displays to connect Canalside to Rotary Rink and people will make an event out of wandering Main Street again. Ditch the Delaware Park light display and set them up at Canalside for a year until a better collection can be put together for this location. Food trucks and hot cocoa. Nice centerpiece events like snow forts and castles and ice carving (even if we need to truck some of that snow in for pre-Christmas weather that never seems to cooperate with our festival schedule).

Comment of the Year nominee.

12 nationally televised games. Second only to Philly and Beantown. Take advantage.

Look at how successful the summer was. Except for cocaine night, is there really a bad idea? (Really it was a good idea, though)

The only thing I'd say is whatever programming is planned there should be an adverse weather plan to keep the train rollin'. Warming tent? Maybe give Clinton's Dish a way to continue in winter like the Anderson's in Tonawanda used to do. Curling? Chowder night.

When is DL&W gonna reenter the fray?

How about an area for curling. It's a niche sport, I've never tried it but I would love too. Same with a lot of my friends. You don't see this sport anywhere in the U.S. I don't know what the maintenance costs would be but I think a lot of people would really like to try this at least once. Rent the equipment for an hour at a time or have a tournament. I really think this would be something you dont see unless your in/from Canada.

How about a bocciofila were people can play bocce. They used to have them when I was a kid near Delaware park area my grandfather used to play and I used to watch.

Ice sculptures contests.

Contests are cool but just getting some artists and make a snow/ice garden would be a pretty simple and neat thing. people cans top down and watch the progress and it would be another cool thing at Winterfest.

I really think having more Ice Rinks is key. Maybe flood the cobblestone and have ice there? Check out www.canadascapital.gc.ca/skateway

We better get thinking quick, because we have had snow storms on dates less than 8 weeks from right now. The surprise storm was not that long ago and happened on Friday, October 13th; that's 59 days from today's date.

one last suggestion
Bring back the Ice Maze!

Would it be animal cruelty to have horses out in the cold? I've often been fascinated by the opening chapter in "City of Light" and the thought that people used to regularly get around the city in horse-drawn sleighs.

Spring, summer and fall are filled with festivals and holiday celebrations. How about asking our ethnic communities to chip in on winter celebrations?

St Nicholas Day 12/6, Winter Solstice 12/21, Bodhi Day 12/8 (Buddist day of Enlightenment, nice for the lights themes), Chinese New Year, St Stephens Day 12/26, Epiphany - 3 Kings Day 1/6, Orthodox Christmas - Julian Calendar 1/7, Kwanzaa, Valentines Day 2/14, Diwali - Hindu Festival of Lights, Hanukkah, MLK Day, Halloween, Festivus (lols), Thanksgiving - Harvest Festival, 12 Days of Christmas (devote each day to a different ethnic group around the city). And there are probably a dozen other holidays that I don't even know about.

I remember the Sesquicentennial was on a pretty cold night, Maybe celebrate an annual 'Buffalo Day' on the city's anniversary. Heck, we could even have a bonfire to celebrate the 199th anniversary of the Burning of Buffalo on January 1st.

If we celebrated all there is to celebrate during the winter, maybe an enclosed warming station, fireside lodge or gathering hall could become a permanent fixture during the winter months to help house various activities.

I'd probably keep New Years at Roosevelt Square though.

How about a giant snow globe. Ours could have a giant Buffalo in it. Or like this one when they have actors/models in it or have it so you can go inside and have your picture taken.

http://gothamist.com/2007/12/06/giant_snow_glob.php

I think the ice bar and bonfire ideas sound great. And maybe some food trucks like The Roaming Buffalo!

http://www.bryantpark.org/things-to-do/holiday_shops.html

A holiday shopping, eating and drinking village of temporary structures similar to Bryant Park. And yes the ice rink on the Aud Site. Bryant Park's rink is sponsored by Citi aka Citi Pond @ Bryant park. (First Niagara or M&T)All the other stuff too, Curling, Sleigh rides, ice sculptures, ice bar and castle.

zamboni rides

hot chocolate, hot cider, hot coffee - anything warm to drink.

fall festivals

pumpkin carving stations where you can buy pumpkins, use patterns/knives, etc.

There are plenty of great ideas here; but the first idea should be to somehow get rid of the fences along main street near the arena..These are ugly and make it very uninviting. I know they serve a safety purpose but its ugly...
A large fountain is good with winter ice skating rink..Warming huts, ice wine festival, Outdoor ice bar and restaurant...

Outdoor ice is a must.

I agree with the Winter Market/Ice Rink idea, similar to Bryant Park in NY. Also, bring back The Festival of Lights from Niagara Falls would be amazing! I agree with the lights lining Main St from rotary down to Canalside.

For Halloween I'd like to see a make shift Fall famers/vendors Market. Also, a haunted house or hay maze would be an excellent idea down there.

Winter beer festival.

http://www.absolutemichigan.com/dig/michigan/2010-michigan-brewers-guild-winter-beer-festival/

The Buffalo Maritime Center is ready to start building an authentic replica of an 1840s Erie Canal packet boat. They've done the research, drawn the plans and hired a professional builder. All they need is a place to build. Would love to see them get started this winter.

Broomball league

1) Reach out to New Era and ICE (the maker of the game and from Clarence)to have a weekly Bubble Hockey tournament and then have the World Championship at Canal Side much like they had the tournament at the Convention Center during the World Juniors tournament.

2) Popular restaurant stands: I still want to see the Dinosaur BBQ locate here. Have a winter BBQ/tailgate so they can see how much we want them here. Mulberry Meatball stand. Maybe this can be a testing ground for restaurants to show them that there is enough traffic down there to invest in the area.

3) As someone else mentioned, Food Trucks. There really aren't any brick and mortar places in the area that can complain about stealing business. We can make this area like a Ralph Wilson parking lot for Sabres games (also mentioned before)

As much as I love the ice skating ideas, isn't that going to cut into the usage at Rotary Rink a bit? There should probably be some separation upfront between using Fountain Plaza for skating, and Canalside for hockey/curling/ice sports so nobody feels like their toes are getting stepped on and files a lawsuit.

In Finland, there is an ice hotel that they build every winter and it's a big hit. Famous designers decorate the different rooms.

We could do an ice bar (isn't there one in Ottawa?) A fully enclosed structure made of ice.

A few things we do in Chicago that I think would work great here:
-Every year in Daley Plaza, Chicago holds Christkindlmarket (a German tradition.) It's a winter holiday fest that includes merch vendors from Europe (xmas ornaments, beer steins, home decor, etc. )and a variety of food vendors. From potato pancakes, sausages and waffles (we look forward to them all year! I'll bet Ulrich's could fill the bill), hot chocolate and cider, to beer & spiced wine, etc. It's all held in tents and includes some heated tents to snack in.

-Navy Pier: As much as I loathed this place when living in Chicago, I get why all my friends who are parents love it. Mid-winter stuck inside with the kids is TOUGH. Navy Pier has a children's museum, restaurants, Shakespeare theater, shops, twice-weekly fireworks, and a variety of indoor and outdoor attractions. There's a reason why it's in the top ten most popular tourist destinations in the U.S.- the Falls are actually #8- wouldn't it be nice to have two big destinations in our backyard?

I realize we need fast and cheap right now, so why not use what is already popular in successful tourist areas but with a genuine Buffalo twist? Winter Shakespeare at the Canal? Fireworks twice a month in conjunction with Sabres games? (even a small show + some beer tents will = people, guaranteed. Mr. Pagula, certainly you could afford a few firework shows?) I'm sure we could lure some poutine carts here (ok, not Buffalo but certainly regional) in addition to our own hometown trucks like Lloyd- perhaps it'd be a nice bridge to next summer for these folks, or at least until city council gets their butts in gear with regards to rule making.

But the most important thing is attracting families. If you want the money from the suburbs funneling in, you have to give them something unique. We've seen how popular the adorable puppet stage is- why not more of these types of performances? What about the children's theater doing a performance there? Winter Carnival complete with games? There's really nothing kids like more than spending their parents money! Even something as simple as an area for kids to climb around- I can't tell you how much fun the kids in our family had last winter playing on the rocks beside Fountain Plaza and the slabs of ice at Powder Keg. We practically had to drag them away!

I can say this: bravo to everyone for this year's successful summer event schedule- I was there for three different events and everything from food and beer stands to security and port-a-johns was perfect! Great job!

Lex from Chicago

An indoor farmers market, that sells hot chocolate and mulled wine in winter and other goods during the summer months.

Why are there so many negative votes to a lot of these suggestions? Does that mean the voter isn't interested in that activity (while the commenter obviously would)? Or does that mean the voter thinks the commenter's suggestion is a waste of time/cash/space and should not even be considered?

I seriously doubt anybody is going to come up with some super-fantabulous idea that is going to draw the entire population all at once. But if Canalside puts on a few separate activities that each draw separate dozens or hundreds of people at a time, I'd call that a success.

Heck, if 99% of the city stays home next Tuesday, while 1% shows up at an event, that's still a 500+ person turnout. Better than 0% because nothing was planned and nobody showed up...

Most have listed fun ways to spend the excess income which people use to pay for entertainment. Am I wrong to think that this spending will go here, instead of where it is spent now? Will the jobs generated at the 'canal' be at the expense of jobs elsewhere? Will they pay more than the minimum wage, which is impossible to live upon?

Can entertaining "events", designed to attract Suburban people (instead of most City residents) supplant day-to-day earning, retailing, and industry? No. Unless we can attract hordes of tourists from outside Erie County, we're only shuffling the same local dollar bills. Free events? - The T.I.T.S. freebie concerts have resulted in the trampling of Lafayette Square into mud; meanwhile, 80% of all downtown retail jobs disappeared while this "event" has gone on. Wow. Or is that a success? You tell me.

An art gallery for local artists.

Rebrand the area to become Buffalo's waterfront that includes certain Canalside attractions.

Connect the waterfront to the rest of the parks with attractive, and safe, walking and bike paths that will bring you all the way to the Peace Bridge and beyond. This can be done over existing streets and rights of way.

Remove the fences that limit entry to the area.

Connect the waterfront to HSBC Arena and light up the trees and pillars to make it a nice place to walk in the spring and fall. Make this a place where visitors and residents will want to go before an event.

Welcome street vendors into the area under the skyway. Let visitors buy a bag of warm peanuts, a hot dog, popcorn, drinks, beer, or what have you while they stroll along the waterfront before a game or concert.

Build on the ideas so visitors leave earlier for events downtown. Bring in musicians and other performers paid for by the city or private funds.

Clean the streets and sidewalks.

Open a metro stop closer to the side of the Arena that opens to a walkway towards the waterfront. Visitors can get off at the old Aud site and walk across the Webster parking lot, or they can get off at the Waterfront and visit their before heading inside.

Open a beer tent under the Skyway for select games and have a "Party under the Pillars" of the Skyway.

Open the upstairs of the DLW terminal for parties during the colder months, and move the action down there when fall turns to winter.

Move the autograph line from the back of the Arena to the waterfront. Let the players drive up Main Street and stop for their adoring fans instead of meeting them in back of the Arena. Hold a few fan events where players meet the fans at the waterfront or in the HSBC Plaza. Do the same with Monster Truck night or WWF night.

Do something with the old Aud site. Even if it is just planted grass. Open it as a sledding hill in the winter.

All of the above is utter nonsense. Every penny spent around the 'canal side' will be at the expense of established businesses. This is nearly the poorest city in America, so this talk about restaurants where one meal will cost enough to buy a week's worth of groceries is grotesque.

Between the 2000 and 2010 Census counts, our population dropped by over 10% AND our per-capita income dropped by 10% when inflation is considered. Fewer people, less money. Opening new hot dog stands is hardly Progress.

My 'entertainment' money now goes to pay utilities. Did you get your latest water bill, with the 30+% increase? $160 per quarter is my new charge, after cutting back water use to the bare minimum. Water is now more expensive than my electricity bill. But we have to support all the lazy slobs on the Water Authority's payroll, so I shouldn't complain - gotta keep those suburban frauds in their easy 'jobs'.

How about an ice replica of a Bass Pro Shop that people could whack with a sledge hammer for a dollar a swing?

The thoughtful suggestions from JnnTO, JM and Sho'nuff seem to be a good starting place.