The Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC) met this week and approved several items, including real property acquisition from the City of Buffalo and authorization to enter into a contract for improvements on the Outer Harbor.
"With summer well underway, as well as a myriad of construction projects occurring, Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp keeps gaining speed and today's approval of the agenda furthers our goals," said ESD Regional President and ECHDC Interim Chair Sam Hoyt. "By acquiring additional land for the Canalside project from the City of Buffalo, we can provide various year-round offerings and experiences, including restaurants, entertainment venues, retail outlets, cultural attractions, vast public space and increased access to the Buffalo River."
The authorization has enabled the ECHDC to take over several parcels adjacent to the Commercial Slip to complete the Canalside project as intended. The board also authorized ECHDC to enter into a contract with Keleman-Bauer Construction d/b/a Edbauer Construction for construction of improvements to parcel OH (former site of Cargill and NYPA Ice Boom parcel).
The Outer Harbor advisory group has recommended that the approximately twenty acres of land become shovel ready and publically accessible. Work for the area includes shoreline enhancements, excavation of petroleum contaminated soil, construction of landscape features like walking paths, new site utilities and lighting, and the rehabilitation of an existing building into a comfort station and storage just to name a few. The entire contract is approximately three million dollars.
The final item on the approval list was to enter into a contract with Phillips Lytle LLP for environmental, land use and construction counsel and related litigation services, which is pegged at $300,000.
when is the boardwalk extension supposed to happen? It's been a year now and there is still asphalt and a chain link fence. Really how big a deal is this?