Buffalo Rising Online

Back in 1989, Philly-based developer Oliver Tyrone Pulver proposed a $55 million, 360,000 sq.ft. office building for this site. Joan Bozer and others moaned over the loss of 'green space.' The DOT wasn't willing to declare the site 'surplus.' Pulver shifted plans for the highrise to the Courtyard Mall site further up Main Street. In the end, the developer wasn't able to sign an anchor tenant, let its purchase option expire, and left town without building a thing.

If money and buying property wasn't an issue...the site should be developed and a new park built between ECC and the Ellicott Square Bldg.

I agree with hamp about the need for a good rethink of this area, and Queenseyes' list of what's going on nearby provides good justification for why. A good redesign strikes me as a good project candidate for New York State intermodal funds (accessible through state legislators).

As to playing Frogger, I've often had to do that in this area. It's especially challenging when leading a "Downtown Revealed" architecture tourgroup through. As tourguide, I know how those ducks feel who you occasionally see trying to safely get their hatchlings across a busy road...

BTW, it would be interesting to know a bit more about the history of the park and the design, sculptures, etc. When taking tour groups through, it's all in such an embarrassing state that I pretty much try to distract attention from it by talking about something else.

Wasn't there a donor that was willing to spend money on park improvements recently? I think it was something to do with creating a cancer memorial.

The third image is nearly a direct view down Erie Street between the sandstone spire and the red brick building to its left. That should be the new gateway to the waterfront with a reconstructed Erie Street radial avenue that links to the outer harbor with a lift bridge over the Buffalo River. It is really only way to tie waterfront access and the outer harbor directly into the heart of downtown. Of course it involves removing the skyway but that then creates developable parcels lining Erie Street. This would add more significance to this collection of parks...

NYC: interesting comment, and I agree. The master's thesis of a recent grad from the UB planning school (now working in RaChaCha) was a proposal to re-open Erie Street to traffic between Main Street and the waterfront.

This park was created in the early 70's after a long run as a surface lot due to "potential development" that never came. It would be nice to see this park and the green space west of it be spruced up and re-designed, sidewalks near the streets (more pedestrian friendly)

I think the skyway access ramp needs to go....along with the removal of the skyway

but I also think that the exit from the Niagara Expresway at the Adams Mark/HealthNow location should be removed (let them use the Virginia Exit)

how do we get rid of the elm oak arterial?

and I think we need to focus less on parks and more on infill density of our downtown.

How do we get office buildings and commercial buildings built?

How do we expand our downtown northwest along Niagara, southwest along Ohio, South Park, Ganson & Furhmann Boulevard?

How do we get our downtown to expand east?

How do we get formerly closed streets reconstructed and reopened?

These are our urban issues....certainly not parks!

That's another example of my point that parks we have are not taken care of, and why as a shrinking city who had a lot of very nice parks built in its hey days, at this point Buffalo should not be adding any new parks. Yes they're nice well-intentioned feel-good things, but they're luxuries at best and usually are not well taken care of over time so in many cases they eventually become negatives (as Denizen explains better than I can). With that particular one, I'd say remove the fountain at this point because its an embarassing eye sore and otherwise just try to keep it looking decent. All potential "park funding" from Sam or other Santa Clauses for newly brainstormed parks should instead be directed toward basic decent upkeep our existing parks, pools, and playgrounds.

Frogger? There isn't a car or anything with 5000 yards of this pedestrian. He could probably set up a picnic lunch on the double yellow lines without being interrupted during his meal.

It doesn't matter what you do to this park, it will still be infested with the poor, the homeless, the junkies, and the sex predators that live in the near by half-way houses. The police turn a blind eye to this park because it keeps the miscreants and other societal scumbags away from the college students and business people.

The fountain is amazing when it is running, but it has been out of service for well over a decade. I believe that it is now functioning as a urinal / toilet for the park residents.

I agree with Chris69. We should close off the exit ramps, tear down the Skyway and the Thruway between Ogden Street and Sheridan Drive. Close the 33 and revamp the Kensington, Main Street, Oak, etc. Stop making it easy for the holier than thou suburbanites to make their way into the city. Let them be inconvenienced for the welfare and public good of the City. It will force more of them to move into mixed use residential buildings, force more of them to abandon their 3 car lifestyle, and will move more of them into the city. But they will have to move in on our terms. The city is not an extension of the suburbs, it is supposed to be the other way around.

The bus turn around did not take up part of the park. It was created for this purpose when North and South Divisions streets were created. The park also was never surface parking. It was built at the end of the sixties as park of a massive downtown redevelopment and reconfiguration. It was thought in those days that massive roadway type projects mixed with "green Space" would solve every problem. Many many dense blocks of aging dark buildings were cleared for this "Park"

This was on the east side of Shelton Square before the massive downtown redevelopment project of the late '60's, when Robert Moses Mentality prevailed and the square was pretty much chopped up. Do an Google image search on "Shelton Square" and you'll see what the area looked like before this all happened.

check out this earlier BRO story

http://buffalorising.com/story/urban_vistas_2_urban_view_rene

Don't forget our proposed Skate Park!

Fewer residents (still fewer gainfully employed residents), fewer houses (still fewer occupied houses), fewer jobs, smaller tax base, fewer schools, fewer churches, fewer police stations, fewer fire stations, fewer strong neighborhoods, fewer hospitals, fewer safe streets we can walk on after dark… but… let's... propose... more… parks! They won't have to be well maintained, as this article points out, but let's add more parks! Feels great! Wo-hooo! Thank you Santa Sam and Santa Antione!

This park is dead not only because of the lack of street-level activity adjacent to it, it is also dead because it is an island between multi-lane traffic, as Queenseyes points out. To use this park, you have to deliberately cross scary traffic. Once you get across, there are access points only at the four corners and even those paths are obsured by trees No sidewalks border it. That is a clear Go Away signal.

How many people would use Lafayette Square if you couldn't walk into it from any point on its edges, if it was not lined by sidewalks, or if it lacked clear sightlines from every direction?