Waterfront Postcards
I picked up a couple of old post cards this weekend at the Yard Sail. Both depicted the waterfront – one was of the Erie Basin Marina and the other was of the Inner Harbor (pre Erie Canal Terminus). The shot of the Erie Basin Marina sometime after it opened in 1973. Did you know that the Marina was designed in the shape of a Buffalo? Outlook Tower can be seen in the foreground, but there are no other amenities to speak of – no restaurants, just slips for boaters. In the background the Outer Harbor is visible. The Skyway is visible, and there are not yet any slips along the inland waterways.
The photo depicting the former Buffalo Naval and Servicemen’s Park is pretty bleak. I love the walkway that leads from the museum to the destroyer – it looks like something you might see on an airport runway. With all of the recent excitement surrounding the opening of the Commercial Slip, the postcard tells a story of a time that many Buffalonians would like to forget. It would be interesting to hear from anyone who remembers what it was like to see some of these past developments unfold. Was there fanfare surrounding the opening of these parks, or was there a gradual development over the years? Were Buffalonians already jaded by poor decision-making and political blunderings, or did these projects give people new hope that something was being done on the waterfront?
Photos: Erie Basin Marina (James Doane) and Naval Yard (Matthew J. Starr)
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STEEL
Both of these cards tell people:
"come to Buffalo because we have lots of parking"
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sbrof
From a time when redevelopment equated the destruction of history as a useless remnant not worth remembering. Way to go guys. That parking lot in the top post card is the exact spot where the Erie Canal was buried for this progressive development.
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PDB
As romantic as it sounds that the Basin was designed as a Buffalo, it probably was a coincidence. The legs were part of the slips that berthed ship pre 1900 and the spine of the buffalo is a pre 1900 breakwall. The area where the Hatch is originally was open for ships to pass through. It was easy to just close up the hole with steel pilings.
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ExWNYer
Buffalo's motto then.
Buffalo: Food, folks, fun and plenty of parking. Except minus the food, folks and fun.
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kooksapalooza
anybody have an overhead pic of the buffalo shaped marina?
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bobbyraz49
I rented a small plane several years ago. I took my dad and we flew around Buffalo and Niagara Falls. I took many pictures. One was of the Erie Basin Marina. We looked at it and said "wow, it looks like a buffalo". It really does look like the Buffalo Bils logo. I hope the link below helps.
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=42.887764,-78.878038&spn=0.005817,0.009549&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=42.88629,-78.87757&panoid=AJBtfVIH2CXeG_9CRaaF2g&cbp=1,288.8355418346371,,0,-2.208909229851088
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hamp
Both the original Naval Park and the Erie Basin Marina were seen as major waterfront developments that would usher in a new era for the city. The main boosters were the mayors in office at the time ( I can't remember whose reign these fall under), and the Community Development Department.
The important point here is that we shouldn't be so quick to "just build it". Good design makes a difference. The newly reconstructed Erie Canal Terminus would not have been as successful if we had followed the advice of the "just built it" crowd, including many people that post on this site.
When people demand good design, and a thorough design process they should not be labeled "obstructionists". In fact it is just the opposite. As we see from these old photos, the people that would have us settle for mediocrity are the ones holding this region back.
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phrank
Remember that before this was built, this entire stretch of waterfront land was private industrial land inaccessible to the public. Sure, there were probably lots of cool structures that should have been saved and re-used, but this was an enormous step in opening up the waterfront. We take this park for granted and complain about everything it ISN'T. But imagine if it was still private industrial land. Luckily, we're smart enough to improve it now. The mistake I see is giving up all the land on the other side of the marina to private condo owners cutting it off to anything public. This marina park should have extended all the way around to LaSalle Park with private development (condos above retail/restaurants) behind a boulevard. These views might look ugly to us now, but at least the public side is along the water!
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sbrof
here here hamp! phrank.. if the industrial lands were still existing we wouldn't have had to spend millions to dig up the original canal today, we wouldn't have to have interpretive or as steel would say, fakey historic buildings. We would have the real deal. Darn, that would just be horrible. Renovating a couple blocks of buildings could have been done for half the price of what we have spent to date to rewater and recreate the terminus area.
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georgethomasapfel
phrank, that's the waterfront I remember growing up - off limits and inacessible. Now we get to enjoy one of the region's greatest assets.
Yup, that's a Buffalo
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STEEL
The most interesting part of these images is in the background. Notice the massive industrial complex in its last days of existence.
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