At long last, renovations to one of the city’s most underutilized parks is underway (see history). The $1.5 million phase-one construction plan will see a number of new and updated amenities roll out in the park, including new shelter and grills, south parking area and roadway improvements, an amphitheater, new entrance plaza, canal side railings, a great lawn, utilities and lighting.
For anyone who is familiar with the park, over the years the grounds have fallen into complete disrepair, with most people choosing to use the parcel of land as an access point for River Walk and Bird Island Pier. Broken bottles, tipped over garbage cans, graffiti, dead fish, dying bushes… those were just some of the eyesores that kept many people away.
Once the park has been brought back up to speed, it would behoove The City to make sure that there are police patrols and cameras focused on the park, as it is disconnected from Niagara Street and tends to attract people going there for the wrongs reasons. Proponents that attended today’s groundbreaking are Mayor Byron Brown, Niagara District Councilman David Rivera, members of the Buffalo Quarters Historical Society, Buffalo United Front, Western New York Anglers Association, the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, the New York Department of State, Rich Products, the Broderick Park Advisory Committee and other community leaders and stakeholders.