The Michigan Street Archway within the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor has been installed. The 25 foot tall arch is immediately south of the Michigan Street Baptist Church between Broadway and William Street. Clark Patterson Lee prepared the engineering plans and Valeria Cray designed the structure.
From The Buffalo News story describing Cray’s design:
The 25-foot-high, stainless steel piece will have a base made of bricks, she said. It will have dove wings in the middle and plaques summarizing the stories of the Nash House, the church, the Colored Musicians Club and the slaves who came through Buffalo. There will be white lights and blue lights – some formed to represent the North Star, which guided runaway slaves – and letters spelling out “African American Heritage Corridor.”
The arch is just south of a key redevelopment project that will see a complex of buildings at the southeast corner of Broadway and Michigan turned into 18 apartments and commercial space. The $6 million project by a development team led by architect Steve Carmina has finalized its financing and will be starting soon.