Anyone that has been rooting for the rebirth and ongoing renaissance of Buffalo will be happy to hear that three deserving organizations were recently awarded funding from Project for Public Spaces (PPS).
The three groups in line to receive that Community Placemaking Grants are the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation (CTRC), Buffalo Heritage Carousel, and Buffalo Urban Development Corporation (BUDC). Each organization will utilize the funding to the fullest, to create dynamic public spaces. Ultimately, PPS is providing financial support, as well as project management expertise, and technical assistance.
The funding and technical assistance opportunities were initially open to three different cities – Buffalo, New York; Nashville, Tennessee; and Kansas City, Kansas – for their public spaces, though Buffalo managed to come away with all three awards. Each of the “priority cities” was considered thanks in part to their ties to General Motors facilities (GM is a partner of Project for Public Spaces).
“Buffalo’s spirit of innovation could not be matched and all three awards were given to organizations in the City of Good Neighbors.”
“We are excited to partner with the community, General Motors, and Project for Public Spaces on the early activation of the Great Lawn, and create a place that is welcoming and inviting, and fun,” said Monica Pellegrino Faix, Executive Director of CTRC.
“The Buffalo Heritage Carousel is committed to creating hands-on, accessible educational experiences through play and environment, and working with Project for Public Spaces and General Motors is a perfect mission fit for us, allowing community engagement in new and exciting ways,” said Carima El-Behairy, Director of Operations and Development.
“BUDC is thrilled to further our placemaking initiative, Buffalo’s Race for Place, with support from Project for Public Spaces and our local partners,” said Brandye Merriweather, President of BUDC. “The Project for Public Spaces’ Community Placemaking Grant Initiative will help us to create a vibrant, accessible space that elevates the 2 heart of our city and connects people in a meaningful way.”
Learn more about the three Buffalo projects on the Project for Public Spaces website here.
Buffalo Central Terminal Project
Project for Public Spaces’ Community Placemaking Grants Initiative will transform the Terminal’s Great Lawn from an under-designed, grassy lawn into a highly activated green space for the sharing of civic experiences. The CTRC will use a community-engaged design process to build resident ownership and investment in the placemaking of the Great Lawn.
Over the last year the CTRC completed a community-driven Master Plan that is the most in- depth framework for redevelopment ever created. A major pillar of this plan is the reactivation of the Terminal as a Civic Commons, a year-round, regional venue for public events and activities. The early activation of the Great Lawn is the first step in engaging Civic Commons. Placemaking on the Great Lawn will create a welcoming entry to the Buffalo Central Terminal as a place for neighbors and visitors from near and far. The Great Lawn will develop much needed recreational greenspace and strengthen the physical connection of the Terminal to the larger Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood.
Buffalo Heritage Carousel Project
The Buffalo Heritage Carousel is located on the Boardwalk in Canalside, while already a very busy place, it currently does not have any seating nor areas for gathering in its immediate vicinity. The Community Placemaking Grant will allow the carousel to extend the experience from inside the building to outside onto its boardwalk, in all seasons, building a stronger community.
Ellicott Street Underpass Project by Buffalo Urban Development Corporation
Support from Project for Public Spaces will help to build upon Buffalo’s Race for Place initiative and the Ellicott Street Placemaking Strategy, which sets a vision and simple design principles and incremental streetscape strategies and public realm enhancements to improve the public setting. The improvements promote improved accessibility, attract and encourage continued investment and development, support talent attraction and retention and add to downtown Buffalo’s quality of life for Buffalo’s diverse residents, employees, visitors as well as the local business community. Our Project for Public Spaces project, done in collaboration with the City of Buffalo Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning; City of Buffalo Department of Public Works; GoBike Buffalo and Wendel Companies, looks to utilize placemaking elements such as paint, planters, and lighting to transform the site into a vibrant space that provides safe pedestrian and bicycle connections, promotes traffic calming and improves public transit access.
The Community Placemaking Grants initiative was developed to give more people the opportunity to shape the places they use everyday. Launched in fall of 2021, this initiative connects U.S.-based nonprofit organizations and government agencies to funding to transform the public spaces they steward, as well as technical assistance and capacity building facilitated by Project for Public Spaces.
Founded in 1975, Project for Public Spaces has brought some of the most successful public places in the world to life. They put community participation at the center of everything they do, from placemaking partnerships with corporations and foundations to their workshops, trainings, conferences, and more. Their interdisciplinary team has helped over 3,500 communities in 52 countries create inclusive places that change our society for the better.