Buffalo Canal Side
Cultural Master Plan
Stage 1 Report: Preliminary Concept Document
November 2010
Prepared by
Lord Cultural Resources
Ralph Appelbaum Associates
Robert Coles, Architect
Creating Cultural Capital
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Creating Cultural Capital
DRAFT Table of Contents
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1
1.1
1.2
Background to and Purpose of the Study .............................................................................................. 1
Scope of Work and Methodology to Date .............................................................................................. 3
2. Contextual, Comparables and Market Analysis ................................................... 5
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
History Museums within the Overall Museums Marketplace ........................................................ 5
The Performing Arts Marketplace .........................................................................................................10
The Experience of Museums and Related Institutions Focused on Specific Cities ...............11
Experience of Selected Existing Museum/Cultural Facilities in Buffalo ...................................12
Site Strengths and Weaknesses..............................................................................................................15
Potential Markets for Buffalo and Cultural Opportunities at Canal Side in Particular .........18
3. Draft Planning Principles ....................................................................................... 31
3.1
3.2
3.3
Avoid Duplication of Existing Cultural Resources ...........................................................................31
Build upon the Unique Characteristics of Canal Side .....................................................................33
Phasing to Begin with More Low Cost Programs, Events and Features is an Appropriate
Development Strategy ..............................................................................................................................33
3.4 A Strong Focal Point is Needed for the Story of Buffalo .................................................................34
3.5 Focus on Cultural Opportunities with Wide Audience Appeal .....................................................34
3.6 Integrate the Story of Buffalo and Other Cultural Experiences into Some of the
Commercial Facilities ................................................................................................................................35
3.7 Encourage Collaboration to Limit the Number of New Museums/Facilities ...........................36
3.8 The Need for Realism.................................................................................................................................36
3.9 Cultural Institutions/Organizations will Find it Very Difficult to Pay Rent .............................37
3.10 Recognize Price Sensitivity among Many Buffalo Residents ........................................................37
4. The Story of Buffalo: A Preliminary Canal Side Visitor Experience .............. 38
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
Experiential Goals and Design Strategies...........................................................................................38
Conceptual Framework .............................................................................................................................39
Experiential Building Blocks....................................................................................................................40
Experiential Diagram ................................................................................................................................56
5. Next Steps .................................................................................................................. 57
Appendices
Appendix A: Acknowledgements ............................................................................ A-1
Appendix B: Cultural Steering Committee Initial Thoughts on the
Story of Buffalo .................................................................................... B-1
Appendix C: Draft Letter from ECHDC to Cultural Organizations .................. C-1
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
1. Introduction
Stage 1 Report
1. Introduction
This chapter summarizes the purpose of this Cultural Master Plan study and the
scope of work and the methodology to carry it out to date. This report reflects work
associated with the first stage of a 3-stage, 6-month study process that in turn is
part of a larger master plan being developed for Canal Side. The emphasis at this
early point in the Cultural Master Plan is very much on development of preliminary
concept and supporting ideas for what is referred to as the Story of Buffalo and
how it might be told or experienced at Canal Side.
1.1 Background to and Purpose of the Study
The Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC) was established in
2005 to help restore economic growth to Buffalo and Western New York based on
the region’s legacy of pride, urban significance and natural beauty. This includes a
focus on Canal Side, a 20-acre historic part of Buffalo’s waterfront, whose heritage
includes being the location of the western terminus of the Erie Canal, several grain
elevators that serve to remind that Buffalo once fed America, and a maritime
history that includes the Edward M. Cotter, the oldest active fire boat in the world.
Redevelopment of Buffalo’s waterfront has long been a community objective. An
important milestone was the Erie Canal Harbor Project Master Plan (Flynn
Battaglia Architects et al., March 2004), which followed a 1999 plan for the
waterfront. Building upon these initiatives, Canal Side is envisaged by ECHDC to
become a mixed use, urban entertainment destination capable of creating
substantial economic development benefits for the City of Buffalo and the region it
serves. The Canal Side project is to be a $300 million public/private investment
consisting of some 1.1 million square feet of commercial, residential and cultural
space. Public investment in infrastructure is intended to leverage a similar level of
private sector investment.
Architects Ehrenkrantz Eckstut and Kuhn (EEK) were engaged in 2007 to develop
a master plan for the entire site, including heritage blocks closest to the
waterfront. The master plan serves to establish thematic and design principles for
Canal Side which continue to evolve. In addition to the mixed use concept, other
key objectives and elements include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
increased access to the waterfront
indoor and outdoor public spaces, programs and special events
daytime and evening things to do
year-round opportunities that recognize the seasonal variations of Buffalo
connecting the waterfront to the downtown core
protection from the winter chill while also celebrating winter opportunities
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
1. Introduction
Stage 1 Report
•
•
•
appeal to a wide range of resident and tourist visitors
a variety of entertainment, recreational, cultural, shopping and dining
experiences
exploration of the brand, character and iconic imagery for Canal Side
EEK engaged Thinkwell Design and Production to conduct a series of meetings in
June 2007, which led to a Due Diligence Summary Report. It recommended a focus
on the physical and story aspects of water as “the narrative thread that binds the
entire Canal Side experience, because both the natural waterways and manmade
Canal shaped all aspects of Buffalo’s history – immigration, labor, industry, the
Underground Railroad, and so on.”
The consultation and planning process led to the following Vision for Canal Side, as
set out in the RFP for this study:
To transform the Canal Side District into an indoor/outdoor visitor space offering
an array of appealing activities integrating museum and cultural experiences,
recreational activities, a public market, waterside and special events, creating a
portal to all resources of the region.
Terms of reference were developed by ECHDC for a Visitor Experience/Cultural
Master Plan in mid-2010 to reflect the community’s desire that arts and culture be
an important part of the Canal Side project, along with entertainment,
recreational, retail, food and other commercial opportunities. It is this mixed use
concept that is at the core of the vision for Canal Side. To lead to needed private
investment Canal Side must attract substantial numbers of visitors, and thus help
to create a market for taxpaying commercial businesses that will be expected to
lease space in the area.
For several years it was assumed that Bass Pro Shops would be the commercial
anchor capable of attracting large numbers of persons to Canal Side. It was to
receive a $35 million financial incentive to locate on site. Bass Pro is no longer part
of the plan and as a consequence cultural and other entertainment-focused
opportunities are now even more important. At this point, however, it is not
known how much capital or operating support will be available to cultural
organizations at Canal Side. What is certain is that it will not be anywhere close to
the $35 million that was to have been allocated to Bass Pro Shops.
Also certain is that Canal Side will not be implemented at one time but rather in
phases. Although the specifics of each phase might change, in general terms the
phases of Canal Side development are as follows:
•
Phase 1: Expand existing programming opportunities with other relatively lowcost public programs, events, festivals and other site features at Canal Side. The
intent is to attract large numbers of visitors to the waterfront. This will help to
meet an important objective of increasing public access to Canal Side while also
helping to boost investor confidence in the market for subsequent commercial
developments, some of which will include space for cultural organizations.
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
1. Introduction
Stage 1 Report
•
Phase 2: Having increased the number of persons attracted to Canal Side the
second phase is intended to result in private sector investment in mixed use
facilities. These will include opportunities for cultural organizations to become
tenants in the heritage blocks of Canal Side, and/or other cultural facility
opportunities nearby. The heritage blocks are closest to the waterfront but will
also be farthest away from on-site parking and the light rapid transit stop.
Preference in this phase of development is to be given to organizations that may
best help to tell the Story of Buffalo and/or that are capable of attracting large
number of visitors.
•
Phase 3: Identification of opportunities for cultural organizations not assumed to
have facilities or programs within Canal Side that may pursue facility
possibilities nearby, potentially including the second level of the D L & W
building.
Given the important history of Canal Side a focus on establishing heritage-related
and other cultural opportunities there would be an appropriate end in itself. In that
regard, subsequent contemplation of what Canal Side means to the history, special
character and spirit of Buffalo led to the idea that there is a compelling Story of
Buffalo that should be told, and that Canal Side is the perfect starting point to tell it.
The initial Story of Buffalo concept, initiated by Peter Dow with support from a
Cultural Steering Committee, is set out in Appendix B to this report.
After a competitive bidding process to conduct the Cultural Master Plan, a
consultant team led by Lord Cultural Resources was selected to lead the study. The
study team also includes Ralph Appelbaum Associates and Robert Coles, Architect.
1.2 Scope of Work and Methodology to Date
The scope of work in this study is as set out in the proposal document dated July
29, 2010. To meet its objectives, the consultants have carried out the following
work elements to date:
•
We reviewed background information provided to us. This includes initial
thoughts by a Cultural Steering Committee regarding the content of the Story
of Buffalo. Please see Appendix B for two memos prepared by the Committee.
We also reviewed prior studies, including the 2004 Master Plan led by Flynn
Battaglia, master planning work by EEK Architects and associated analyses by
Thinkwell Design and Production. We also reviewed numerous submissions
regarding what people in Buffalo and region would like to see on the
waterfront. This included the results of an invitation for ideas by the Mayor of
Buffalo which led to 1,757 responses.
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
1. Introduction
Stage 1 Report
•
On October 12, 2010, Ted Silberberg, Joy Bailey and Ted Pietrzak, representing
Lord Cultural Resources, Dennis Cohen and Miranda Smith of Ralph
Appelbaum Associates, and architect Robert Coles took part in a tour of the
Buffalo River on the Edward M. Cotter. This was followed by a Canal Side site
tour and a visioning workshop with representatives of the ECHDC and the
Cultural Steering Committee. The half-day workshop included a series of
presentations and discussions. During the next two days the consultants led a
series of group workshops and individual interviews with some 140 persons.
Please see Appendix A for a list of participants at the various workshops and
interviews.
•
We compiled and analyzed published data regarding various types of museumrelated institutions, the experience of existing museum-related institutions in
Buffalo and city museums in other cities. Additional research regarding
comparable institutions will take part in the Stage 2 analysis based on the
specific institutions that express a strong interest in being part of the Canal
Side project.
•
We conducted preliminary research on waterfront destinations, cultural
attractions, visitor experiences and specific content related to the presentation
of the Story of Buffalo.
•
We analyzed data regarding potential resident, school and tourist markets for
Buffalo and Canal Side in particular. Direction from the contextual,
comparables and market analyses are set out in Chapter 2 of this report.
•
Ted Pietrzak participated in a tour of the First Ward and the grain elevators
hosted by Mark Goldman. He attended a public meeting on October 25, 2010
focused on economic challenges and priorities for Buffalo coordinated by Bruce
Fisher. And he attended Imagining Buffalo, led by Mark Goldman including
presentations by Fred Kent of Partnership for Public Spaces and developer Tom
Goldman.
•
We took part in conference calls or numerous other communications with the
ECHDC Project Manager, and also a conference call on November 10, 2010 to
discuss findings to date with several client representatives.
•
Dennis Cohen met in the EEK offices to review the current site master plan and
discuss opportunities to integrate the Buffalo story and experience.
•
We set out in Chapter 4 a preliminary concept associated with the Story of
Buffalo, and a series of ideas or building blocks for the visitor experience. These
are to be reviewed, along with the other chapters of this Stage 1 report, at a
meeting on December 9, 2010. This will be followed the next day by tours of
various existing cultural institutions in the Buffalo area. The next steps in the
study process are set out in Chapter 5.
Bold italics are used throughout to highlight key findings, conclusions and
recommendations.
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
2. Contextual, Comparables and Market Analysis
Stage 1 Report
2. Contextual, Comparables and Market
Analysis
The main focus of this Stage 1 report is to establish a Preliminary Concept for the
Story of Buffalo and associated potential implications to the Cultural Master Plan
for Canal Side. Whereas Chapter 4 sets out what the Story of Buffalo might
entail, this chapter is very much about what we believe the Story of Buffalo
and the associated cultural initiatives at Canal Side should not be . This chapter
is also intended to establish a realistic market and financial context for
consideration of potential cultural organizations/institutions in the next stage of
this study and to provide benchmarks to help guide the attendance, operating
revenue and expense projections in the final stage. Available data are considered
regarding:
•
The overall marketplace of museums and related institutions, including
comparisons of various museum types. Relevant contextual data are also
provided for the performing arts.
•
Institutions in other cities that offer similarities or comparability to the vision
for the Story of Buffalo. At this point in the study process we have used
published data regarding existing “City Museums” that offer similarities to the
Story of Buffalo because they focus on the history, accomplishments and
special features of those cities.
•
Preliminary analysis of existing museum-related institutions in the Buffalo
area. This will be supplemented by additional research in Stage 2 of this study.
•
Preliminary assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of Canal Side as a site
for cultural opportunities.
•
Analysis of data and interview feedback associated with potential resident,
school and tourist markets for Buffalo and Canal Side in particular.
2.1 History Museums within the Overall Museums
Marketplace
The Story of Buffalo as set out in Appendix B of this report is very much about the
very important and unique aspects of the history of Buffalo. While telling the Story
of Buffalo may be implemented in a variety of ways, one would be as a traditional
collections-focused history museum. At the same time there are existing museums
wishing to locate within or near Canal Side and many other organizations wishing
to establish new museums or other cultural institutions.
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
2. Contextual, Comparables and Market Analysis
Stage 1 Report
The data in the following table are based on 2009 survey data from the American
Association of Museums (AAM) and help to profile various museum types to be
considered in the context of Canal Side and the Story of Buffalo. The data indicate:
•
Growing Total Attendance but Declining Median Attendance: The average
museum reported about 26,500 visitors compared to about 33,400 in the 2006
survey. The decline in median figures despite a growth in the total number of
persons attending museums reflects the opening of many new small museums
and related institutions. A key issue in this study is whether it is practical for
several new museums to be developed at or near Canal Side. Planning
principles set out in Chapter 3 of this report suggests an alternative
approach .
•
Community History Museums as a Museum Type Tend to Struggle from an
Attendance Perspective: Relative to other museum types, history museums
report the lowest median attendance levels at only about 10,000 visitors. This is
because many community history museums are small in size, because of an
erroneous perception that one local history museum is the same as the next,
and because of common perceptions that history museums are “boring.” The
challenge for the telling of the Story of Buffalo will be to focus on the iconic
and most unique and special features of the Buffalo area and to identify
ways and means to convince potential visitors that the Buffalo story is
indeed compelling .
•
Some Types of Museums Tend to be More “Mass Market” than Others:
Noteworthy is the higher attendance figures for living collections (zoos and
aquariums), science and children’s museums. The figures for children’s
museums are particularly impressive because children’s museums tend to be
small in size. Specialized museums, such as military, sports, maritime and
other museums being contemplated for Canal Side or near it, tend to have
specialized niche markets and this is reflected in lower than average
attendance levels for these museum types. It is important, however, to
emphasize that these are median figures and there are examples of higher and
lower attendance museums of all types. The next stage of this study will
include comparative data for specific museums and related institutions that
provide a written expression of interest in being within or close to Canal Side,
taking into account the planning principles set out in Chapter 3. And the next
Stage will seek to identify the best comparables for a finalized concept
associated with the Story of Buffalo.
•
Not All Museums Charge Admission: As seen in the table, close to 60% of all
museums charge compared to close to 50% for history museums. Since one of
the objectives for cultural opportunities at Canal Side is to attract substantial
numbers of visitors and expose them to tax-paying commercial businesses it
raises questions about the extent to which museum-related institutions at
Canal Side should offer free admission in order to maximize attendance. This is
currently the case with free admission festivals and events already held at
Canal Side. The difference is that most museums and related institutions need
to charge admission to generate income as shown in the AAM survey.
Recommendations associated with admission charges will be explored in Stage
2 of this study.
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
2. Contextual, Comparables and Market Analysis
Stage 1 Report
•
There is Very Little Likelihood of “Self-Sufficient” Museums Based on
Earned Income at Canal Side or Anywhere Else: Median figures shown in the
table indicate that the average museum generates about 28% of its operating
income from earned sources, 37% from private sources, 12% from endowment
income and 24% from government sources. For history museums the earned
income median is lower than average at 24% while science and children’s
museums are well above average at 48% earned income, with specialized at
33%. If commercial opportunities at Canal Side are successful in attracting
substantial numbers of visitors this should help to boost earned income
levels beyond these median figures. This confirms the wisdom of a mixed use
strategy for Canal Side that recognizes synergy between cultural and
commercial attractions. Particularly important to earned income for museumrelated institutions will be the nature and quality of the visitor experience
offered and an ability to attract first time and repeat visitors.
•
New Museum-Related Institutions Will Have a Challenge of Raising Funds
for an Endowment Too: The typical museum is able to access 12% of its
operating budget requirements from an endowment. New institutions seeking
to raise capital funds find it very difficult to also raise funds to create an
endowment principal whose interest or investment return can make a
meaningful contribution to operating budget requirements. Without such
funds then the percentages from other income sources must increase. This is a
particular challenge for the proponents of new museums that will express
interest in Canal Side.
•
Private Support Accounts for More Income than Earned Sources: As seen in
the table the average museum in America relies on support from
private/contributed sources (donations, sponsorships, annual giving) than on
all earned sources combined (admissions, retail, food, rentals, programs,
membership, etc.) and also government grants. This applies to the majority of
museum types including history museums. Even if Canal Side leads to higher
than average levels of earned income a challenge for new institutions will
be to secure financial support from private funders in the Buffalo area.
•
Government Grants Are Important to the Sustainability of Museum-Related
Institutions: In every country in the world, excluding the United States,
government grants are the primary source of funding for museums and related
institutions. As the data in the table show, in the United States government
grants are the primary source of operating income for only two museum types,
including history museums. On average government support accounts for 24%
of total operating income. Since existing institutions in the Buffalo region will
be concerned about competition for both government and private funding, it
emphasizes the need for a planning principle to avoid duplication, whether real
or perceived.
•
Staff Salaries are the Primary Source of Operating Costs for Museums and
Indicate Why “Feasibility” Depends Very Much on Controlling Staffing
Costs: Salaries and wages account for an average of 50% of operating budgets.
If Museum-paid taxes and benefits are included the average increases to about
60% for all staffing costs. The data suggest the need for consideration of
collaborative approaches to control staffing and other operating costs.
Some of the existing cultural organizations are already pursuing
collaborative/partnership approaches, and this is endorsed as a planning
principle in Chapter 3.
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
2. Contextual, Comparables and Market Analysis
Stage 1 Report
•
Collections Care as a Percentage of Total Operating Costs Varies by Type of
Institution: Collections care responsibilities usually require better constructed,
more secure and environmentally control buildings. Collections care
responsibilities also increase staffing and other operating cost requirements.
Data from the AAM Financial Survey indicates the average museum allocates
8% of its non-staff costs to collections care. Chapter 3 discusses the need to
avoid duplicating existing collections-focused museums in Buffalo. This
study is therefore considering an opportunity for the Story of Buffalo to be
told, in part, in a primary facility that is not collections-focused.
•
Marketing Costs per Visitor: The average history museum allocated about 2%
of its operating budget to marketing, relative to the overall museum average of
4%. The average museum spends $1.29 per visitor on marketing compared to
only $0.50 for history museums. The more successful Canal Side is in attracting
visitors the less important will be the funds available for marketing.
Conversely, if Canal Side cultural facilities, events and programs are expected
to attract visitors and expose them to commercial venues, then they will need
adequate marketing budgets.
Two main conclusions emerge from this analysis and the experience of the
consultants. First, the Story of Buffalo should not lead to what would be
perceived as a second history museum for Buffalo. Second, if new museumrelated institutions are created at or near Canal Side, the emphasis needs to be
on ways and means to limit the number of them .
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
2. Contextual, Comparables and Market Analysis
Stage 1 Report
2009 AAM Profile
Art
Museum
Children's
or Youth
Museum
General
Museum
Historic
Home or
Site
Sample Size
156
18
71
89
Median Attendance
44,878
130,870
58,500
11,700
% Charging Admission
47.6%
94.1%
63.2%
77.4%
Fees
Median Adult Admission
$8.00
$7.50
$7.00
$6.00
Charge
Median Operating
$2,379,176 $1,729,532 $1,930,895 $350,000
Income
Average Earned
21.5%
48.3%
24.8%
31.7%
Revenues
Average Revenues from
46.6%
27.8%
33.7%
34.6%
Private Donors
Average Revenues from
18.6%
12.1%
8.8%
10.7%
Investment Sources
Average Revenues from
13.3%
11.7%
32.6%
23.0%
Government Sources
Median Value of
$9,744,500 $414,875 $2,539,870 $1,202,817
Endowment
Median Earned Income
$8.21
$6.31
$7.16
$9.44
per Visitor
Median Operating
$2,317,675 $2,522,615 $1,798,754 $298,200
Expenses
History
Museum or
Historical
Society
Living
Collections
Natural
History or
Anthropology
190
10,000
17
208,574
32
58,176
25
357,103
49.2%
64.3%
63.3%
$5.00
$8.00
$8.00
$260,000
Overall
2009
Survey
Overall
2006
Survey
73
22,000
671
26,500
809
33,446
96.0%
57.1%
59.0%
60.7%
$10.00
$7.00
$7.00
$6.00
Science or Specialized
Tech
Museum
$3,072,452 $3,256,810 $7,857,138
$602,080
$1,168,559 $850,000
24.0%
30.0%
31.1%
48.8%
33.2%
27.6%
31.0%
31.0%
20.3%
38.3%
28.9%
37.7%
36.5%
35.2%
8.5%
14.3%
6.4%
3.0%
9.3%
11.5%
9.6%
36.4%
35.4%
24.2%
19.3%
19.9%
24.4%
24.1%
$526,500
$4.39
$262,206
$14,253,806 $5,078,964 $1,829,599 $2,526,508 $2,825,075 $1,580,537
$4.87
$6.76
$11.14
$3,630,530 $3,237,600 $6,827,362
$10.00
$778,859
$7.22
$5.91
$1,166,000 $829,037
Operating Cost per
Visitor
$49.94
$15.07
$30.21
$28.33
$26.73
$15.10
$29.74
$20.95
$32.25
$31.40
$23.35
Staff salaries as a % of
total expenses [Median]
48.6%
54.5%
53.5%
56.0%
50.8%
63.9%
60.8%
45.8%
39.9%
49.9%
50.9%
Collections care as a %
of total expenses
[Median]
6.4%
4.1%
9.9%
4.9%
8.5%
26.7%
17.3%
1.2%
10.0%
8.0%
9.4%
Marketing Budget as a %
of total expenses
4.4%
8.4%
5.4%
3.8%
2.2%
4.1%
4.5%
7.5%
4.0%
4.1%
4.4%
Marketing Expenses Per
Visitor [Median]
$2.15
$0.93
$1.61
$1.14
$0.50
$0.85
$1.22
$1.32
$1.00
$1.29
$1.05
Source: 2009 Museum Financial Information, American Association of Museums, 2009
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Stage 1 Report
BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
2. Contextual, Comparables and Market Analysis
2.2 The Performing Arts Marketplace
This section considers attendance, market and financial information regarding
performing arts venues and opportunities, which are also being considered for
Canal Side.
An issue to be considered largely in Stage 2 of this study is the extent to which
organizations seeking facilities or performance opportunities in or near Canal Side
have the ability to attract the large audiences sought for the area. Outdoor
performances, festivals and other events coordinated by Buffalo Place are reported
to already attract 150,000 persons per year to the Canal Side waterfront. Of 115
performances/events, 105 were free. Another issue is the ability to charge
admission, particularly if it is facilities they are seeking. And yet another issue is
when performances take place and whether retail, restaurant and other
commercial opportunities are likely to be open at those times.
In 2008 the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) reported that approximately
46.1 million American adults attended a play or musical performance (20.5%);
31.6 million attended a classical music or jazz concert (14%); 15.8 million attended
a ballet or other dance performance (7%); 10.9 million attended a Latin, Spanish,
or salsa music performance (4.9%); and 4.8 million attended the opera (2.1%). The
NEA also reported that smaller percentages of adults attended performing arts
events than in previous years. For comparative purposes the NEA reported
approximately 51.1 million Americans attended art museums in 2008. (No other
museum types were compared.)
Like museum—related institutions there is no performing arts organization
that is sustainable on the basis of earned income alone. Revenue streams vary
by budget size, type of organization, and location. Earlier data for the sector as a
whole indicate that on average performing arts organizations generate about 49%
of their operating budgets from earned income (of which 36% is ticket sales and
13% other earned sources), 45% from a combination of donations, sponsorships
and grants, with about 2.5% each from investment income and other sources. 1
A majority of performing arts organizations, about 70%, operate with budgets of
$500,000 or less, with 20% having operating budgets of $500,000 to $2 million and
10% with operating budgets of over $2 million.
With respect to staff levels, budget and staff sizes not surprisingly vary by size of
budget. On average, organizations with small budgets (up to $500,000) have
approximately 3 full-time staff; those with medium size budgets (500,000-$2
million) have 7 full-time staff; and organizations with large budgets (more than $2
million) have 36 full-time staff.
1
The Capacity of Performing Arts Presenting Organizations, (Urban Institute, April 2002).
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
2. Contextual, Comparables and Market Analysis
Stage 1 Report
Buffalo is already the home of Shea’s Performing Arts Center and the Kleinhans
Music Hall, home of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra as well as numerous
theatres and smaller performance halls. It is common knowledge that several of
them are struggling. Some may on occasion prefer an outdoor venue. For instance,
the Buffalo Philharmonic performs outdoors during the summer months but most
likely would not find Canal Side a suitable venue due to noise from traffic on the
Skyway. There is a need to avoid competition with these and other existing
performing arts venues just as avoiding competition with existing museum-related
institutions is an important planning principle discussed further in Chapter 3 of
this report. One group, the Nickel City Opera has already expressed a desire for a
performance center within Canal Side.
2.3 The Experience of Museums and Related Institutions
Focused on Specific Cities
As previously stated, this report is as much about what the Story of Buffalo and
Canal Side cultural opportunities should not be, as about what they might be,
given the market-related and economic development objectives associated with
Canal Side. To help guide that process this section considers the experience of
existing “city museums” in the United States. These include (in alphabetical
order):
•
•
•
•
•
City Museum, St. Louis
Kansas City Museum
Museum of the City of New York
Oakland Museum of California
Raleigh City Museum
The following table summarizes published data regarding these institutions and
what might be learned and applied to planning for the Story of Buffalo and Canal
Side in general. Noteworthy is that with the exception of the City Museum in St.
Louis the other institutions are traditional collections-focused history museums.
The City Museum in St. Louis is an eclectic mixture of children's playground,
funhouse, aquarium, and “architectural marvel” made out of unique, found objects
such as old chimneys, salvaged bridges, construction cranes, miles of tile, and even
two abandoned planes. It is very much focused on children and uses contemporary
methods of interpretation to lead to attendance levels reported at 680,000 visitors.
This is substantially higher than the reported attendance for the Museum of the
City of New York (164,000) and the Oakland Museum of California (130,000)
despite the substantially higher staff levels and operating budgets of those two
institutions.
The City Museum in St. Louis, while not comparable to the objectives of the
Buffalo Story, nonetheless does emphasize the importance of contemporary
methods of interpretation to lead to high levels of attendance. The data also
confirm that the Story of Buffalo needs to avoid being a traditional collections
oriented “city museum” or hall of fame and that while the Story of Buffalo is
very much about celebrating the past it must also be about looking forward to
the future.
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
2. Contextual, Comparables and Market Analysis
Stage 1 Report
Experience of Selected City Museums
Admission
Charges
Children
Full-Time
Part-Time
Volunteers
Total Operating
Revenue
% From
Contributions
% From
Government
% From
Earned Source
% From
Other Sources
680,714
$12.00
$12.00
27
40
0
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Museum of the City
New York, NY
of New York
163,964
Facilities incl. 248-seat auditorium
$10.00
$6.00
70
10
50
$16,911,121
76.2%
10.8%
10.2%
2.8%
Oakland Museum
Oakland, CA
of California †
130,000
Tag Line is "The story of California. The story of You."
Parent Institution: City of Oakland
$12.00
$6.00
76
37
887
$18,501,982
41.9%
41.0%
16.9%
0.2%
Kansas City
Museum ††
Kansas City, MO
25,000
History Museum: Housed in an urban estate built in 1910,
approx. 4-miles from Union Station. Parent Institution:
$0.00
Union Station Kansas City.
$0.00
14
1
48
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Raleigh City
Museum
Raleigh, NC
16,097
$0.00
$0.00
4
0
12
$413,347
4.4%
74.1%
21.4%
0.1%
Name
City Museum, St.
Louis
Attendance
St. Louis, MO
The museum is an eclectic mixture of children's
playground, funhouse, surrealistic pavilion, aquarium
and architectural marvel made out of unique, found
objects. It boasts features such as old chimneys,
salvaged bridges, construction cranes, miles of tile, and
even two abandoned planes.
Location
Adult
Operating Revenue
Notes
Staffing
5,000 sqf exhibit space
Average
203,155
$6.80
$4.80
38
18
199
11,942,150
40.9%
41.9%
16.2%
1.0%
Median
130,000
$10.00
$6.00
27
10
48
413,347
41.9%
41.0%
16.9%
0.2%
Sources: The Official Museum Directory, AAM, 2010; Institutions' websites and Annual Reports; and IRS 990-Forms, 2008
† Oakland Museum of California financial data from their 2005–2006 Annual Report
†† Admission charges to Kansas City Museum currently free during restoration
2.4 Experience of Selected Existing Museum/Cultural
Facilities in Buffalo
In the next stage of this study we will be requesting organizations interested in a
potential site at or near Canal Side to respond to a series of questions. At this point
we have compiled published information from the Official Directory of the
American Association of Museums for institutions in Buffalo, East Aurora and
Amherst that report at least 15,000 annual visitors.
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
2. Contextual, Comparables and Market Analysis
Stage 1 Report
•
Attendance: The data confirm a common pattern in which a zoo has the
highest level of attendance among the museum-related institutions in Buffalo.
In most cases a science center/museum ranks second but in Buffalo the
Albright-Knox Art Gallery is next due to its size, outstanding collection and
stature in the art museum world. However, its attendance at about 144,000 is
not as substantial as might be anticipated. This may relate to the education and
income profile of regional residents as discussed later in this chapter,
confirming the need for cultural components for Canal Side with more mass
market appeal.
•
Evening Openings: One of the objectives for Canal Side is that it attract visitors
during evening as well as day time hours. Of the existing museums in the
Buffalo area listed, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the Burchfield Penney Art
Center offer regular evening openings. Other art venues such as Hallwalls,
CEPA, Big Orbit, Buffalo Artstudios, etc. also have regular evening openings. .
Evening openings are more common for art museums than other museum
types because the market is primarily adults who are not accompanying
children. The data raise the issue of whether one of the potential cultural users
might be a commercial art gallery or one or more of the existing art venues that
may wish to expand their exhibition spaces into Canal Side.
•
Admission Charges: These are generally more modest than found in other
cities, reflecting price sensitivity heard in the interview process and also lower
than average household income levels. This suggests the need for caution with
respect to admission charges.
•
Staffing and Volunteer Levels: The staff levels appear lower than average but
volunteer levels are higher than average.
Financial data for some of the institutions will be added in the next stage of the
study from primary research. It is likely to show that existing museums in Buffalo
operate with more income from contributed and grant sources than earned income
and that they will be concerned about additional competition for funding.
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
2. Contextual, Comparables and Market Analysis
Stage 1 Report
Museum-Related Institutions in Buffalo Area Reporting at Least 15,000 Visitors
Admi s s i on Cha rges
Children
Family Membership
Full-Time
Part-Time
Volunteers/Interns
Buffa l o Zool ogi ca l Ga rdens
414,794
No
$9.50
$6.00
$65.00
66
80
744
Al bri ght - Knox Art Ga l l ery
143,653
Yes , Fri da ys to 10
p.m.
$10.00
$0.00
$75.00
65
20
216
Buffa l o Mus eum of Sci ence
125,554
No
$7.00
$5.00
$50.00
32
17
208
Burchfi el d-Penney Art Center
70,000
Yes , Thurs da ys to 9
p.m.
$7.00
$4.00
$60.00
14
2
68
Buffa l o a nd Eri e County Hi s tori ca l Soci ety
65,000
No
$4.00
$2.50
$45.00
15
12
202
Buffa l o a nd Eri e County Na va l a nd Mi l i ta ry Pa rk
55,000
No
$9.00
$6.00
$25.00
14
26
67
Amhers t Mus eum, Amhers t
42,000
No
$5.00
$0.00
$35.00
9
0
250
Buffa l o a nd Eri e County Bota ni ca l Ga rdens
40,000
No
$6.00
$3.00
$75.00
11
4
280
Expl ore a nd More Chi l dren's Mus eum , Ea s t Aurora
38,840
Yes , fi rs t Fri da y of
Month
$5.00
$5.00
$45.00
1
13
40
Avera ge
72,506
$6.63
$3.19
$51.25
20
12
166
Medi a n
60,000
$6.50
$3.50
$47.50
14
13
205
Name
Adult
Sta ffi ng
Evening Opening
Reported Attendance
Ins ti tuti on
Source: The Official Museum Directory, 2010. All in Buffalo excpept as noted
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
2. Contextual, Comparables and Market Analysis
Stage 1 Report
2.5 Site Strengths and Weaknesses
The ability of cultural facilities, programs and events to attract substantial
numbers of persons to Canal Side will depend largely on what those facilities,
programs and events are, their admission charges, and also the commercial
opportunities also offered at the site. That is, popular retail, restaurant,
entertainment and other commercial opportunities will help cultural facilities,
events and programs just as much as popular cultural opportunities will help to
create a market for commercial facilities.
From a market perspective, a preliminary assessment of the strengths and
weaknesses of Canal Side as a site and heritage blocks are as follows:
Strengths of Overall Canal Side Site:
•
Historical Significance: Canal Side is the “Sacred Spot” where the waters of the
Atlantic mixed with the waters of Lake Erie in 1825 on completion of the Erie
Canal. One may assert with convincing accuracy that this was a defining
moment that altered the future destiny of Buffalo and indeed the United States.
Not many cities can claim such importance in the development of a country.
•
Appeal of the Waterfront: Events at the Canal Side waterfront coordinated by
Buffalo Place are already reported to attract 150,000 persons per year. Whether
these events would have attracted more or fewer visitors at other sites is not
known but interviews confirmed the popularity of a waterfront site. The Urban
Land Institute Briefing Book for the Richardson Center Corporation in 2007
listed first among all the regional assets of Buffalo the “waterfronts of Lake Erie
and the Buffalo and Niagara Rivers”. Second ranked was the historic parks and
parkways system designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.
•
Access from Public Transportation: The light rapid transit system begins and
ends at Canal Side. It conveniently connects with Buffalo’s downtown and the
suburbs north and east. Since the light rapid transit is free when taken from
downtown to Canal Side and back, it offers efficient and convenient access for
downtown residents, workers and shoppers or those travelling to downtown to
park their cars and continue on to Canal Side.
•
Access by Automobile: Canal Side is located at the nexus of two major
highways, the 190 and Route 5. These roadways conveniently draw large
numbers of motorists from Niagara County and Canada. Interstate 90 connects
Canal Side with the rest of New York State and to Pennsylvania and Ohio. Route
#5 connects Canal Side with South Buffalo and the Southtowns.
•
Parking: It may be said that parking is both a strength and a weakness. Here it
is discussed as a strength. It appears that the capacity for vehicular parking for
hockey events that usually take place in the evening is sufficient. Many of these
parking spaces are surplus during days and nights when no events are taking
place. With the 175 parking spots planned adjacent to Canal Side, there appears
to be ample parking, though it may appear to be an inconvenience to some
because of the distance from the parking, especially during the winter season.
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
2. Contextual, Comparables and Market Analysis
Stage 1 Report
•
Proximity to HSBC Arena: Persons attending Sabres hockey games, music
concerts and other events at the Arena will be within very easy walking
distance of Canal Side. These persons represent an important market for
restaurants, bars, night clubs and retailers who will be encouraged to stay open
those evenings, thus helping to animate the area during evening hours.
•
Main Street Connection to Downtown: The Main Street and Washington
Street links from Canal Side to the downtown are very positive as they create
mutually beneficial opportunities to encourage people to move from one area to
the other. The Canal Side development will thus enhance the appeal and
desirability of living downtown.
Strengths of Heritage Blocks:
•
Historical Importance: The Heritage Blocks define the historic district.
Though only a few of the 19th century foundations currently exist, the area
represents a “scared place” for historians where the Commercial Slip joined
Lake Erie and the terminus of the Erie Canal. The area was the connection
between east and west, a place where natural resources such as grain, timber,
and iron ore were processed and then went to market and thus led to Buffalo’s
wealth and industrial power. The area was also pivotal to the immigration of
countless people into the United States and the migration of other countless
people westward. This location was seminal to the development of America.
•
Location and Proximity to the Waterfront: The Heritage Blocks are ideally
located close to public transportation and adjacent to the water; a magnet for
people. The appeal of proximity to the water should help to mitigate the
weakness of distance from parking, as discussed below. The view of the nearby
grain elevator creates another point of interest and contemplation about the
historical and commercial importance of the area.
•
Large Open Space: The existence of large open space at Canal Side offers
many program opportunities. The space has already been proven to efficiently
host various large scale events including concerts, festivals and celebrations.
Though the large space is a strength, winter wind issues must be addressed to
enable Canal Side to achieve the objective of being a four season destination.
•
A Blank Canvas: The Heritage Blocks are a blank canvas open for ideas for
development.
Weaknesses of Overall Canal Side Site:
•
The Skyway: The Skyway is a physical and a psychological barrier. One is
always conscious of it whether visibly or audibly. The Skyway is also a barrier to
development affecting the properties to be developed near it both because of
Department of Transportation regulations and the aesthetic repercussions of
proximity to it.
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
2. Contextual, Comparables and Market Analysis
Stage 1 Report
•
Parking and Access by Automobile: As stated, parking is both a strength and
a weakness. Much has been heard about Buffalonians’ (and most American’s)
propensity to depend on their cars and their desire to park in close proximity to
their destination. Plans for parking have been reduced in the Modified General
Plan to approximately 175 parking spots. Though additional parking currently
exists in the Webster Block, this block is slated for development and parking
will be sharply reduced. Further away at and around HSBC Area significant
parking exists but at a greater distance from the Historic District. Though this
does pose a level of inconvenience in general, it is likely to become a serious
deterrent to visiting the Historic District only in winter months. Future plans
for mix use development for the Heritage Block including residential are
challenged given that those who may choose to live in the district will likely
demand convenient and adjacent parking.
Weaknesses of the Heritage Blocks:
•
Distance from Parking: The heritage blocks, and especially the waterfront, are
the furthest from the parking garage.
•
Small Size of the Heritage Blocks: The following table indicates the size of the
footprint, the area likely for building space and the net useable square footage
on the ground floor and for each building recognizing that the buildings are to
be privately developed and mixed use. The data indicate relatively small spaces
that will make it difficult for separate cultural users to have enough critical
mass in some of the blocks.
Ground Floor Gross and Net Square Footage Available in Heritage District Buildings
Parcel
Name
Build-To
Parcel Size Line/ Max.
Front Yard
(sq feet)
(feet)
Min.
Building
Height
(stories)
Min.
Building
Height
(feet)
Max.
Building
Height
(stories)
Max.
Building
Height
(feet)
Max. FAR
Assumed
Min. Open Assumed Net Useable
Sq. Ft.
Space Gross
10% (sq Building (@67% of
Gross) Per
feet)
Size
Floor
Main Development Parcels
E2
E3
E4
E5
E6
E7
29,045
9,408
3,880
15,365
7,630
11,026
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
2
2
2
2
2
30
30
30
30
30
30
4
4
4
4
4
4
60
60
60
60
60
60
3.60
3.60
3.60
3.60
3.60
3.60
2,905
941
388
1,537
763
1,103
26,141
8,467
3,492
13,829
6,867
9,923
17,514
5,673
2,340
9,265
4,601
6,649
2
2
30
30
4
4
60
60
3.60
3.60
1,096
735
9,864
6,615
6,609
4,432
3.60
1,238
3.60
1,145
Possible Development Parcels Along Waterfront
A
B
10,960
7,350
0
0
Parcels Under Buffalo Skyway
E10
12,383
0
E11
11,448
0
Source: EEK and Lord Cultural Resources
Lord Cultural Resources
-
-
-
-
As permitted As permitted
by NYSDOT
by NYSDOT
As permitted As permitted
by NYSDOT
by NYSDOT
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
2. Contextual, Comparables and Market Analysis
Stage 1 Report
•
Limited Facilities to Service Large Crowds and Support Special Events: As
stated previously, the large open space adjacent to the Historic District
attracted a reported 150,000 persons last year. Though these events are
effectively coordinated and managed by Buffalo Place, porto-potties are used
and all setup and support equipment are brought in. Should special events be a
permanent part and ongoing offering at the waterfront, these facility needs will
need to be addressed as well as the incorporation of convenient storage.
•
Little Protection from Winter Winds: Studies have been undertaken
regarding the velocity and impact of winter winds. Winter winds off Lake Erie
are considered at times dangerous at other time intolerable and generally a
deterrent to potential visitors.
•
Limited Recreational Access to Water: At present a water craft, whether a sail
or motor boat, a kayak or paddle boat cannot be launched from Canal Side. No
facilities exist where watercraft rentals could be transacted. Further no
roadway nor boat off-loading and loading ramp exist in the area limiting the
type of water access that can be offered in the Historic District. if Canal Side
and the Historic District are to be seen as a place of water recreation, facilities
and services will be required to address these issues.
•
Limited Access to the Lake and River Boaters: Complaints have been voiced
in the interview process that boaters have little opportunity to moor their craft
at the waterfront, thus limiting access to the amenities of the future Canal Side.
The location is not yet “sailor friendly” given the absence of restrooms,
showers, refuelling, restocking, access to fresh water, etc. To attract boat
visitors to Canal Side these needs must be addressed.
Site development plans being developed by EEK Architects are seeking to mitigate
these weaknesses.
2.6 Potential Markets for Buffalo and Cultural
Opportunities at Canal Side in Particular
This section considers available data and interview feedback regarding potential
resident, school and tourist markets for Buffalo, and the implications to cultural
opportunities at Canal Side and the Story of Buffalo.
2.6.1 Resident Markets
The resident market is important to efforts to boost attendance and generate
earned income for the following main reasons:
•
•
•
•
The resident market is readily accessible and available on a year-round basis.
Residents are most easily and economically made aware of a cultural facilities
and programs.
Residents are most likely to be repeat visitors.
Residents are most likely to become volunteers, members and donors.
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
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Stage 1 Report
•
Residents often suggest things to do for their visiting friends and relatives, a
key tourist market segment, and often accompany them.
The key indicators of potential demand for cultural facilities and programs are the
size and projected growth of the resident population base and various
demographic and socioeconomic indicators, as discussed below.
2.6.1.1 Population Size and Projections
In 1900 the City of Buffalo had a population of about 353,000, ranking it the eighth
largest city in America. By 1950 the population of Erie County was about 500,000
and at that time nearly two-thirds of the residents of Erie County lived in the City
of Buffalo. Today the population of the City has declined to less than 260,000,
which accounts for less than one-third of the total County population.
Canal Side is intended to include opportunities for residential developments with
waterfront views and thus to attract more people to live in the area. However,
Canal Side is to serve the overall region and not just the City of Buffalo or the
downtown area.
In considering the region as a whole the Buffalo-Niagara Falls Metropolitan
Statistical Area (MSA), comprising both Erie and Niagara Counties, ranked 24th
largest in the nation in 1970 but by 2005 it ranked only 47th of 361 MSAs. It is
projected by Woods and Poole Economics to rank 51st in 2020 and 59th in 2040. The
table that follows illustrates recent population levels and future projections for:
•
•
•
•
•
Erie County,
Niagara County
Buffalo-Niagara Metropolitan Statistical Area
New York State
United States
Whether the primary resident market is defined as Erie County or the overall
Buffalo-Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), the projections are that
the population will remain essentially static for the next 20 years. If one assumes
that a combined primary and secondary resident market encompasses the BuffaloNiagara MSA and the St. Catharines-Niagara Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) on
the Canadian side the data indicate a resident market of over 1.5 million persons.
While substantial it is nonetheless smaller than resident markets available to
cultural institutions in larger population centers. And as will be shown below,
education and income levels of regional residents are below state and national
averages. A key issue is thus how the Story of Buffalo and other cultural
opportunities at Canal Side might attract substantial numbers of first time and
repeat visitors. This report suggests that it is probably less what the Story of
Buffalo entails than how the Story of Buffalo is told – the entertainment value -that will have the most substantial impact.
There are about 3,500 persons believed by Buffalo Place to be downtown residents,
while the downtown workforce is about 48,000. One of the objectives of Canal Side
is that its cultural opportunities will encourage people to want to live in proximity
to Canal Side, thus downtown. This in turn will help to boost the market for those
cultural opportunities.
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
2. Contextual, Comparables and Market Analysis
Stage 1 Report
Population
2000
Buffalo — 2006–08 est.
2006–08 est.
2010
2020
2030
% Change
2000–2010
% Change
2010–2020
% Change
2010–2030
259,143
Erie County
949,460
908,770
907,510
909,900
-4.5%
-0.1%
0.1%
Niagara County
219,650
214,270
214,280
215,150
-2.5%
0.0%
0.4%
1,169,110
1,123,050
1,121,800
1,125,050
-4.1%
-0.1%
0.2%
18,998,430
19,623,830
20,376,600
21,209,900
3.2%
3.7%
7.5%
282,171,940
310,063,410
341,343,890
373,944,190
9.0%
9.2%
17.1%
Buffalo-Niagara MSA
New York
USA
Source: 2010 MSA Profile (Woods & Poole, 2010); and US Census Bureau, 2006–08 est.
Population
Town of Fort Eri e
St. Ca tha ri nes -Ni a ga ra CMA
2006
29,925
390,315
Onta ri o
12,160,285
Ca na da
Source: Statistics Canada, 2006
31,612,895
2.6.1.2 Age
The age profile of cultural attenders varies by the specific type of institution or
program. For example, the market for history and art museums skews older while
science museums/centers, zoos and children’s museums all skew younger.
Similarly, for most types of performances, attendees are increasingly older than
the average U.S. adult.
Whereas overall museum attendance has increased, attendance has declined for
the performing arts. According to data from the National Endowment for the Arts
the decline is for both younger and older adults. Since 1982, young adult (18-24
year-old) attendance rates have declined significantly for jazz, classical music,
ballet, and non-musical plays. From 2002-2008, however, 45-54 year-olds,
historically a large component of arts audiences, showed the steepest declines in
attendance. 2 A major factor is the relatively high cost of attending many
performances. This confirms the wisdom of both free and charged performances at
Canal Side as a way to attract people to the site and make it the type of place that
they will choose to reside or shop.
Data regarding the age profile of Buffalo-Niagara MSA residents is seen in the table
below in comparison to state and national averages. The data indicate a median
age for residents of the Buffalo-Niagara MSA that is substantially older than state
and national averages. This is generally positive as cultural attendance tends to
increase with age. However, the median for the City of Buffalo is younger than
average and there is a higher percentage of children 0-17 but fewer seniors.
2
Arts Participation 2008: Highlights from National Survey, National Endowment for the Arts, June 2009.
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
2. Contextual, Comparables and Market Analysis
Stage 1 Report
Overall, the data confirm the need for a mix of cultural and commercial
opportunities at Canal Side that will offer appeal to all ages.
Erie County
Niagara County
Buffalo-Niagara
MSA
New York
USA
38.1
38.3
38.1
35.9
35.4
Median Age: 2010
40.4
40.8
40.5
38.3
37.0
Median Age: 2020
41.1
41.5
41.2
39.0
37.8
Median Age: 2030
43.6
44.6
43.8
40.6
38.9
24.2%
24.6%
20.4%
24.7%
25.6%
Pers ons 0-17 as % of Population, 2010
20.9%
20.7%
20.9%
22.2%
24.0%
Pers ons 0-17 as % of Population, 2020
19.6%
19.5%
19.6%
21.5%
23.7%
Pers ons 0-17 as % of Population, 2030
19.2%
19.2%
19.2%
21.1%
23.2%
Pers ons 65+ as % of Population, 2000
15.9%
15.4%
15.8%
12.9%
12.4%
Pers ons 65+ as % of Population, 2010
15.7%
15.5%
15.6%
13.5%
13.0%
Pers ons 65+ as % of Population, 2020
19.5%
19.3%
19.5%
16.4%
16.2%
Pers ons 65+ as % of Population, 2030
24.6%
25.0%
24.7%
19.9%
19.5%
Age
Buffalo —
2006–08 est.
Median Age: 2000
Median Age: 2006
34.2
Pers ons 0-17 as % of Population, 2000
Pers ons 0-17 as % of Population, 2006
Pers ons 65+ as % of Population, 2006
24.0%
12.2%
Source: 2010 MSA Profile (Woods & Poole, 2010); and US Census Bureau, 2006–08 est.
Town of Fort Erie
St. CatharinesNiagara CMA
Ontario
Canada
43.1
42.1
39.0
39.5
Pers ons 0-19 as % of Population, 2006
23.7%
23.3%
25.0%
24.4%
Pers ons 65+ as % of Population, 2006
17.9%
17.7%
13.6%
13.7%
Age
Median Age: 2006
Source: Statistics Canada, 2006 Community Profiles
2.6.1.3 Gender
Women account for a slightly larger percentage of the population but are generally
a more important market for culture than are men for the following main reasons:
•
•
•
Women tend to make the decisions in a household regarding educational
experiences for their children. Therefore, the greater the perceived educational
benefits of cultural opportunities the more likely they will be selected;
Women account for a large majority of elementary school teachers who usually
make the decisions regarding school field trip destinations;
Women tend to make the decisions regarding attractions to visit while on
family vacations and account for a large majority of bus tour passengers and
trip planners.
Women are not only a more important market for culture but also for retail.
Therefore an objective of attracting large numbers of visitors to Canal Side on
the basis of cultural opportunities suggests the importance of a strong appeal
to women.
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Military, technology, sports and other museums that are male-oriented have a
more difficult time attracting large numbers of visitors than museum types of
greater appeal to women. The data suggest consideration of collaborative museum
opportunities that will offer strong components of particular appeal to both
genders.
Other considerations with respect to the greater importance of women as a market
for both culture and retail include ease of access and parking and the perceived
safety of the area. The distance of the designated heritage/cultural blocks from
parking will make it important to maximize pedestrian circulation and other
design methods to reduce perceived walking distances and at the same time
enhance perceptions of personal safety .
2.6.1.4 Education and Income
Numerous studies have shown that of the various socioeconomic characteristics,
level of education is the variable with the closest correlation to cultural attendance
and participation. The higher the level of education of the individual, the more
likely it will be that a person will attend or participate. This applies to all museum
types and to the performing arts. The data below indicate that the percentage of
Buffalo-Niagara MSA residents with at least four years of college education is
somewhat lower than the state average and slightly lower than the national
average. The data suggest the greater than average importance of
entertainment value to maximize attendance levels. This is consistent with
economic development objectives that Canal Side be of mass market appeal.
Like education, household income is an important indicator of potential cultural
attendance, but is not as significant an indicator as education. That is, high
education, low-income persons are more likely to attend a cultural venue or event
than are persons of high income and low education. The tables show per capita and
household income rankings that placed the Buffalo-Niagara MSA at 138th of 361
MSAs in 2005 for personal income. The ranking is projected to improve to 129 by
2020 and 123 by 2040. For household income the Buffalo-Niagara Falls MSA ranked
173rd in 2005 with projections to improve to 158 in 2020 and 150 in 2040.
The Buffalo Niagara Labor Market Assessment 2010 emphasized that
manufacturing no longer drives the economy despite an $800 million investment
by General Motors in power train assembly. Instead professional services and
health services have become the greatest job generators in the region. However,
the report also indicated that the average wage across all occupations in the region
is 3% lower than the average wage across the nation. Wages in the region for
higher-paying job categories such as business and financial operations, computer
and mathematics and the sciences are 10%-15% lower than comparable national
wages. The data confirm concerns heard in the workshop and interview
process regarding the price sensitivity of regional residents and the need to
recognize the need to limit admission charges for cultural facilities and events.
The Buffalo Niagara Partnership reported that companies considering Buffalo are
concerned about quality of life issues and that a vibrant waterfront was very
important.
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Education and Income
% of Pop. 25+ wi th a t l ea s t Ba chel or's degree, 2006–08 es t.
Buffalo —
2006–08
est.
20.9%
Buffalo Niagara
MSA
% of Pop. 25+ wi th a t l ea s t 4 yrs of Col l ege, 2000
New York
23.2%
27.4%
Income Per Ca pi ta Ra nk, 2000 (of 361 MSA's or 50 s ta tes )
135
5
Income Per Ca pi ta Ra nk, 2005
138
6
Income Per Ca pi ta Ra nk, 2020
129
7
Income Per Ca pi ta Ra nk, 2040
123
7
Mea n Hous ehol d Income Ra nk, 2000 (of 361 MSAs or 50 s ta tes )
167
5
Mea n Hous ehol d Income Ra nk, 2005
173
7
Mea n Hous ehol d Income Ra nk, 2020
158
5
Mea n Hous ehol d Income Ra nk, 2040
150
4
USA
24.4%
Source: 2010 MSA Profile (Woods & Poole, 2010); and US Census Bureau, 2006–08 est.
Education and Income
% of Popul a ti on 25+ wi th a t l ea s t 4 Yea rs of Col l ege, 2006
Town of
Fort Erie
21%
St.
CatharinesNiagara
CMA
24%
Ontario
Canada
29%
27%
Source: Statistics Canada, 2006 Community Profiles
2.6.1.5 Comparative Race/Ethnicity
The data in the following table indicate the relatively large size and importance of
the African American population in the region. It confirms the need for the Story
of Buffalo to reflect the Underground Railroad and other aspects of African
American history not only from a heritage perspective but also from a market
perspective. Noteworthy as well is the growth of the Hispanic market, following
national trends.
In addition, interviews emphasized the history of European immigration to the
Buffalo area and that the Story of Buffalo needs to reflect the contributions of these
immigrant communities.
Canadian data indicate “visible minorities” for the St. Catharines-Niagara CMA
relative to provincial and national totals. The data indicate a relatively small visible
minority market on the Canadian side of the border.
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Race/Ethinicity
Erie County
Niagara
County
BuffaloNiagara MSA
New York
USA
% Whi te Pop., 2000
81.5%
90.7%
83.2%
63.0%
70.1%
% Whi te Pop., 2010
79.6%
89.0%
81.4%
59.5%
65.6%
% Whi te Pop., 2020
77.3%
87.4%
79.2%
54.0%
61.1%
% Whi te Pop., 2030
74.9%
85.5%
76.9%
48.7%
56.7%
% Bl a ck Pop., 2000
13.1%
6.4%
11.8%
15.5%
12.5%
% Bl a ck Pop., 2010
13.6%
6.9%
12.3%
15.2%
12.6%
% Bl a ck Pop., 2020
14.4%
7.4%
13.1%
15.1%
12.6%
% Bl a ck Pop., 2030
15.4%
8.1%
14.0%
15.0%
12.6%
% Na ti ve Ameri ca n Pop., 2000
0.6%
1.0%
0.7%
0.4%
0.8%
% Na ti ve Ameri ca n Pop., 2010
0.7%
1.2%
0.8%
0.4%
0.9%
% Na ti ve Ameri ca n Pop., 2020
0.8%
1.4%
0.9%
0.4%
0.9%
% Na ti ve Ameri ca n Pop., 2030
0.9%
1.6%
1.0%
0.4%
0.9%
% As i a n a nd Pa ci fi c Is l a nder Pop., 2000
1.5%
0.6%
1.4%
5.9%
4.0%
% As i a n a nd Pa ci fi c Is l a nder Pop., 2010
2.1%
1.0%
1.9%
7.5%
4.9%
% As i a n a nd Pa ci fi c Is l a nder Pop., 2020
2.6%
1.3%
2.4%
9.5%
5.8%
% As i a n a nd Pa ci fi c Is l a nder Pop., 2030
3.2%
1.6%
2.9%
11.7%
6.7%
% Hi s pa ni c Pop., 2000
3.3%
1.3%
2.9%
15.2%
12.6%
% Hi s pa ni c Pop., 2010
4.0%
1.9%
3.6%
17.4%
16.1%
% Hi s pa ni c Pop., 2020
4.9%
2.5%
4.4%
21.0%
19.5%
% Hi s pa ni c Pop., 2030
5.6%
3.2%
5.2%
24.1%
23.1%
Source: 2010 MSA Profile (Woods & Poole, 2010)
Visible Minority Pop. Characteristics, 2006
Town of Fort St. CatharinesErie
Niagara CMA
Ontario
Canada
Chi nes e
1.2%
0.9%
4.8%
3.9%
South As i a n
0.8%
0.9%
6.6%
4.0%
Bl a ck
1.0%
1.3%
3.9%
2.5%
Fi l i pi no
0.2%
0.6%
1.7%
1.3%
La ti n Ameri ca n
1.4%
1.1%
1.2%
1.0%
Southea s t As i a n
0.2%
0.5%
0.9%
0.8%
Ara b
0.1%
0.4%
0.9%
0.9%
Wes t As i a n
0.1%
0.2%
0.8%
0.5%
Korea n
0.3%
0.2%
0.6%
0.5%
Ja pa nes e
0.1%
0.2%
0.2%
0.3%
Vi s i bl e mi nori ty not i ncl uded el s ewhere
0.1%
0.1%
0.5%
0.2%
Mul ti pl e vi s i bl e mi nori ty
Not a vi s i bl e mi nori ty
0.1%
0.2%
0.6%
0.4%
94.5%
93.4%
77.2%
83.8%
Source: Statistics Canada, 2006 Community Profiles
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2.6.2 Potential School Markets
The key issues in consideration of potential school markets for Canal Side and
visitor experiences associated with the Story of Buffalo are the size of the student
population base, curriculum links, a desire for higher successful test scores, and
issues associated with student enjoyment, proximity, access and cost.
2.6.2.1 Enrollment Levels
Erie County students are the most likely to be interested in the Story of Buffalo,
but there should be interest from other school districts as well, depending in part
on the other cultural components of Canal Side. Students are enrolled in public and
private schools and some are home-schooled. As shown in the following table there
are over 137,000 students enrolled in Erie County public schools. In addition there
are close to 26,000 students enrolled in private schools in Erie County. The total
combined enrollment is thus about 163,000, which is substantial.
Erie County Student Enrollment
Grade
Student Count
K-Half Day
135
K-Full Day
9,552
1st Grade Students
9,765
2nd Grade Students
9,641
3rd Grade Students
9,523
4th Grade Students
9,703
5th Grade Students
10,036
6th Grade Students
10,411
7th Grade Students
11,050
8th Grade Students
12,615
9th Grade Students
10,398
10th Grade Students
11,648
11th Grade Students
10,265
12th Grade Students
9,593
Total Students:
137,009
University students are another potential market. Total enrollment at the
University of Buffalo (UB) in 2009 was about 28,800 compared to about 24,300 a
decade earlier. The UB2020 plan, if implemented, calls for $5 billion in spending
and 14,000 students to attend classes at the South Campus only about 1.5 miles
from Canal Side and easily accessible by public transportation. Enrollment at the
SUNY College at Buffalo College is about 11,200 of which about 61% are female.
University students of course do not attend cultural facilities in fields trips but
rather as part of individual studies or as a leisure time activity, representing an
important potential market for both commercial and cultural opportunities at
Canal Side. With the State Legislature’s failure to approve the plan in 2010 and the
resignation of UB’s President the implementation of the UB2020 plan is in serious
question.
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2.6.2.2 Curriculum Links
Whether for a field trip or in-school lesson, programs for schools are most
successful when they demonstrate clear links to established curricula and address
state and local standards and benchmarks and the desire for higher test scores.
Achieving this at a variety of grade levels will help to attract and serve a potentially
large school audience for cultural facilities and programs.
A workshop with educators held on October 14, 2010 indicated that the best
history-focused curriculum links to the Story of Buffalo are as follows:
Grade 4: State history
Grade 7: War of 1812
Grade 8: Industrialization and immigration (likely the best single link)
Grade 11: US history
Science connections to water, weather, environmental and other issues associated
with the Story of Buffalo were felt in the educators workshop to be at a wide
variety of grade levels.
Educators commonly expressed the need to meet not only history and sciencerelated learning standards but to also create relationships to other disciplines,
particularly at the middle and high school levels, in order to maximize school
group attendance. This reflects the reality that permission is required from a
variety of teachers at the high school level who will be affected by a field trip. This
contrasts with the elementary level in which one teacher is with the students all
day. The educators confirmed that it is the classroom teacher who makes the
decision regarding field trip selection, subject to approval by the Principal and the
Board.
2.6.2.3 Proximity and Cost
Educators indicated a belief that there will be more field trips in the future because
teachers wish to encourage critical thinking. The Story of Buffalo offers positive
curriculum links, as discussed above, and as will be seen in Chapter 4, ideas
associated with it offer more interactivity and contemporary appeal than would be
the case for a second traditional collections-focused history museum in Buffalo.
Travel time and cost also are important factors in field trip selection. With respect
to the issue of time, this recognizes that the window of opportunity is limited for
school buses used for field trips that must also transport children to and from
school each day. And cost is also important, whether for transportation or
admission.
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2.6.2.4 Student Enrichment Through Enjoyment
Field trips are often selected according to the extent to which they provide handson or interactive participation. With cutbacks in the funds available to schools,
there has been a greater emphasis on selecting field trip destinations that are
learning-based and age appropriate in relation to the content and activities, thus
offering students higher levels of learning enjoyment. This is rooted in the
knowledge that children are more likely to learn if their experience is interesting
and enjoyable. The educator workshop confirmed an expectation that educational
opportunities at Canal Side will offer the type of interactivity and edutainment
value increasing expected by both the schools and the general public.
2.6.3 Potential Tourist Markets
Canal Side is intended to attract tourists, as well as residents and school groups.
Here we consider available data regarding the tourist market for the Buffalo Niagara region, including analysis of some potential implications for Canal Side.
Buffalo is a Tier 3 or 4 tourism destination according to an Assistant Professor of
Hospitality and Tourism at the Buffalo State University of New York. For purposes
of context, New York City is Tier 1, Boston Tier 2, Cleveland Tier 3, and Akron Tier
4 on a 5-tier ranking system. The strengths of Buffalo are seen to be its
geographical location near Niagara Falls and easily accessible from Toronto and
southern Ontario, its heritage and architecture, airport and highways. Weaknesses
identified included an image as snowy, cold and rust belt. The Professor
emphasized the need for culture and heritage to be a strong positioning tool for
Buffalo, and saw Canal Side as a very important opportunity. He also cautioned
that Buffalo must not be seen to be living exclusively in the past and that it needed
to be looking forward too.
2.6.3.1 Tourism to Greater Niagara Region
The Greater Niagara Region, which includes Buffalo, is one of 11 economic regions
for which the State of New York develops tourism impact data 3. The Greater
Niagara region accounted for 4% of total visitor spending within the state ranking
it behind New York City (63%), Long Island )10%), the Hudson Valley (6%) and
the Finger Lakes (5%). Although it might be assumed that the bulk of the
tourism spending is in Niagara Falls, Erie County accounts for 69% of the
tourism spending in the Greater Niagara region, compared to 24% for Niagara
County. Other counties in the region represent the other 7% of tourism spending.
[NEED DATA ON HOW MANY TOURISTS, THEIR PROFILES, PREFERENCES AND
ACTIVITY PATTERNS. TO BE ADDED IN NEXT REPORT, IF AVAILABLE]
Data for the St. Catharines-Niagara region on the Canadian side of the border are
readily available. The table below indicate 9.9 million person visits, of which 41%
included an overnight while 59% were day trips.
3 The Economic Impact of Tourism in New York State: Greater Niagara Focus (Tourism Economics,
April 2009)
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Person Visits—Length of Stay
Tota l Vi s i ts
Ori gi n
Onta ri o
Other Ca na da
U.S.
Overs ea s
Tota l (000s )
Overni ght Vi s i ts
Sa me-da y Vi s i ts
5,010
50%
2,109
42%
2,901
58%
166
2%
164
99%
2
1%
3,912
39%
1,459
37%
2,453
63%
839
8%
382
46%
457
54%
9,927
100%
4,114
41%
5,813
59%
Source: Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Regional Tourism Profile, 2008, CMA 539: St. Catharines-Niagara
The data also indicate that 39% of visitors to this region on the Canadian side
originated from the United States, many of whom would be passing through
Buffalo. Some 61% of US visitors arrive primarily for pleasure travel, 11% to visit
friends and relatives 4% for business and 24% for personal reasons.
Person Visits—Main Purpose of Trip, Total Visits
Origin
Ontario
Other Canada
U.S.
Overs eas
Total (000s )
Total
Pleas ure
VFR
Bus ines s
Pers onal
5,009
50%
2,817
56%
1,789
36%
201
4%
202
166
2%
114
69%
38
23%
10
6%
4
4%
2%
3,912
39%
2,371
61%
429
11%
154
4%
958
24%
839
8%
354
42%
392
47%
61
7%
32
4%
9,926
100%
5,656
57%
2,648
27%
426
4%
1,196
12%
Source: Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Regional Tourism Profile, 2008, CMA 539: St. Catharines-Niagara
Canadians represent a substantial number of existing and potential tourists for
Buffalo. Many arrive for the lower priced retail goods relative to Canadian prices.
With a very strong Canadian dollar at about par with the US dollar this has
increased cross border shopping substantially and helps to justify a two-night stay
to allow for legal spending up to $400 person. Many Canadians are making clothing
purchases and discarding clothes in US malls in order to avoid the two-night
requirement. Additional attractions and events at Canal Side may help to motivate
more Canadians to stay in the US for a longer period.
2.6.3.2 Buffalo Cultural Tourism Markets
A Study by Arts Market Inc., Buffalo Cultural Tourism Analysis: Art, Architecture
and History Visitors (August 26, 2009) involved interviews of persons attending
Buffalo’s art, architecture and history attractions. The core market was profiled as
age 55 and older, highly educated, culturally involved and active.
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The report provided numerous quotations offering glowing comments regarding
the quality of what was offered in Buffalo. The authors of the report commented:
“Our recommendation is simple. Keep it up.” The data confirm opportunities for
Buffalo to target this higher education and often higher income market for culture.
However, it is also clear that this is more of a niche than a mass market, confirming
the need for Canal Side to offer a mix of cultural and non-cultural opportunities to
appeal to various market segments. Given the importance of art, architecture
and history in Buffalo, there also appears to be an opportunity for a hub and
spoke Story of Buffalo concept to encourage more visitors to attend the
existing art, architecture, history and other attractions.
2.6.3.3 Other Tourist Market Segments
Other potential tourist markets for Canal Side are as follows:
•
Visiting Friends and Relatives: Although data are not available it is likely that
visiting friends and relatives (VFR) is a primary motivator for people to be in
Buffalo. Many stay in the homes of friends or family they are visiting.
Noteworthy is that it is often the local residents who identify things to do for
visitors and often accompany them. Therefore success in attracting regional
residents to Canal Side should enable it to attract substantial number of the
important VFR tourist market.
•
Hotel Guests: As shown in the following table, business and convention visitors
combined account for some 68% of persons staying at Erie County hotels, with
32% staying for purposes of leisure visits or group tours. A key issue is whether
visitors in Buffalo for business/convention purposes will have time to visit any
attractions including those at Canal Side, particularly since their available time
will be most likely during evening hours when most institutions are closed. The
mixed use nature of Canal Side is thus positive as bars, night clubs and
restaurants open during evening hours may encourage retail and cultural
institutions to remain open at least one or two evenings per week if there is
enough market demand. The data also confirm the appropriateness of
considering light shows and other entertainment on the underside of the
skyway or on the grain elevator after dark, as discussed further in Chapter 4.
Leisure/group tour visitors will be more likely to attend cultural opportunities
during daytime hours.
Erie County Hotel Segmentation
Ma rket Segment
Percenta ge
Corpora te tra ns i ent vi s i tors
45%
Lei s ure vi s i tors
27%
Conventi on a nd meeti ngs groups
23%
Group tour vi s i tors
Tota l
5%
100%
Source: Buffalo Niagara Convention and Visitors Bureau, 2009
Visit Buffalo: The Year in Review
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•
Cruise Ship Passengers: Although there are river and other cruises starting
from Buffalo, at present Buffalo is not on the itinerary of the Great Lakes Cruise
Company or the Great Lakes cruises of Travel Dynamics International.
However, development of Canal Side as a destination might change this if it
included attractions, retail and food opportunities.
•
Boaters: With respect to boaters what was heard in interviews was the need for
practical amenities like restrooms and showers.
•
Regional Sports/Events Tourists: Persons attending Sabres games, concerts
and other events at HSBC Arena are likely to arrive early and thus take
advantage of commercial and cultural opportunities at Canal Side.
This chapter has established a market and financial context for the Story of Buffalo
and cultural opportunities at Canal Side in general. The following chapter builds on
the direction here, what was heard in interviews and workshops, and the
experience of the consultants to lead to a series of draft planning principles.
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3. Draft Planning Principles
Stage 1 Report
3. Draft Planning Principles
This study is intended to result in a cultural master plan for Canal Side that
enables it to meet the community needs and economic development objectives
established by the ECHDC. To help achieve these objectives this chapter sets out a
series of draft planning principles that reflect the thinking of the consultant team
to date. The planning principles are subject to modification based on feedback and
additional analysis just as the initial ideas for cultural opportunities at Canal Side
in the following chapter are subject to modification within this three-stage
planning process.
3.1 Avoid Duplication of Existing Cultural Resources
To increase the likelihood of implementable and sustainable cultural opportunities
at Canal Side, it is important to seek to avoid duplication, whether real or
perceived. When new institutions are established existing cultural institutions are
often concerned about competition for audiences and especially for private and
governmental funding. This is also the case in the Buffalo – Niagara region. Such
concerns are particularly valid when there is duplication. To avoid duplication and
instead seek differentiation and complementarity, this suggests:
•
Telling the Buffalo Story Should Not be in a Second Collections-Focused
History Museum: Although the Story of Buffalo is primarily about its history,
there is a long-standing history museum in Buffalo that tells the story of Buffalo
by means of maintaining and interpreting a very important collection and
associated temporary exhibitions. Avoiding duplication of the Buffalo and Erie
County Historical Society will be essential and thus this study recommends
telling the Story of Buffalo primarily in ways that do not require a focus on
collections or what might be perceived as a second history museum.
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Stage 1 Report
•
A Buffalo Story should Differ from and Complement the Planned Niagara
Experience: The Niagara Experience is an important economic development
initiative of the City of Niagara Falls. It builds upon the strength of the Falls as a
tourism destination but recognizes that more attractions are needed to
increase the length of stay of visitors. The concept for the Niagara Experience
was initiated in 1995 and seeks to use modern technology to create meaningful
experiences that will attract large numbers of visitors and also encourage them
to attend other destinations in the area and throughout Western New York.
This “hub and spoke” or “concierge” concept is not new and is applicable in
many cities. For example, National Parks have used the hub and spoke model
for years as Visitor Centers are intended to encourage people to explore and
enjoy regional parks. While this basic hub and spoke concept is essential to and
recommended for the Story of Buffalo, as discussed below, the story will be
unique to Buffalo and there will be varying methods of interpretation as seen in
Chapter 4 of this report. Moreover, the mandate of the Niagara Experience is
Western New York while the Story of Buffalo is primarily about Buffalo. It will
be important for continued dialog and coordination between the developers of
the Niagara Experience and those of the Buffalo story to ensure that the two
projects complement each other.
•
A Water Park should Avoid Competing with Darrien Lake and Other Area
Amenities: A commercial water park is of course not one of the cultural
projects to be considered for Canal Side. However, this study has recommended
cultural elements associated with the Story of Buffalo be included within an
indoor water park. This takes into account that the most mentioned idea for
Canal Side by the respondents to the Mayor’s Canal Side Citizen Waterfront
Forum is an indoor, year-round water park. On the basis of being indoor and
year-round it would differ from the seasonal and outdoor Splashtown at Darrien
Lake. Another water park in the region is part of Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara
Falls Canada. However, this is a resort and far enough away in Canada to not
raise the duplication issue. Since there is already a successful Erie Community
College Flickinger Aquatic Center used for amateur athletics competitions, the
proposed water park should not be intended for competitive events.
•
Aquarium Elements to be Considered should Not Compete with the
Aquarium of Niagara: The second ranked specific idea for Canal Side in the
Mayor’s Canal Side Citizen Waterfront Forum is an aquarium. This study has
not recommended a large aquarium in part to avoid competing with the
Aquarium of Niagara which is contemplating an expansion. Moreover, the most
successful aquariums include tropical species that would not be consistent with
the regional and Great Lakes focus of the Story of Buffalo and the heritage of
Canal Side. We have recommended consideration of aquarium elements within
the proposed commercial water park, as discussed further below and in
Chapter 4.
•
Avoid Competition with Downtown Performing Arts Venues: Downtown
revitalization is an objective of the City of Buffalo as it is for many cities in
America. Canal Side is an extension and part of a wider downtown, linked by
Main Street. Since downtown Buffalo is the home of many of the performing
arts facilities in Buffalo, including the Shea’s Performing Arts Center, Irish
Classical, Alleyway, etc. it would be appropriate that Canal Side avoid a major
indoor performing arts facility.
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3. Draft Planning Principles
Stage 1 Report
•
Avoid the Phenomenon of Substitution in the Story of Buffalo: For example,
telling the Underground Railroad and African American stories as part of the
Story of Buffalo should not be a substitute to experience the “real thing”
opportunities in the Michigan Heritage Corridor including the Jessie Nash
House, the Colored Musicians Club and the Michigan Avenue Church. This
emphasizes the importance of orientation or hub and spoke as a planning
principle for Canal Side.
3.2 Build upon the Unique Characteristics of Canal Side
Representatives from cultural organizations and community advocates have
emphasized the need for Canal Side to be a place that tells the Story of Buffalo by
taking advantage of the uniqueness of its history and environment. Indeed Canal
Side is a “sacred place” in that it points to so much of what continues to define
Buffalo. The major themes must relate to the relationship of land to water and the
innovations and perseverance of its citizens. While other planning principles
discussed below seek to achieve market and financial objectives for Canal Side it is
essential that the unique characteristics of Canal Side are not only respected but
embraced.
3.3 Phasing to Begin with More Low Cost Programs,
Events and Features is an Appropriate Development
Strategy
It has long been recognized by ECHDC that phasing of both the commercial and
cultural components of Canal Side is required. Success in a first phase that focuses
on programs, events and other largely outdoor features that are free or low cost to
visitors and relatively low cost to implement should help to attract visitors and
boost investor confidence. This will in turn substantially increase the likelihood for
implementation of commercial and cultural facilities in Phase 2. This strategy of
starting small and growing with success is consistent with what was heard in
workshops and interviews and other public input. Commonly heard initial
expectations are to meet basic human needs and practical requirements ranging
from restrooms to convenient staging opportunities to more events, cultural and
recreational opportunities on site. The planning principle here is to stick with
phasing as an appropriate and wise development strategy.
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3. Draft Planning Principles
Stage 1 Report
3.4 A Strong Focal Point is Needed for the Story of Buffalo
Although we have recommended against a collections focused museum, there
needs to ultimately be a central facility within Canal Side to serve as the starting
point for learning about about the spirit and character of Buffalo and what makes it
special and unique. It also needs to be a place that orients visitors to other
heritage, cultural, natural and other resources in the Buffalo area. This includes
being the starting point for walking, river and other tours.
For a hub and spoke concept to be successful the hub needs to be appealing and
thus requires entertainment value capable of drawing large numbers of visitors – a
mass market. And entertainment value increasingly requires contemporary
methods of interpretation and to emphasize that the Story is not only about the
past, but also the present and future of Buffalo.
3.5 Focus on Cultural Opportunities with Wide Audience
Appeal
The next stage of this study is to include identification of recommended specific
cultural facilities, programs and events for three phases of development of Canal
Side. It will be very important, particularly in Phase 1 and 2 to identify
opportunities that have wide audience appeal if those cultural opportunities are to
meet community expectations and also attract the large numbers of visitors
needed to encourage the lease of spaces to tax-paying commercial businesses. As
discussed in Chapter 4 what is being considered for the Story of Buffalo is intended
to offer a balance between education and entertainment, including the use of
humor as a way to balance serious historical subject matter.
The need for wide audience or mass market appeal serves to confirm the
appropriateness of seeking to integrate cultural opportunities into commercial
facilities, and to also recognize price sensitivity, which are each discussed below.
Some other considerations for cultural components to help achieve wide audience
appeal are as follows:
•
Strong Appeal to Women: As discussed in Chapter 2, women are a more
important market for the various reasons set out. This is particularly important
to Canal Side as women are a more important market for retail as well.
•
Capable of Encouraging Repeat Visitation: Repeat visitation helps to boost
attendance and potential revenue levels and memberships for cultural
opportunities and boosts exposure to commercial establishments.
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3. Draft Planning Principles
Stage 1 Report
•
Appeal to a Variety of Age Ranges but Skew Younger to Create Vibrancy:
Cultural opportunities that attract children experience high levels of repeat
visitation and expose parents, primarily the women who accompany them, to
other cultural and commercial opportunities. There must also be opportunities
for persons not accompanying children, including teenagers, young singles and
couples who should perceive Canal Side as a “cool” place to be and be seen.
•
Experiences that Appeal to and Reflect the Ethnic Diversity of Buffalo
Residents and Visitors: This is particularly important for the programs and
events to be offered.
3.6 Integrate the Story of Buffalo and Other Cultural
Experiences into Some of the Commercial Facilities
The Mayor’s Canal Side Citizens Waterfront Forum indicated a desire for cultural
opportunities but also that “people want to eat, drink and be entertained.”
Combining cultural and commercial opportunities is thus a concept that creates
positive synergies and mutual benefits. Some suggestions follow:
•
Tell Part of the Story of Buffalo within a Commercial Water Park: As
discussed above the highest ranked idea is an indoor water park. Chapter 4
describes how a water park may be positioned to help achieve the spirit of what
Frederick Law Olmsted called a “water park” for Buffalo in 1888. Olmsted
recommended an environment that appealed to people’s desire to be active and
that would focus on water. To relate a modern water park to Canal Side and
further distinguish it from common commercial venues we have recommended
consideration of one or two relatively small freshwater aquarium tanks. This
feature would help to tell the story of Lake Erie and the Buffalo River. Also
contemplated are iconic Buffalo-related images/designs to be integrated into
the water park as suggested in Chapter 4.
•
Integrating Story of Buffalo Themes Into a Proposed Boutique Hotel: This
might tell the story of Buffalo’s opulence during the late Victorian period when
Buffalo hosted the Pan American Expo in 1901. Parlor rooms would capture the
ornate detail of this period while other rooms could feature patent models, newfangled gadgets of the age of electricity, a reading room with rare book
collections, maps and a family room with a magnificent train set and model of
Buffalo as a “The City of Lights”.
•
Consider Opportunities for Story of Buffalo Theming to be Introduced into
Canal Side Restaurants, Night Clubs, Bars and other Commercial Venues: A
variety of ideas are set out in Chapter 4. One specific commercial opportunity
that has been discussed for several years is a Public Market that would be
different in a content and thematic way from the Broadway Market. Telling the
Story of Buffalo within it might include an exhibit area that tells the story of
how Buffalo fed America. Several persons in interviews and workshops
suggested the possibility of commercial water taxis. If viable, these could be
themed as well.
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3. Draft Planning Principles
3.7 Encourage Collaboration to Limit the Number of New
Museums/Facilities
There are reportedly over 50 different cultural organizations that have expressed
an interest in being part of the Canal Side project. While some offer programs and
events, others are seeking facilities in or near Canal Side. Cultural facilities require
capital investment and ongoing operating support as shown in Chapter 2. The next
stage of this study will explore the opportunities and constraints, particularly
given limited space available in the heritage blocks currently planned.
Nonetheless, it appears very likely that there are many more groups seeking
separate facilities within Canal Side than is practical to implement given available
spaces and the capital cost, funding and operating cost implications.
Phase 3 of the development process is identification of opportunities for cultural
facilities outside of but near Canal Side. An obvious example is the DL&W building.
We will wish to explore whether the numerous proponents of separate museums
might consider being galleries in one museum at DL&W in Phase 3 of development
with one Director, or a campus concept that offers collaborative revenue
generation and cost control opportunities. Some organizations have already
pursued collaborative approaches. For example, the Buffalo Cultural Coalition is
contemplating a shared facility that would house the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame,
Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame and the Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
3.8 The Need for Realism
There has been reference to an objective that new cultural facilities/opportunities
at or near Canal Side should be “self-sufficient” in order not to compete for at least
public funds. That is not a realistic expectation given the data set out near the
beginning of Chapter 2 for both museum-related and performing arts
institutions/organizations. Seeking to minimize private and grant support is a
more realistic definition of success that should be applied; otherwise no new
cultural opportunities are likely to be possible.
Realism is also needed among some cultural institutions who believe that Canal
Side is being developed primarily as a way to find homes for more cultural facilities
and organizations. While additional cultural opportunities are desirable for
residents and tourists, they are also very much intended to help create a market
for taxpaying commercial businesses sought to lease privately developed space in
Canal Side. Taxes paid by the businesses, and tourists drawn to Buffalo, should
help to justify the public and private financial support needed by the cultural
facilities and organizations, which do not pay taxes.
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3. Draft Planning Principles
3.9 Cultural Institutions/Organizations will Find it Very
Difficult to Pay Rent
If the heritage block buildings are to be constructed by private developers it means
that cultural organizations will not need to raise funds for construction, although
they will need to fund the fit out of what is likely to be shell space, and the capital
costs of exhibits or other internal features. On one hand this is very positive for the
cultural organizations in that it limits capital cost requirements. On the other hand
very few cultural institutions anywhere pay any rent. They are primarily in owned
buildings, whether owned by a government or a not-for-profit. Those that do pay
rent usually do so only on the basis of a nominal amount.
The current assumption is that EDHDC will subsidize ground floor rent costs for an
undetermined period of time. A key question is thus whether the rental amounts to
be charged after this initial period are at market rates or nominal. ECHDC will need
to provide direction regarding this and related issues of the availability of capital
and operating funds for cultural organizations in advance of communications with
them in mid-December 2010.
The rent issue also raises questions whether the space available to cultural
organizations should be ground floor, which invariably commands higher rents, as
opposed to upper floor levels that may be weaker from a market perspective but
more affordable. There may be opportunities for live/work/exhibit/perform space at
Canal Side that will also need to be considered, and discussed further in Chapter 4.
3.10 Recognize Price Sensitivity among Many Buffalo
Residents
As shown in Chapter 2, there are large numbers of residents who will find it
difficult to pay for admission. This confirms the wisdom of current assumptions
regarding a combination of paid and free cultural opportunities at Canal Side.
Recognizing price sensitivity will need to be considered throughout this planning
process. One strategy, to be considered further in Stage 2 of this study, is to seek to
secure sponsorships to provide access to persons who cannot afford admission.
The draft planning principles set out here are likely to expand and be modified
during the course of this study. Although draft the planning principles, along with
the Contextual, Comparables and Market Analyses in Chapter 2, have informed the
preliminary ideas and building blocks set out in the next chapter regarding
cultural opportunities at Canal Side in general and the Story of Buffalo in
particular.
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4. The Story of Buffalo: A Preliminary Canal Side Visitor Experience
Stage 1 Report
4. The Story of Buffalo: A Preliminary Canal
Side Visitor Experience
The vision for Canal Side is to be realized through a phased approach, with the first
phase relying on non-building-dependent programming. Two later phases are to
include more extensive facility development. This chapter outlines preliminary
ideas for the visitor experience associated with all three phases and themed
around the Story of Buffalo.
4.1 Experiential Goals and Design Strategies
The Canal Side area presents an opportunity to connect visitors and residents to
the unique and powerful heritage of the city of Buffalo. The following experiential
goals and design strategies are intended to be consistent with the goals and
objectives established by ECHDC and the community at large for Canal Side:
•
Activate Canal Side with programs and amenities to draw Buffalonians and
regional visitors year-round: The harbor area is currently under-utilized, and
residents feel frustrated by the lack of amenities and access to the water. First
and foremost, the area needs to appeal to residents of the region, and to
become a place to go in all four seasons.
•
Celebrate Buffalo's rich history of innovation, ingenuity, and enterprise: By
telling the Story of Buffalo, the project can re-ignite Buffalo's pride and inspire
current generations to better value their heritage. This story is not just a
history, but a story of the present and the future.
•
Create a place that reflects the character and values of Buffalonians –
tenacious, innovative, and practical. The Canal Side project, by celebrating the
Buffalo story and brand, reclaims the spirit and drive behind Buffalo's glory
days, the civic values and initiative that turned Buffalo Creek into a channel for
the new harbor.
•
Bring a critical mass of shops, cultural institutions, arts, night life, and
dining to Canal Side; it must be affordable, walkable, authentic, attractive,
and proprietary: Recent civic planning projects have demonstrated that
successful projects are place-based, unique, and human-scale. These features
must be applicable to Canal Side if it is to be as successful as possible.
•
Historic Buffalo is the “museum” and it becomes a “grand stage” to tell the
Story of Buffalo: We can take advantage of existing structures like the grain
elevators and the Skyway, and activate the entire city with historic markers, popup performance stages, storytelling benches, giant murals, and a comprehensive
cell phone tour. The Story of Buffalo can be experienced exactly where it occurred.
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4. The Story of Buffalo: A Preliminary Canal Side Visitor Experience
Stage 1 Report
4.2 Conceptual Framework
The following experiential building blocks represent a preliminary synthesis of the
ideas and aspirations of the Buffalo community for an authentic Buffalo waterfront
that honors the city's maritime heritage and cultural history and that offers places
to shop, dine and be entertained.
The initial ideas that follow were informed in part by by visioning workshops held
in October 2010 and the site master planning work of EEK. In addition, we
researched comparable waterfront projects and best practices, reviewed the 2004
master plan and other background documents provided by ECHDC, and read the
commentary, editorials, blogs, and ideas in local press and media, as well as notes
from the recent open house hearings hosted by ECHDC. We then began to identify
the most compelling, popular, and appropriate ideas that would reflect the core
planning principles outlined in Chapter 3, and to best achieve the community and
ECHDC objectives and aspirations for the project.
At this early point in the planning process the ideas presented constitute potential
experiential building blocks that require feedback and testing. We will continue in
the next months to evaluate new these and other ideas, strategies and
opportunities to tell the Story of Buffalo, a concept initiated by Peter Dow and
developed by a Cultural Steering Committee. An initial version of the Story and a
second version intended to highlight the special, unique and iconic aspects of the
Story of Buffalo are set out in Appendix B of this report.
Imagine coming to Buffalo's Canal Side, where you can...
•
Celebrate spring and plan a family picnic on the water's edge--followed by a free
concert on the green.
•
Stop by the Canal Side Market every Saturday for farm-fresh vegetables and the
best of Buffalo cuisine year round.
•
Discover the historic streets within Canal Side where the towpaths and trails of
the original Erie Canal brought people from around the world to the Buffalo's
western terminus.
•
Gather around near little Buffalo Creek for a story circle with a Seneca Nation
storyteller and learn about the many legends of the Erie Canal known to these
"keepers of the western door."
•
Ride a giant Cheerio tube down a water tube and slide down a Spiral Silo in a yearround indoor water park to escape the winter blues.
•
Book your tickets now for New Year's eve doo wop and jazz music at the Legends
Center @ Canal Square.
•
Journey back in time to the Canal era with a master storyteller who makes history
come alive: next stop---a Canal Street saloon circa 1832.
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•
Stroll along a path and peek your head into a scale model of the Pan American
Exposition of 1901 and get a glimpse of America's future at the beginning of the
20th century.
•
Step on board a water taxi for a sunset tour on the river and a cinematic spectacle
as you journey through the Grain Elevator Canyon.
•
Join an archaeologist to discover latest finds from the dig site - what piece of
Buffalo's history did they uncover today?
•
Get swept away at the Buffalo Story Center's "time machine" cyclorama and
journey through 300 years of Buffalo history!
•
Explore Canal Side with the entire family, and understand who we are and why
Buffalo is an important place in America’s history
•
Enjoy a hot cup of Joe on a warm bench along the waterfront as you watch a
golden sunset.
The “experiential building blocks” seek to achieve such a vision.
4.3 Experiential Building Blocks
Canal Side is to be developed in three distinct phases. Building block ideas
associated with each are as follows, and related to the Story of Buffalo.
4.3.1 For Phase One:
The objective here is easy to implement and relatively low cost opportunities in
advance of potential facilities in Phases 2 and 3.
4.3.1.1 The Buffalo Story Trails
Buffalo Story Theme and Take Away Message:
The Buffalo story is a journey that comes to life.
Buffalo's history is fascinating and fun for everyone!
Implementation Phase:
1
Possible Locations: Throughout Canal Side and the waterfront
Description:
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4. The Story of Buffalo: A Preliminary Canal Side Visitor Experience
The Buffalo Story Trails form an entertaining, educational journey that unfolds on
the grand stage of Canal Side. The trails are intended to appeal to a broad range of
visitors and feature a variety of themes: a chronological walk through
Buffalo's history; that “Monument of Progress” Erie Canal; a celebration of Buffalo's
music -- the soundtrack of our lives through 2000 years of history; and a taste of
Buffalo’s diverse palette of ethnic food through the ages. The "Canal Side Players" –
performers, hosts and guides -- tell the Buffalo Story through a cast of fictional and
historic characters from different periods in Buffalo history: farmers, merchants,
dockworkers, bankers, blacksmiths, poets, clergy, political leaders, physicians and
students. The actors will encourage visitors to experience authentic sites
throughout Buffalo, as well.
Story-based heritage markers interpret the places that visitors are standing on,
and include riddles and rubbings for kids and families to collect and share.
Storytelling porches along the trail offer places to stop and listen to stories of the
Seneca and Tuscarora Nations, the Underground Railroad, and the key role Buffalo
played in the Abolitionist Movement and the founding of the NAACP. Interactive
cell phone tours, story benches, pop-up stage sets, puppet shows, and a "speaker's
corner" bring the ghosts of Buffalo’s past to life.
Creating a pop-up kit of parts makes deploying the Story of Buffalo at appropriate
locations throughout Canal Side implementable and flexible. Each large, medium,
or small box comes complete - ready to tell part of the Buffalo Story with billboard
backdrop, scripts, stage sets, costumes, costumes, and props. Large billboard
murals act both as attractors and scenery, each evocative of a different era. The
pop-up boxes become stages for live performance, or perhaps temporary homes for
one of the future permanent building blocks. One box might be a storytelling
porch, another a legends game show set at Canal Square, another a green lab on
the waterfront, another might be a mini-maritime center with boat builders at
work, another a tour box for ticket to water taxi and harbor-at-night tours.
The Trails will be enriched by a wide range of programmed events, including
music, dance, carnival games, circus acts, craft and cooking demonstrations,
outdoor cinema, historic fashion shows, slam poetry, historic re-enactments and
tribal ceremonial gatherings and dances.
Related Weblinks:
Buffalo Place
http://www.buffaloplace.com/
Historic Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA)
http://historicphiladelphia.org/
Historic Williamsburg (Williamsburg, VA)
http://www.history.org/
Greenfield Village (Dearborn, MI)
http://www.thehenryford.org/village/
Connor Prairie Historic Park (Fishers, IN)
http://www.connerprairie.org/
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4. The Story of Buffalo: A Preliminary Canal Side Visitor Experience
Historic Earth (App)
http://emergencestudios.com/historicearth/
Live statue contests
http://www.estatuas-vivientes.com.ar/en/
Pop-Up Theater
http://current.newsweek.com/budgettravel/2010/10/london_popup_theater.html
Pop-Up Pavilion
http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/bubble-pavilion-to-pop-up-in
Pop-Up Park
http://ny.curbed.com/tags/brooklyn-bridge-park?tag=brooklyn-bridgepark&tag=brooklyn-bridge-park&page=6
http://mcbrooklyn.blogspot.com/2008/07/brooklyns-pop-up-park-gets-busier.html
Pop-Up Igloo Bar
http://blogs.city.com/nyc/igloo-bar-a-pop-up-eskimos-retreat-in-midtown/
Pop-Up World Cup Theme Park
http://blog.samplesaleshop.com/2010/06/world-cup-wednesdays-puma-city-popup-takes-over-nyc/
The Urban Speaker Pop-Up Installation
http://urbanspeaker.mobi/about.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En33dhjjEj0&feature=related
Artist Billboards
http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=creative%20billboards&um=1&ie=UT
F-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1537&bih=875
The WaterPod Project – Floating Art Farm
http://www.thewaterpod.org/images.html
Floating Swimming Pools
http://www.floatingpool.org/index1.html
Giant Pop-Up Book Attraction
http://www.ninjavspenguin.com/blog/2007/10/24/giant-lexus-pop-up-book/
http://www.darnellworks.com/a52/media/popup.mov
The Pop-Up City
http://popupcity.net/tag/flexible/
Pop Up Nightclubs
http://www.springwise.com/pix/spotlight/aqua.jpg
Ghost Structures
http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/pennsylvania/philadelphia/venturighost/gh
ost.html
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Pop-Up City & Land Lab (Cleveland, OH)
http://www.cudc.kent.edu/popup/
http://www.cudc.kent.edu/shrink/landlab.html
http://bazaarbizarre.org/cleveland_stuff/vendorlist-2010.html
Pop-Up Dog Park
http://www.cudc.kent.edu/popup/dog.html
Pop-Up Office
http://vimeo.com/4197108
Pop-Up Eco-store
http://springwise.com/retail/detoxmarket/
Pop-Up Art Installations
http://slamxhype.com/art-design/range-rover-evoque-paris-pop-up-installation/
Pop-Up Retail Kiosks
http://www.yatzer.com/2110_360%C2%BA_kiosks_by_studio_sklim
Pop-Up Playground
http://www.thehighline.org/blog/2010/05/19/a-free-pop-up-playground-for-kidson-the-high-line
4.3.1.2 Canal Side Public Market and Additional Programming
Buffalo Story Theme and Take Away:
Buffalo is about great food…and Canal Side Market has it all — old
world recipes to farm fresh or artisan, or imported from around
the world!
What attracts Buffalonians is food, music and family
Implementation Phase:
1 or 2
Possible Locations: Central Canal
Description:
The Canal Side Market is an ethnic and local farmer's market that begins in a large
tent in Phase 1 and becomes a permanent structure in Phase 2. It is intended to
celebrate Buffalo’s pivotal history as once the world's largest grain port, feeding
the nation from more than thirty concrete grain elevators located along the inner
and outer harbors. To this day, Buffalo’s relationship to food and the food industry
remains strong. The Canal Side Players bring the city's food and food production
heritage to life through entertaining and educational performance and
storytelling. To relate the Market to the Story of Buffalo it will include in Phase 2 an
exhibition area that educates and entertains about Buffalo once feeding America.
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4. The Story of Buffalo: A Preliminary Canal Side Visitor Experience
Stage 1 Report
Existing programs at Canal Side attract approximately 150,000 visitors to the site
each year. Current programming includes Garden Walk Buffalo, Free Ice Skating,
First Night Buffalo, Curtain Up!, National Buffalo Wing Festival, Taste of Buffalo
Festival, and the Queen City Jazz Festival. It confirms what was heard in
stakeholder workshops and interviews -- that Buffalonians will gather around a few
key things; Food, Music and Family. In addition to the Canal Side Public Market
other potential new programs in Phase 1 might include:
•
Buffalo Alive! : A multi-audience event, Buffalo Alive will focus on the family
during the day and become more adult in the evening. The festival is intended to
inspire creativity and good times. The weekend summer event will feature
participatory art shows, film festivals on the grain silos, dance floor, outdoor
mosh pit, public mural paintings, performances by area bands and dance groups.
•
Family Freedom Celebration: The Freedom Celebration is a family event
designed to celebrate the independence of the spirit fostered by Native
Americans, enslaved people seeking freedom, and immigrants seeking refuge.
It focuses on food, music and family.
•
Heritage Carnival: Heritage carousels, ferris wheel, balloon ride, on site for
several weeks. This might include a Buffalo Family Game Show in a tent – a
comedic event hosted by a Canal Side Player, focusing on the past and in the
style of the National Public Radio show, "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me". Other
opportunities might include puppet shows presenting the Buffalo Story, and
storytelling benches at important/historic sites within Canal Side, Buffalo River
Monuments Tour. Night tours on the river
•
Town Crier / Newsboy: An actor hands out a “historic” printed newspaper
gazette of the day’s news and Canal Side programmed events.
•
Family-Oriented Scavenger Hunts: For example, “Buffalo History Mystery
Detective Adventure” / “In Search of the Erie Canal”
•
Giant Buffalo Theme Chess with signature Tom Otterness sculptures
•
Cell-Phone Tours: Self-guided personal tours throughout Canal Side.
Related Weblinks:
EATaly (New York, NY)
http://www.mariobatali.com/restaurants_eataly.cfm
Pike Place Market (Seattle, WA)
http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/
Faneuil Hall (Boston, MA)
http://www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com/
Granville Island (Vancouver, BC)
http://www.granvilleisland.bc.ca/
Findlay Market (Cincinnati, OH)
http://www.findlaymarket.org/
Reading Terminal Market (Philadelphia, PA)
http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/
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4.3.1.3 Canal Side Festival Green and Winterfest
Buffalo Story Theme and Take Away Message:
The Buffalo waterfront is vibrant and alive year-round
Come down to Canal Side, there's always something going on…fun
and affordable for all.
Implementation Phase:
1
Possible Locations: Central Wharf
Description:
Canal Side's waterfront setting provides an excellent site for a communal green
with an open air performance stage. The green represents an immediate
opportunity to revitalize the Buffalo waterfront, and to reconnect Buffalonians to
the water. A free-span tent structure can provide summer shade and serve as a
heated winter enclosure that also gives Canal Side a signature identity on the
waterfront. There is space for nearby amenities such as food concessions, vendors
and exhibit booths as well as parking, restrooms and showers, and storage for
barriers, stages, weather shelters, tents and removable winter wind breaks.
The Canal Side Green could build upon the demonstrated success of the many
festivals (over 150 annually) for which Buffalo is already known - some could make
their home at this new central location. During the winter season, the green
becomes into a Winter White Park — a wonderland of colorfully lit ice sculptures
and whimsical snowmen, snowwomen, snowchildren and snowpets, with its own
Winterfest. Action Zones give visitors access to ice hockey and figure skating clinics
and competitions, sledding slopes, snow surfing, and ice skating. Activities and
programs could include outdoor concerts, a 4-season program of fairs and ethnic
festivals, picnics, food and craft vendors, tethered balloon rides, a skateboarding
zone, and mazes.
Related Weblinks:
Summerfest (Milwaukee, WI)
http://www.summerfest.com/
Bryant Park (New York, NY)
http://www.bryantpark.org/
American Legion Mall (Indianapolis, IN)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_World_War_Memorial_Pl
aza
The High Line (New York, NY)
http://www.thehighline.org/
Navy Pier (Chicago, IL)
http://www.navypier.com/
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
4. The Story of Buffalo: A Preliminary Canal Side Visitor Experience
Stage 1 Report
4.3.2 For Phase Two or Three
4.3.2.1 Buffalo Story Center & Gateway
Buffalo Story Theme and Take Away Message:
Experience the Buffalo story — past, present & future.
The place to go to experience the Buffalo story and to learn about
Buffalo and area attractions.
Implementation Phase:
2
Possible Locations: Heritage Block, Central Canal, Waterfront
Description:
This is the place to begin your journey! The Buffalo Story Center serves as a
gateway to the rich and varied offerings in and around Buffalo. Inside the Story
Center, a multi-media cyclorama 3D time machine immerses you in the "Buffalo
Story." Visitors take their seats to watch a 15-minute event that captures the city's
dynamic history and envisions its future — looking forward to 2032 -- the 200th
anniversary of the founding of Buffalo. Visitors find that there is much more to
Buffalo than the Erie Canal - there are people stories of perseverance and industry,
tales of Seneca and Tuscarora, stories of the movement of goods and people from
the first settlers to immigrants who helped dig the canal to the Underground
Railroad. Live storytelling, light-hearted and humorous narration, audience
participation, theatrical lighting, special effects, authentic artifacts, and spotlit 3D
objects further enhance this signature experience.
Outside the cyclorama, guides drawn from the Canal Side Players group offer
suggestions on routes and what to visit, and assist people with buying site tickets
and creating personalized triptiks.
Related Weblinks:
Lights of Liberty Visitors Center (Philadelphia, PA)
http://historicphiladelphia.org/day/liberty_360/
"Golden Days" object theater, Museum of New Zealand Te
Papa (Wellington, New Zealand)
http://synthetic.co.nz/PTFOLIO/TEPAPA.HTM
Gettysburg Cyclorama (Gettysburg, PA)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/video/2008/09/19/VI2008091902738.html
This Place Matters (video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT11IdWPvfc
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
4. The Story of Buffalo: A Preliminary Canal Side Visitor Experience
Stage 1 Report
4.3.2.2 The Miniature Buffalo Model
Buffalo Story Theme and Take Away Message:
A step back in time — miniature Buffalo
A sneak peek into Buffalo’s past .
Implementation Phase:
2 or 3
Possible Locations: Outdoor park adjacent to Story Center & Gateway, DL&W
Description:
The Story of Buffalo is presented through the magic of scale and special effects in
an exquisitely detailed set of models. These amazing miniatures are perfect
storytelling vehicles that can deliver multiple layers of information, and deliver an
immersive and emotional visitor experience that is impactful and memorable. The
model can also be used to give a variety of themed tours for audiences that range
from school groups to civic leaders to foreign visitors.
As visitors walk through a series of paths, they are surrounded by the city's sights
and sounds and witness the city's unfolding history: before the arrival of European
explorers, the purchase of the land from the Seneca, the 1848 convention of the
Liberty Party and Free-Soilers, in the 1850s as the country's second-largest railroad
center — including the DL&W, as the saloon capital of the world in the 1870s,
during the 1901 Pan-Am Exposition, and at the Michigan Street Baptist Church in
1905 where the founding of the Niagara Movement forged the way for the NAACP.
In this dollhouse-like vision of the city, visitors can watch the bustling street scene
of the City of Lights. They can see tiny people going about their daily lives as they
peek into houses and saloons, watch passengers board a steamship headed across
to Chicago, and workers load a railcar with grain. Famous buildings and
skyscrapers are recreated in extraordinary detail allowing visitors an up close look
at some of Buffalo’s celebrated architecture - including buildings no longer
standing like Frank Lloyd Wright's Larkin Soap Company Administration Building..
Elements of this miniature city could be cast in bronze and distributed throughout
the site as part of storytelling stations.
The Buffalo Model could be adjacent to the Buffalo Story and Gateway or a separate
attraction.
Related Weblinks:
Madurodam (The Hague, Holland)
http://Madurodam.nl
Miniatur Wunderland (Hamburg, Germany)
http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
4. The Story of Buffalo: A Preliminary Canal Side Visitor Experience
Stage 1 Report
4.3.2.3 Pride of Buffalo Legends Center
Buffalo Story Theme and Take Away Message:
Buffalo is home to legends.
We love and honor our local legends.
Implementation Phase:
2 or 3
Possible Locations: Commercial block near the Canal Square, DL&W Building, or
other site nearby
Description:
The Legends Center features a legends experience as part of a commercial sports
bar. Adjacent production studio, performance stage, and studios host live
performances, interviews, and master classes.
The Queen City's sports, media, and entertainment legends will be showcased and
honored here, in a presentation combining media and artifacts. Visitors will see
and hear from the local greats: Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doody, Harold Arlen,
Lucille Ball, Ron Jaworski, Don Criqui, Bob Lanier, Steve Messler, Jack Kemp, Pop
Warner, Doug Flutie, Rick James, Grover Washington Jr., Spiro Gyra, Ani Difranco
and the Goo Goo Dolls.
Visitors might see a live post-game interview in the studio, watch the Bills game at the
bar, or grab dinner before a Sabres game. The performance stage can host comedians,
stand-up contests, bands, and unplugged music performances, perhaps in
collaboration with a broadcasting and entertainment mentoring collaborative working
with local youth to develop Buffalo’s next generation of creative talent.
Retail and restaurant offerings nearby might include a vintage record shop selling vinyl records,
a Lucky Strike bowling lane, a Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, a Legends Dinner Club, and a Buffalo Shirt
Factory shop where visitors can buy vintage caps and t-shirts.
Related Weblinks:
World Café
http://www.theworldcafe.com/
House of Blues
http://www.houseofblues.com/
Country Music Hall of Fame
http://countrymusichalloffame.org
Hockey Hall of Fame
http://www.hhof.com/
New Buffalo Shirt Factory
http://www.newbuffaloshirt.com/
New Era Caps
http://www.neweracap.com/en_US/Default.aspx
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
4. The Story of Buffalo: A Preliminary Canal Side Visitor Experience
Stage 1 Report
4.3.2.4 Canal Side Village as “Storefront Co-Lab”
Buffalo Story Theme and Take Away Message:
factor"
Canal Side's collaborative live, work, play space with "cool
Canal Side is about community and neighborhood .
Implementation Phase:
2
Possible Locations: Heritage Block
Description:
A subsidized collaborative live work and play development partners business, the
arts and academics. These stakeholders come together in a project that draws on
the best practices in urban planning. Multilevel catwalks and overlooks connect
this innovative mixed-use residential, office, and retail space to create a centrallylocated vibrant community hub. Included are rotating spaces for local/regional
institutions, galleries, and installations, loft spaces, and small-scale retail such as a
newsstand, deli, pharmacy, vintage clothing shop, bakery and coffee house, and
pub. In collaboration with the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, a satellite
"library of the future" hosts readings, "webinars" and discussions. The location in
the Canal Heritage Block offers opportunities to interpret the Erie Canal through
photos, maps and artifacts further enhancing the character and authenticity of the
Heritage Block.
Related Weblinks:
Quartier21, Museumsquartier (Vienna, Austria)
http://quartier21.mqw.at/structure/
Dave Eggers’ Storefronts/Tutoring Labs
http://www.826Valencia.org/store/
http://superherosupplies.org
http://www.826Valencia.org/
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3180310969504215
062&hl=en
801 Washington Lofts (Minneapolis, MN)
http://www.801washingtonlofts.org/
The Pearl District (Portland, OR)
http://www.explorethepearl.com/
http://www.buffalorising.com/2010/11/road-trip-portlandspearl-district.html
Subsidized mix-use residential (New Haven, CT)
http://www.cityofnewhaven.com/economicdevelopment/Read
More.asp?ID={63627BD7-E681-44C6-9EB9-F0DA3ADE1394}
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
4. The Story of Buffalo: A Preliminary Canal Side Visitor Experience
Stage 1 Report
4.3.2.5 Canal Side Water Wonders Park
Buffalo Story Theme and Take Away Message:
Buffalo's history is all about water.
Buffalo has a great, new 4-season family destination .
Implementation Phase:
developer
2 or 3 as preferred by private sector water park
Possible Locations: Central Canal / Aud Block, Outer Harbor
Description:
The Water Wonders Park, a four-season indoor waterfront attraction, should draw
large numbers of people to Canal Side. Inspired by Frederick Law Olmsted's plan
for a grand recreational water park in Buffalo, the Water Wonders Park features
water in all its forms: steam, liquid, ice, snow, and draws on themes related to
Buffalo's water story. Visitors will be able to play at the family-fun splash park with
Buffalo-themed rides like the Cheerios Canal Ride, the Spiral Silo Slide and Lake
Effect Blast Chamber. Perhaps Water Wonders could be connected to a waterthemed boutique hotel and spa with water views and pool terraces that overlook
the waterfront.
Related Weblinks:
Wet Design
http://www.wetdesign.com/
Spa Castle (Flushing, NY)
http://nyspacastle.com/eng/pocono/pocono01.php
Great Wolf Lodge
http://www.greatwolf.com/
Seagaia Ocean Dome (Miyazai, Japan)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seagaia_Ocean_Dome
Uminonakamichi Seaside Park (Fukuoka, Japan)
http://www.uminaka.go.jp/foreign/pguide_e2.html
Nagashima Spaland Jumbo Pool (Kuwana, Japan)
http://gojapan.about.com/od/attractioninchuburegion/p/Nagashima_
Resort_Guide.htm
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
4. The Story of Buffalo: A Preliminary Canal Side Visitor Experience
Stage 1 Report
4.3.2.6 Maritime Ecology Center
Buffalo Story Theme and Take Away:
Buffalo's ecology is diverse, and its weather unpredictably
awesome!
Buffalo is going clean and green.
Implementation Phase:
2 or 3
Possible Locations: near the Prime Slip / Central Wharf or in DL &W building
Description:
The importance of healthy waterways to the future of Buffalo is critical. The
Ecology Center, a companion to the Erie Canal Heritage Center, discussed below, is
a resource center, demonstration lab, and regional forum for energy, ecology,
sustainability and aquatic research. The Center will explore Buffalo's dynamic
climate and the impact of the lake and rivers on the region's weather while
introducing visitors to new advanced technologies and alternative energy sources
of the future---featuring geothermal, solar and wind projects throughout the
Buffalo-Niagara region.
The Ecology Center will bring together residents, local nonprofits, advocacy and
outreach groups, green technologies, scientists and researchers to perform
research, educate the community, and envision a sustainable future for Buffalo.
Residents will find green tips and products, and discover what's new in eco-friendly
goods — helping people be greener consumers, gardeners, and commuters. Indoor
and outdoor classroom and demonstration spaces will be available for center
activities and community use. With direct access to the water, Visitors can sign up
for a variety of programs aboard the "Spirit of Buffalo" schooner--a floating ecology
lab, tour boat, and sailing vessel. A popular destination for local and regional school
groups, an "ecological journeys" program might explore the local watersheds, rivers
and lake systems of Buffalo and Lake Erie.
The center could include a weather experience envisioned as a popular attraction
that could include an immersive 4D Storm Theater--a simulation experience
chamber where visitors see, hear and feel the thrills and chills of Buffalo's extreme
weather phenomena across all 4 seasons. A sudden temperature drop is followed
by ice cold blasts of wind to your face, as "snow lighting" flashes across the
simulation chamber. Overhead screens play historical footage of the great storms
in Buffalo's past. Meteorologists explain weather maps that show the Doppler
effect and the projected path of each storm front as move across the lake and into
Buffalo. Nearby, the "Be a Weathercaster" station, invites visitors to audition as
weather forecasters; hands-on exhibits allow visitors to see how a weather station
and how it works--as they learn about computer mapping and how the city
prepares itself for storms. Visitors will learn that the National Weather Service was
founded here in Buffalo--and see the part the weather has played in the Buffalo
Story - past present and future.
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
4. The Story of Buffalo: A Preliminary Canal Side Visitor Experience
Stage 1 Report
The solar carousel, built in nearby Tonawanda and looking for a permanent site
could be a welcome addition, attracting families with young children to Canal Side
and generating revenue for the Ecology Center.
Related Weblinks:
Great Lakes Science Center (Cleveland, OH)
http://www.glsc.org/
Spirit of Buffalo
http://www.spiritofbuffalo.com
Stockholm Water Festival
http://www.laserfx.com/Backstage.LaserFX.com/WaterFestiva
l-SR/SWFintro.html
4.3.2.7 Erie Canal Heritage Center
Buffalo Story Theme:
The character of Buffalo is rooted in its maritime past.
The building of America flows through the Erie Canal.
Our ancestral roots are connected to the waterfront .
Implementation Phase:
Phase 3)
2 and 3 (Archaeological Dig in Phase 2 and facility in
Possible Locations: Prime Slip, Central Wharf or D L & W Building
Description:
The Center recognizes the historic role of Buffalo's waterfront as the Western
Terminus of the Erie Canal--the site of the largest wave of immigration to the West
in the 1830s. The story will be told---and preserved -- with an archaeological dig
that will become the anchor and focal point for an "archaeological district" as part
of the Canal Side experience. Visitors and the press will be able to follow the
ongoing archaeological work, perhaps at as many as 97 separate sites, a
remarkable detective story on what has been called "one of America's 10 most
important historical sites.
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
4. The Story of Buffalo: A Preliminary Canal Side Visitor Experience
Stage 1 Report
Inside the subsequent Heritage Center, a soundtrack plays the inspirational songs
written and sung by those who built and worked on the steamships, docks, canal,
and grain elevators. The hub includes a variety of engaging activities including an
immigrant wall of honor, "tell your story" stations, a genealogy center with
searchable databases, a family scrapbook studio, and a iconic sculpture that
becomes a the perfect spot for storytelling. Other activities might include, a handson "Archaeo Dig" for the little ones, and 19th-Century "Dockworker
Bootcamp" program for teens. The Center will display a variety of boats suspended
overhead and become the local meeting place and hands-on workshop for boat
building-- and a home to the boating community. Visitors will be able to get out on
the water in duck boats, sloops, schooners, canal packet boats, and high tech water
taxis. The Story of Buffalo continues outdoors at interpretive installations that
explain the significance of the monuments that are in view along promenade wharf.
4.3.2.8 Innovation Heritage Center
Buffalo Story Theme and Take Away Message:
Buffalo's story is America's story.
Buffalo is an important part of the industrial revolution, and is
home to innovation.
Implementation Phase:
3
Possible Locations: DL&W Building
Description:
The story of Buffalo is very much the story of American ingenuity and innovation.
The Innovation Heritage Center celebrates the Industrial Revolution as it played
out in Buffalo, using real, large-scale objects. The enormous scale of machines and
machinery create an awe-inspiring experience. The center echoes with bursts of
steam from steam engines, and the pulsing throb of pistons and hydraulics. An
introductory media experience presents Buffalo as a hub of innovation that was a
catalyst for numerous technical advances throughout America — from its steel
mills that produced parts for the early automotive industry in Buffalo and Detroit,
to Buffalo's grain industry feeding the nation, Tesla and Edison and the lighting up
of the world's first electric city, to the home for the nation’s air craft
manufacturing, to Buffalo as a critical transportation center for railway and
distribution (like Wells Fargo and American Express). Environmental video
projections combined with real artifacts — from steam engines and wind turbines,
suspended jet fighter planes to full-size train cars, steamship hulls, and Model T
automobiles — amaze visitors with their scale and precision. A children's area
features a hop-on-hop-off Thomas-the-Train ride, while an artisan gift shop and a
Train Car Café round out the experience.
The Innovation Center will also looks to the future, the pace of change and its
impact on Buffalo. An energy Expo gives special focus to the "green revolution"
with a spotlight on alternative and renewable energy and regional companies that
are looking to form new energy technology enterprises.
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
4. The Story of Buffalo: A Preliminary Canal Side Visitor Experience
Stage 1 Report
Related Weblinks:
Image Mill (Toronto-projects history on a grain elevator)
http://lacaserne.net/index2.php/other_projects/the_image_mi
ll/
London Transport Museum (London, UK)
http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/
Corning Museum (glass-blowing demo)
http://www.cmog.org/glasslab/index.aspx?id=10983
http://www.cmog.org/dynamic.aspx?id=150
Modern History (UK)
http://www.modernhistory.co.uk/
Rivers of Steel National Heritage Site (Homestead, PA)
http://www.riversofsteel.com/
4.3.2.9 DIY (Do It Yourself) Garage
Buffalo Story Theme and Take Away Message:
Buffalo's is home to some of the great first ideas.
Buffalo is a get up and do it yourself town.
Implementation Phase:
3
Possible Locations: DL&W Building, perhaps adjacent to/part of the Innovation
Heritage Center
Description:
Part workshop, part test-bed, part garage, and also a start-up where businesses can
prototype, the DIY Garage takes Buffalo's grass roots ingenuity to center stage,
while fostering enterprise and entrepreneurship.
Linking to a youthful national movement that's all about thrift, craft, and sharing
tips and tricks, the DIY Garage brings together bright ideas, and information and
markets made accessible by social media. At the DIY Garage, artists, hobbyists,
tinkerers, amateur engineers, and designers can gather to problem-solve,
strategize, experiment, and mentor each other. An incubator of ideas, the Garage
hums with hands-on activity and creativity. In booths surrounding the open
workspace, pet projects are underway and on-view. The task at hand might be how
to weld a light sculpture, new product development, or thinking about the future of
Buffalo's central library. Visitors can join the debate, and see what inventions are in
the pipeline.
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
4. The Story of Buffalo: A Preliminary Canal Side Visitor Experience
Stage 1 Report
Related Weblinks:
Makezine.com
http://makezine.com/
Makefaire
http://makefaire.com/
Lemelson Foundation
http://www.lemelson.org/
Civic Innovation Lab (Cleveland, OH)
http://www.civicinnovationlab.org/
IBM Sustainable Cities
http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/sustainable_cities/i
deas/
IBM Smarter Cities
http://smartercities.tumblr.com/
4.3.2.10 Miscellaneous Idea Bank
Other ideas include:
•
Public Art Program & Competition — Buffalo story installation art throughout
Canal Side
•
Community Mural Program
•
Mini Golf / Play your way through Buffalo icons
•
Children's Museum — "Buffalo is a city of families" — an opportunity for young
families (20s-30s) to live, work and play at Canal Side (ie. City Museum in St.
Louis)
•
“The Silo” Buffalo Canyon Nightclub & Microbrewery — in a grain silo, with
terrace overlooking the water, and accessible by water taxi
•
Souvenir Keepsake Coins — visitors are given coins they can collect, trade and
use for admission to special events throughout the year
•
Dog Barking Lot — Buffalo’s own Milkbone ™ themed community dog park
features sculptures, green space, Buffalo dog history panels, pet fashion shows,
dog food recipes, playful humor
•
Buffalo Illuminations Art Installation: “Light up the Night” — Light show uses
Buffalo skyline/Skyway/grain elevators as canvas, “City of Lights”, tours,
international luminaire annual competition event
•
Summer Skate Park / Winter Snowboard Park
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Stage 1 Report
BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
4. The Story of Buffalo: A Preliminary Canal Side Visitor Experience
4.4 Experiential Diagram
Ralph Appelbaum Associates will include an experiential diagram as part of our
meeting with the group during the afternoon of December 9. The diagram will
show where the opportunities might be at Canal Side, what part of the Buffalo
Story we are presenting, and the specific experiential techniques we propose to
use. We will also highlight some ideas that can be implemented in the summer of
2011.
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
5. Next Steps
Stage 1 Report
5. Next Steps
This is the Stage 1 report in a three-stage, six month planning process leading to a
Cultural Master Plan for Canal Side. The next steps of the planning process are as
follows:
•
Representatives of ECHDC and the Cultural Steering Committee will review
this Stage 1 report in advance of a meeting to discuss it scheduled for 2 - 5 p.m.
on December 9, 2010. If possible it would be useful to receive corrections of
fact, identification of any typos and other such items in writing in advance of
that meeting so that it may focus on substantive issues and ideas.
•
As part of the meeting on December 9 it will be important to discuss the
content of a letter to be sent by ECHDC to cultural organizations that have
expressed interest in being part of the Canal Side project in any of its three
phases of its development. A draft of the letter and two questionnaires is set
out in Appendix C of this report. In our proposal to conduct this study we
suggested that interested organizations prepare a written submission of up to
five pages. This would include their mission/objectives, history as an
organization, governance/membership, activities, finances and other indicators
of their current status. The response should indicate why they would like to be
part of Canal Side, any partnerships or possible collaborating organizations,
their space, financial and other needs and requirements and whether they see
a role in Phase 1, 2 or 3 of the project. Should capital funds be required to
realize their project, also required would be a statement of their approach and
capabilities to raise such funds. As also indicated in our proposal, the letter of
invitation sent to the cultural organizations from ECHDC should provide
parameters associated with capital and operating funds that may be available
to cultural organizations. This will help to avoid unrealistic expectations
associated with funding availability and thereby limit the responses and
subsequent need for interviews to those organizations that are genuinely
interested in the site and most likely to help meet the objectives for Canal Side
established by the community and ECHDC.
•
Letters to prospective parties interested in Canal Side will be sent out by
ECHDC by December 15, 2010, inviting written submissions by January 5,
2011. The ECHDC will then select about 20 organizations to each meet
separately with the consultants over a 3 – 4 day period during the week of
January 17, 2011. These will largely be organizations that have facility needs.
As part of this trip the consultants will also wish to meet with representatives
of selected main existing cultural organizations in Buffalo to discuss
opportunities for collaboration and other key issues.
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Stage 1 Report
BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
5. Next Steps
Following these January meetings the consultants will prepare Development Plans
for each of Phase 1, 2 and 3 of project to lead to a Stage 2 report. The Development
Plans will include an analysis of and recommendations for the most appropriate
cultural partners, and their role in telling the Buffalo Story and attracting
audiences to Canal Side. The Stage 2 report will also include evaluation of specific
sites within Canal Side for recommended cultural partners and a functional space
program for each, along with more detailed plans for the visitor experience. And it
will include operational and marketing recommendations. The Stage 2 report will
also identify cultural partners that are not recommended for Phase 1 or 2 of Canal
Side development but that might be located nearby, for example in the DL&W
building, in a longer term Phase 3 development. Stage 3 of this study will be based
on finalized plans/assumptions and include capital cost estimates and attendance,
operating revenue and expense projections for the Story of Buffalo cultural anchor
facility.
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
Appendix A: Acknowledgments
Stage 1 Report
Appendix A.
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the assistance and advice provided by those who
took part in the Visioning/Assumptions Workshop, individual or group
interviews/workshops to date. Special thanks to Steve Ranalli and Kaitlin McGee for
scheduling the interviews and assisting the consultants throughout the study
process.
Visioning Workshop
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cindy Abbott Letro, Chair, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, and member of the
Cultural Steering Committee
Melissa Brown, Director, Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, and
member of the Cultural Steering Committee
Edward Bickford, member, Cultural Steering Committee
David Colligan, Board Member, Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation
Thomas Dee, President, ECHDC
Peter Dow, First Hand Learning, and chair of the Cultural Steering Committee
Donna Fernandes, President, Buffalo Zoo and member of the Cultural Steering
Committee
Paul Hogan, Oishi Foundation
Maureen Hurley, Rich Products and Board Member, Erie Canal Harbor
Development Corporation
David Johnson, Hadley Exhibits, and member of the Cultural Steering
Committee
Barbara Leggett, Director, Explore and More, and member of the Cultural
Steering Committee
Jordan Levy, Chair, ECHDC
Thomas Mooney, Fourth Idea
John Montague, Director, Buffalo Maritime Center, and member of the Cultural
Steering Committee
Mark Mortenson, President Buffalo Museum of Science, and member of the
Cultural Steering Committee
Steve Ranalli, Project Manager, ECHDC
Catherine Schweitzer, Director, Baird Foundation, Chair, Preservation Buffalo
Niagara and member of the Cultural Steering Committee
Eric Weyent, Communications Director, ECHDC
Story of Buffalo Workshop
•
•
Richard Berjensky, Campaign for Greater Buffalo
Ted Bickford
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Development and Business Plan
Phase 1 Report
•
•
•
•
•
•
ART GALLERY OF SUDBURY
Appendix A. Acknowledgements
Melissa Brown, BECHS
Peter Dow, First Hand Learning
Maureen Hurley, Rich Products
Dave Johnson, Hadley Exhibits
Sally Johnson, Hadley Exhibits
John Montague, Buffalo Maritime Center
Preservationists Workshop
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Tim Tielman, Campaign for Greater Buffalo
Joe Kunkemueller, PBN
Doug Swift, PBN
David DuBois
Catherine Schweitzer, Baird Foundation Preservation Buffalo Niagara
Andrea Rebeck
Richard Berger, PBN
Historians Workshop
•
•
•
•
•
•
Angelo Coniglio, Organization
Dennis Galucki, Center for the Study of Art, Architecture, History & Nature
Duncan Hay, Eriecanalway, NPS
Joseph Kocsis, WNY Railway Historical Society
Franklin Lavoie
Edward Patton, WNY Railway Historical Society
Terry Sprague
Environmental Workshop
•
•
•
Dennis Galucki, Center for the Study of Art, Architecture, History & Nature
Duncan Hay, Erie Canalway, National Park Service
Jessie Fisher, Buffalo Niagara River Keeper
Energy/Weather Workshop
•
•
•
•
•
•
Dave Bradley, Lake Effect Energy Buffalo Wind Action Group
Elizabeth Nichols, Arch/WNYSEA
Tom Niziol, National Weather Service
Andy Parker, WGRZ-TV Ch.2
Sarah Sutcliff, WNYSEA
Marty Walters, NRG Insulated Block
Neighbourhood Association Workshop
•
•
•
Anne Martin, Breakwaters
Joe Mascia, Marine Drive resident
Lori Mascia, Marine Drive resident
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BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
Appendix A: Acknowledgments
Stage 1 Report
Regional Advocates Workshop
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•
•
•
•
•
•
Tucker Curtain, Curtain Restaurant Group
Mark Goldman, Goldman Properties
Duncan Hay, Erie Canalway, National Park Service
Newell Nussbaumer, Citizens for Common Sense
John Nussbaumer, Buffalo Rising
Margaret “Peg” Overdorf, Valley Community Association
Bob Shibley, University of Buffalo
Theatre/Children/Municipal Workshop
•
•
•
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Cynnie Gaash, Young Audiences Western NY
Daryl Rasuli, Collective Buffalo
Talia Silvieri, Arts Management Program, U. Buffalo
Sarah Sutcliff, WNYSEA
Sports and Entertainment Workshop
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Don Angelo, Buffalo Broadcasters
Nick Amigone, Counsel to Fandemonium
Peggy Beardsley, Buffalo Place Inc.
Martin Biniasz, Dyngus Day Festival
Anthony Casuccio, Buffalo Cultural Coalition
Eddy Dobosiewicz, Forgotten Buffalo
Herb Flemming, Buffalo Broadcast Association
Chuck Frawley, Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame
Dave Gillen, Buffalo Cultural Coalition
Tod Kniazuk, Music is Art Festival
Dolores Leon, Allentown Village Society
Dennis Lynch, Gr. Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame
Rick Mathews, Buffalo Cultural Coalition
Greg Merkle, Buffalo Cultural Coalition
Mary Mysykieisecy, Allentown Village Society
Talia Silvern, Torn Space Theatre
Kevin Townsell, Buffalo Irish Festival
Greg Tranter, Fandemonium
Michael Weekes, Fandemonium
Education Workshop
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Keith Burich, Canisius Collage
Peter Dow, Chair, Cultural Steering Committee
Jane Gilbride, Earth Science High School Teacher
Tony Greco, Education Coordinator, Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society
David Hartney, First Hand Learning
Doug Kohler, Erie County Historian
Kate Mini, Executive Director, Buffalo Urban Outdoor Education Foundation
Katie Oman, Not-for-Profit Planning Consultant
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ART GALLERY OF SUDBURY
Appendix A. Acknowledgements
Other Interviews
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Peggy Beardsley, Associate Director, Buffalo Place
Michelle Brozeknoll, Senior Planner, Historic Preservation, City of Buffalo
Peter Cammarata, President, Buffalo Urban Development Corporation
John Cappellino, Director of Business Development, Erie County Industrial
Development
Paul Dyster,Mayor, City of Niagara Falls, NY
Anna Entress, Senior Policy Associate, University of Buffalo Regional Institute
John Fell, Senior Downtown Planner, City of Buffalo
Matt Hartrich, Business Development Officer, Buffalo Niagara Partnership
Edward Healey, Vice President of Marketing, Buffalo Niagara Convention and
Visitors Bureau
Chenchen Huang, Assistant Professor, Hospitality and Tourism Department,
Buffalo State University of New York
Laura Quebral Fulton, Senior Policy Associate, University of Buffalo Regional
Institute
Mickey Kearns, Common Council Member, South District
Darren Kempner, Deputy Commissioner, County of Erie Department of
Environment and Planning
Bonnie Lockwood, Director of Communications for Congressman Brian Higgins
Florine Luhr, Executive Director, Advancing Arts and Culture, Buffalo State
College
Brendan Mehaffy, Executive Director, Office of Strategic Planning, City of
Buffalo
Christopher Pawenhski, CDoordinator, Industrial Assistance Program, County
of Erie Department of Environment and Planning
Valerian Ruminski, Artistic Director, Nickel City Opera
Chris Schoepflin, President, USA Niagara
Michael Schmand, Executive Director, Buffalo Place
Mark Schroeder, New York State Assemblyman
Demone Smith, Buffalo Common Council Member, Western District
Maryann K. Stein, Director, International Trade and Programs, Erie County
Industrial Development
Brenda Stynes, Policy Associate, University of Buffalo Regional Institute
Laura St. Pierre-Smith, Vice President, Buffalo Niagara Partnership
Ken Swanekamp, Director of Business Assistance, Erie County Industrial
Development
Rachael Teaman, Director of Regional Initiatives, University of Buffalo Regional
Institute
Richard Wall, Senior Legislative Assistant to Council
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Appendix A: Acknowledgments
Stage 1 Report
Core Consultant Team:
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Joy Bailey, Senior Consultant, Lord Cultural Resources
Dennis Cohen, Senior Designer, Ralph Appelbaum Associates
Robert Coles, Principal, Robert Coles Architects
Chris Lorway, Associate, Lord Cultural Resources
Ted Pietrzak, Associate, Lord Cultural Resources
Ted Silberberg, Senior Principal, Lord Cultural Resources (study leader)
Miranda Smith, Content Specialist, Ralph Appelbaum Associates
Advisory/Research Consultant Team:
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Ralph Appelbaum, President, Ralph Appelbaum Associates
Barry Lord, President, Lord Cultural Resources
Lief Pagalan, Researcher, Lord Cultural Resources
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Appendix B: Cultural Steering Committee Initial Thoughts on the Story of Buffalo
Appendix B: Cultural Steering Committee
Initial Thoughts on the Story of Buffalo
A Cultural Steering Committee led by Peter Dow was formed to provide initial
thoughts regarding the content of the Story of Buffalo. Other members of the
Cultural Steering Committee are listed as part of the Acknowledgments in
Appendix A.
Two memos are copied below. The first, in Section B.1, sets out a potential
conceptual framework for Telling Buffalo’s Story associated with cultural history,
natural history and technology and innovation. A request by the consultants for
the Committee to identify iconic events and people specific to Buffalo and Western
New York that would be as unique as possible relative led to the second memo in
section B.2 below. These suggestions helped to inform the Preliminary Concept
associated with the Story of Buffalo set out in Chapter 4 of this report.
B.1: Telling Buffalo’s Story: Exploring our Heritage on the
Waterfront (August 29, 2010)
The Conceptual Framework. Where did Buffalo
come from, where are we, and where are we going?
The story of Buffalo and the Niagara Frontier -Natural
Cultural
past, present, and future -- derives from its
History
History
relationship to water. The Devonian Sea, the Ice
Age, Niagara Falls, the Erie Canal, the Buffalo
River, and Lake Erie have all shaped the history of
Technology
the region, and the growing world’s demand for
&
fresh water will inevitably inflluence the region’s
Innovation
destiny. We propose to examine the story of Buffalo
by exploring and weaving together three threads:
the natural world, the cultural world, and the world
of technology and innovation. By examining these interacting domains we will
help people understand not only the conditions that created Buffalo, but also the
underlying forces that have shaped and reshaped our country. In this way Buffalo’s
story can be a metaphor for understanding the wider world, and knowing our past
can become a catalyst for building a better future.
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Appendix B: Cultural Steering Committee Initial Thoughts on the Story of Buffalo
Story Number One: The Natural World. How did western New York evolve? The
story begins three hundred and fifty million years ago, when this region was a
tropical sea. How can that be? Because our place on the globe, due to continental
drift, was not always located where it is today. A visit to the Penn Dixie Quarry, or
the banks of Eighteen Mile Creek, reveals the fossil remains of ancient organisms –
trilobites, eurypterids, brachiopods and the like - that once lived in a warm saltwater habitat. Drawing on the rich resources of the Museum of Science we will
engage the public in a dramatic presentation that will bring the distant past vividly
to life. Visitors will learn how the Niagara Frontier evolved through succeeding
prehistoric eras culminating in the Ice Age that created the Great Lakes and
Niagara Falls. They will examine the recently uncovered evidence of mastodons
and other prehistoric animals at the Byron site near Batavia, and learn about the
mammalian population of the era: giant beavers, saber-tooth cats, and woolly
mammoths. Visitors will be encouraged to ask questions. What caused the Ice Age?
Why are there no more mastodons, giant beavers, or ground sloths today? What
were fish and insects like during this period and how have they changed? What are
the threats to our present marine organisms from introduced species such as the
Zebra Mussel, the Sea Lamprey, and the giant Asian Silver Carp? We will also
explore causes of lake effect snow, global warming, and forces that bring about
continuous environmental change.
Story Number Two: People and Culture. Who came here first and what attracted
them to this area? Following the migration across the Bering Strait and the
dispersal of native people throughout North America, what drew them to the Great
Lakes? Most of our inland bodies of water in the Northeast have Native American
names. What was the importance of water to these indigenous people, and how did
they use it to survive? What was their relationship to water and other features of
the natural environment? How did they use tools, and how did tool use relate to
food production, shelter, clothing, child rearing, social behavior, beliefs, and other
elements of their culture? What did they believe about their origins, their
relationship to other creatures, and to the supernatural? The study of Native
American culture will give visitors an opportunity to explore the common
humanity that all human beings share by examining a way of life, and a
relationship to the natural world, that is very different from our own. How did their
encounter with European settlers impact their way of life and vice versa? Finally,
what lessons does this examination of traditional Native American culture have for
us today? The story will draw upon the extensive collections and intellectual
resources of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, The Buffalo & Erie County
Historical Society, and the Native American Community.
Story Number Three: The Industrial Revolution. Who built Buffalo? This story
begins with the digging of the Erie Canal. Why was the canal built, who built it,
what did it take to make it happen, and how did the canal spur the growth of
Buffalo? Central to this story is Buffalo’s strategic location on the Great Lakes as a
link between the natural resources and agricultural lands of the west and the
markets of the east. The canal reduced the shipping cost of a bushel of gain tenfold
and made Buffalo, as the offloading point between lake and canal transport, a
natural place for industrial development. Beginning with Buffalo’s rich maritime
history and the use of sailing vessels, we will explore the impact of cheap transport
and the advent of steam power on the growth of commerce, industry, and the
nature of work. Through interactive exhibits we will invite visitors to experience
how the flow of water was used to do work, and how inventors and entrepreneurs
harnessed the power of steam. They will learn how Joseph Dart applied steam
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Appendix B: Cultural Steering Committee Initial Thoughts on the Story of Buffalo
technology to grain storage, and how steam power, in time, revolutionized
manufacturing and the transport of people and goods. A key topic will be how
industrialization fundamentally changed the nature of work due to the impact of
technological development. To dramatize the human story we will provide access
to genealogical records so visitors can learn who came here, why they came, and
the role they played in the building of Buffalo..
An important piece of the migration story is the development of the Underground
Railroad. The route north followed the Hudson River to the Erie Canal and then
westward to Buffalo and across the Niagara River to Canada. How did heroes like
Harriet Tubman, at great personal risk, help others to escape the same way she
had? The role of Buffalonians in sheltering fugitives and assisting their escape is a
proud chapter in the city’s history that ultimately led to the formation of the
NAACP. Following the Civil War, Buffalo’s growing African-American population
played a significant role in the city’s industrial development as freed southern
blacks migrated north in search of work.
In addition to the canal the advent of the railroads and the steamship turned
Buffalo into a major grain and steel town. Steel manufacturing required cheap
movement of large quantities of coal and iron ore, and the city’s development as a
major rail and maritime center made it ideally suited for constructing what
became the largest steel manufacturing facility in the world. We will examine how
grain was processed, how steel was made, and what it was like to work in those
industries. Can we simulate the experience of shoveling grain in the hold of a
freighter or stoking a blast furnace? Can we help visitors learn what it was like to
be a blue-collar worker in Buffalo in the 19th or early 20th Centuries? This will be the
challenge for our exhibit designers.
Strategic location, steam power, inexpensive transport, and ultimately electricity
produced by Niagara Falls, spawned a multitude of local industries. We will
examine how water was used to generate electric power and how cheap electric
power further stimulated economic growth. The history of Buffalo offers a treasure
trove of examples: bicycle and automobile manufacture, the aircraft industry,
chemical production, leather tanning, soap making, you name it. Names like Coit,
Townsend, Laub, Pierce, Albright, Martin, and Curtiss were among the
innumerable inventors and entrepreneurs who took advantage of these resources
and transformed them into useful products, jobs, and wealth. All of this
commercial activity explains how Buffalo became one of the wealthiest cities in the
nation.
The wealth of the region spawned a class of powerful leaders with a new sense of
civic obligation. This cadre of philanthropists founded some of the country’s great
cultural and educational institutions. In 1861 the Buffalo Museum of Science was
formed with its first president, the Honorable George W. Clinton and in 1862
Millard Fillmore founded the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society. Also in
1862 John J. Albright launched the Buffalo Academy of Art later to be known as the
Albright-Knox Art Gallery. The City’s wealth also resulted in the commissioning of
one of the oldest coordinated system of parks and recreational spaces, designed by
Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux between 1868 and 1896. Some of the
finest domestic, commercial, and civic architecture in America also resulted from
this wealth. Frank Lloyd Wright. Louis Sullivan, the Roeblings, H. H. Richardson,
Stanford White, the Saarinens were among the many distinguished architects who
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Appendix B: Cultural Steering Committee Initial Thoughts on the Story of Buffalo
produced some of their finest work here, a reflection of the city’s national
leadership and importance.
The downside of industrialization is also illustrated by Buffalo’s history. Buffalo’s
strategic position, strong industrial base, and unstoppable desire for growth
resulted in environmental and social challenges that should also be examined.
Industrialization and the access to cheap power led to “Love Canal” and the
contaminated brownfields of Lackawanna. The migration of the growing middle
class to new housing in the suburbs resulted in vacating large areas of the city and
a blight of continually deteriorating empty housing stock on the east side. The
migration of heavy industry overseas reduced the work force thus reducing the
size of a city of over 600,000 to under 300,000 in less than fifty years. As with
many major American cities poverty increased and with it came other social
problems. These are all part of Buffalo’s and America’s story.
Examining this story could energize our efforts to tackle challenges. It could
stimulate the creation of a forum for research, dialog and the exchange of ideas,
where our youth and all our citizenry could participate in an exploration that looks
to the past for answers to the future. It could even help to shape the way we
examine and interpret our history in the public schools.
The story of Buffalo’s growth from an outpost in the wilderness to a thriving
industrial metropolis in less than a century is a case study of the forces and
personalities that produced the industrial revolution. It is also the story of the
unforeseen consequences of industrialization. This story has never been properly
told anywhere in the United States, and Buffalo is the logical place to tell it. To do
so we will need to draw upon the extensive resources of the Buffalo and Erie
County Historical Society, the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, and the
many other museums and historical collections that reside in the area making this
a unique collaborative initiative.
Lessons for the Future. Can the study of Buffalo’s past help us think about our
future? Buffalo is at a crossroads. Has the imagination that built Buffalo passed us
by, or will it express itself anew in a way that can reignite the engines of
commerce? What will the thriving metropolis of the future look like? What will be
the nature of work? How can we mobilize our natural and human resources to
invent the next phase of urban development? What can we learn from our history
that will help us to create a better future? If creativity built Buffalo, it can certainly
reinvent Buffalo. Exploring our past to learn what Buffalo can become is the
ultimate mission of this enterprise.
B.2: Iconic Events, Artifacts and People: A Preliminary List
(October 7, 2010)
This is an effort to identify some of the key events, artifacts, and people who
brought about Buffalo’s transformation from a wilderness village to an industrial
metropolis. These “icons” should help the visitor to Canal Side imagine what
happened during earlier periods of our history, and to understand the forces
caused the explosion of inventiveness, technological development, and
industrialization that shaped the development of Buffalo during the 19th and early
20th centuries. The Story of Buffalo is a particularly powerful illustration of the
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Appendix B: Cultural Steering Committee Initial Thoughts on the Story of Buffalo
American capacity for innovation, hard work, and large-scale organization that
characterized the growth of the nation at that time. Examples include:
1. The Building of the Erie Canal. This was the most ambitious earth-moving
and construction project in the world at the time: 363 miles of man-made
waterway dug by Irish and Italian immigrants with hand shovels and
wheelbarrows. Many thought it was impossible with the technology and
workforce available. The story should be told in a way that celebrates the
audacity of the enterprise, the human costs, and the revolutionary
consequences in terms of the movement of people and goods. The canal cut the
cost of shipping a bushel of grain by tenfold. To help visitors imagine what
canal travel was like we should consider building a replica of the Seneca Chief,
the packet boat that DeWitt Clinton used to transport two barrels of water from
Lake Erie to New York harbor.
2. The Creation of Buffalo Harbor. Here also is an example of the conquest of
people over nature: the removal of the sand bar at the mouth of the Buffalo
River that made it impassible for ships and thereby giving Black Rock the edge
over Buffalo in the competition to be the western terminus of the Erie Canal.
This is the story of the leadership of Judge Samuel Wilkinson and his
collaborators, men like Buffalo businessmen George Coit, and how they
succeeded in proving that Buffalo could become a working harbor by dredging
a channel through the bar. The miraculous way they conquered the elements,
including the impact of a devastating storm, is an early example of the
determination and enterprising spirit that built Buffalo.
3. The Western Terminus of the Erie Canal. This is the sacred spot where the
Erie Canal met the Commercial Slip, and where goods traveling on canal boats
were transferred to sailing ships. It is located where the old Memorial
Auditorium used to be, a site that could be easily identified now that the “Aud”
has been removed. The devastating poverty, and the drunken conflicts between
“canalers” and lake sailors that took place in the numerous bars and brothels
that populated this area, are dramatically chronicled in a book by Vogel, Patton,
and Redding entitled America’s Crossroads. These stories illustrate the “dark
side” of canal life and reveal the price that the working class paid for their
employers’ commercial prosperity.
4. The Dart Steam Grain Elevator. We need to engage the visitor to Canal Side in
how steam was harnessed to do work. Inventor Joseph Dart cleverly used the
steam engine to transform the efficiency of grain handling and storage, cutting
a week’s work to a few hours and opening up many possibilities for increased
commerce. Steam was also applied to water transport and eventually to the
development of the railroads. Visitors should see the connections between
water, steam power, and the growth of Buffalo as a commercial and industrial
metropolis. The numerous remaining grain elevators on the Buffalo River
provide silent testimony to the significant role that grain storage and shipment
played in the development of Buffalo as one of the largest grain transshipment
centers in the country.
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Appendix B: Cultural Steering Committee Initial Thoughts on the Story of Buffalo
5. Spaulding’s Exchange and the Central Wharf. The commerce generated by
the Erie Canal made the waterfront adjacent to the Commercial Slip the nexus
of commercial activity in the City. The scale of this activity is revealed in the
large number of businesses, law firms, and regulatory agencies that occupied
this location in the years prior to the advent of the railroads. The nature of this
activity is exemplified by the life of Buffalo’s most prominent banker and civic
leader of the time: Elbridge Gerry Spaulding. An introduction to the life of
Spaulding and the activity of the Central Wharf during this time can be found
in Western New York Heritage Magazine, Volume 5, Number 2, Spring 2002 in
articles by John Conlin and Chase Viele.
6. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. This act, as part of the Compromise of 1850,
declared that all fugitive slaves must be returned to their owners. It spurred
increased traffic on the Underground Railroad as most escaped slaves could
now only find refuge in Canada. The Erie Canal, with its western terminus near
the Canadian border, was an obvious route, so Buffalo became a major
destination. Bridge and boat passage across the Niagara River increased, and
Buffalo, with its Michigan Street Baptist Church, and other hiding places
around the city, featured heavily in the Underground rail traffic. Following the
Civil War, Buffalo’s Black population increased, and toward the end of the
century the NAACP was founded in Buffalo. Perhaps due to its important role
in the Underground Railroad Buffalo has been a pioneer in improving race
relations, and successfully integrating its schools. This history is well
documented in the Center for African American Studies at the Frank E.
Merriweather Library on Jefferson Avenue.
7. The Coming of the Railroads. The railroads killed the Central Wharf and
transformed commercial activity on the waterfront by dispersing it more
widely throughout the city. Water transport was slow and seasonal, shut down
by ice during the winter months. The railroads operated year-around and were
better for moving all but bulk cargo like coal and ore. The story of how the
railroads eventually replaced the canal began with the laying of tracks on the
Central Wharf, and it is perhaps best told through the life of the business
entrepreneur, Jacob Frederick Schoellkopf, who starting with a tannery in
1843, built a commercial empire that included flower milling, brewing,
banking, and ultimately, railroads. He even harnessed the power of the Niagara
River to run his factories. The impact of the railroads on Buffalo, particularly
their very wide dispersion throughout the city, can perhaps best be illustrated
by a model. (See the mural at the Pearl Street Grill.)
8. The Lackawanna Steel Company. Founded by John Joseph Albright this
facility, later Bethlehem Steel, eventually became the largest steel plant in the
world. Albright also helped to develop the Pan American Exposition and power
generation at Niagara Falls. The nature of the steel-making process, the role of
steel-making in the stimulation of continued industrial growth, and the place of
heavy industries in providing thousands of blue-collar jobs needs to be explored
as Buffalo is fundamentally a blue-collar town. The personal histories of those
who worked in these industries (railroads, steel, automobiles, etc.) are a central
part of The Buffalo Story. The Pierce-Arrow Automobile Company, for example,
began as a bicycle manufacturing facility that was located at the present Canal
Side site.
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Appendix B: Cultural Steering Committee Initial Thoughts on the Story of Buffalo
9. Architecture and City Planning. What was the impact of the enormous
wealth generated by industrialization on the development of the city?
Frederick Law Olmsted, Louis Sullivan, and Frank Lloyd Wright are among of
the army of architects and city planners that transformed the design of the city
that began with Joseph Ellicott’s initial street grid of the early 1800s. Except for
the Olmsted Parks -- a tale in themselves -- the centerpiece of this story could be
the role of the Larkin Company, a soap manufacturing and distribution
enterprise that created a marketing revolution. Company President Darwin
Martin employed Frank Lloyd Wright to create an office building numerous
houses for himself and his employees. The firm’s marketing genius was Elbert
Hubbard who ultimately founded the Roycroft Complex in East Aurora.
10. Niagara Falls and the Electrification of Buffalo. Buffalo was the first city in
the country to have electric street lighting. How did this come about? Edison’s
genius was not just the invention of the light bulb. More important, he created
the first industrial research laboratory at Menlo Park, and the first electrical
power generating and delivery system at Pearl Street Station in New York City.
Edison saw the power generating potential of Niagara Falls to illuminate
Buffalo and thereby demonstrate the commercial value of electric power as an
energy source. The continuous generation, distribution, and application of
cheap electric power in Niagara Falls opened a new chapter in the
industrialization of Western New York while also transforming domestic life in
myriad ways.
11. Glen Curtiss and the Aircraft Industry. The story of how this motorcycle
mechanic from Hammondsport, New York invented his own aircraft at the
same time the Wright’s were experimenting at Kill Devil Hills is an important
piece of The Buffalo Story. Curtiss not only developed the aileron, which
became the control system that ultimately won out, but also created the
manufacturing process that resulted in the building of the famous Jenny, an
aircraft widely used in World War I. The Wright’s sued Curtiss for patent
infringement but eventually settled the case by merging, resulting in the
Curtiss-Wright manufacturing company based in Buffalo. It was not just airfoil
design that solved the flight problem. Curtiss and the Wrights also created the
lightweight internal combustion engine and the efficient propeller that made
powered flight possible. This story of experimentation, ingenuity, and
indefatigable problem solving by men with little formal education is a superb
example of the practical genius that the fueled the American technological and
industrial success story.
12. Roswell Park and the Medical Community. No Story of Buffalo would be
complete without celebrating the ground-breaking cancer research of Roswell
Park, who founded the first Cancer Research Center in the country in 1911 -- a
model for cancer study, clinical care, and education both nationally and
internationally. Park was an accomplished musician, author, teacher, poet,
astronomer, and civic leader as well as a surgeon. He was also an expert in the
treatment of bullet wounds and probably could have saved the life of William
McKinley if he had not been operating in Niagara Falls at the time McKinley
was shot at the Pan American Exposition.
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Appendix B: Cultural Steering Committee Initial Thoughts on the Story of Buffalo
The above examples do not address the geological and pre-historic cultural stories of the
Niagara Frontier. These stories should set the stage for the more in depth exploration of
Buffalo’s industrial history. There are many examples of how to illustrate how the Niagara
Frontier was once a tropical sea. (I have seen a clever continental drift exhibit at the
Rochester Museum and Science Center, and a very effective animated film explanation at
the American Museum of Natural History.)
As for the formation of the Great Lakes and Niagara Falls, the former has been well
done in video, and Paul Gromosiak, a Niagara Falls historian, has developed a fine
model that explains the formation of the Falls. As for the Native American story, I
think this should be done in diorama form and guided in its development by local
Native American cultural experts such as Percy Abrams and Neil Patterson, Jr.
Finally, by telling these stories, and engaging the visitor in exploring how
invention, technological development, and industrialization built Buffalo, we would
hope to stimulate some reflection on the development of the country in the current
century. What are the technological, and industrial challenges that we face today,
and how will we meet those challenges? Given our present environmental
concerns, how can we create a sustainable society that continues to provide useful
work for all and new opportunities for invention and creative problem solving?
What would such a society look like, and how do we go about building it? Can
clever exhibit design stimulate curiosity about such matters? These are some of
the questions that a thoughtful exploration of our past would hope to explore.
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Appendix C. Draft Letter from ECHDC to Cultural Organizations
Appendix C: Draft Letter from ECHDC to
Cultural Organizations
The immediate next step in this planning process is for ECHDC to provide a formal
letter to cultural organizations that may have an interest in being part of the Canal
Side project in any of its three phases of development. Below is a draft letter and
associated questionnaire that should be finalized and emailed by about December
15, 2010 to give the organizations ample time to provide responses in early
January. This will allow for the scheduling of interviews with the consultants
among the most appropriate organizations during the week of January 17, 2010.
Based on interviews and workshops conducted in Stage 1 of this study, it appears
clear that many cultural organizations believe that Canal Side is being developed
primarily as a way to create facilities for the cultural groups. They believe that the
primary objective of this planning study is to identify which among the numerous
cultural organizations will receive capital and operational funding support to
substitute for the allocation of $35 million that was to go to Bass Pro Shops. Some
are proposing very large facilities. At this point in the planning process it is
appropriate that cultural organizations be informed of at least the range of funding
and spaces that are to be available. Discussion of these issues will be part of the
agenda to review the Stage 1 report during the afternoon of December 9, 2010.
One of the issues to be discussed at that time is whether the Stage 1 report is to be
forwarded to the cultural organizations. We have recommended that this not take
place since it is preliminary, and that instead the covering letter should offer
enough detail to help the cultural organizations determine whether they are
interested in being part of Canal Side in its three phases of development.
As a starting point for discussion the draft letter and questionnaire follows:
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Appendix C. Draft Letter from ECHDC to Cultural Organizations
Stage 1 Report
December 15, 2010
Name of Organization
Contact Person
Address
Address, Zip Code
Email address:
Dear ??
RE: POTENTIAL INTEREST IN BEING PART OF THE CANAL SIDE PROJECT
This letter is intended to determine the interest of [NAME OF ORGANIZATION] in
being part of the Canal Side project. As you are likely aware, it is the objective of
the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC) to help restore
economic growth to the Buffalo-centered region. This includes a focus on Canal
Side, a 20-acre historic part of Buffalo’s waterfront. ECHDC envisions Canal Side as
a public-private partnership in which government investment in infrastructure is
to be matched by private investment in commercial and residential space,
supported by cultural facilities, programs and events.
Canal Side is intended to become a commercial and cultural anchor for Buffalo and
the region it serves. It is to increase public access to the waterfront, offer yearround indoor and outdoor, daytime and evening things to do for area residents and
tourists. Canal Side is also to connect the waterfront to the downtown core and
offer a variety of entertainment, recreational, cultural, shopping and dining
experiences.
ECHDC has led an extensive public consultation process and has welcomed ideas
put forward by, for example, the Mayor’s Canal Side Citizen Waterfront Forum and
the Imagining Buffalo initiative. And it has sponsored a Cultural Master Plan study
being conducted by the internationally renowned firms of Lord Cultural Resources
and Ralph Appelbaum Associates. The consultants have completed Stage 1 of a 3stage planning process. This includes recommending how a focus on the Story of
Buffalo might be developed to help meet the objectives of Canal Side. The next
stage of the study includes identification of cultural organizations that might
become part of Canal Side in any of its three phases of development. The three
phases are as follows:
•
Phase 1: Expand existing programming opportunities with additional public
programs, events, and other site features at Canal Side. The intent is to attract
large numbers of visitors to the waterfront. This will help to meet an important
objective of increasing public access to Canal Side while also helping to boost
investor confidence in the market for subsequent commercial developments,
some of which will include space for cultural organizations.
Lord Cultural Resources
• C-2
BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
Appendix C. Draft Letter from ECHDC to Cultural Organizations
Stage 1 Report
•
Phase 2: Having increased the number of persons attracted to Canal Side the
second phase is to result in private sector investment in mixed use facilities.
These will include opportunities for cultural organizations to become tenants in
the heritage blocks of Canal Side, and/or other cultural facility opportunities
nearby. Preference in this phase of development is to be given to organizations
that may best help to tell the Story of Buffalo and/or that are capable of
attracting large number of visitors.
•
Phase 3: Identification of opportunities for cultural organizations not assumed to
have facilities or programs within Canal Side that may pursue facility
possibilities nearby, potentially including the second level of the D L & W
building.
As you know it was assumed for many years that Bass Pro Shops would be the
commercial anchor for Canal Side and that an incentive of $35 million was to be
used to attract them. While it is not known at this time precisely what funds will be
made available to cultural organizations it is likely to be in the range of $?? million
to $$ million. These funds are to be used to pay for outdoor amphitheatre and
other cultural performance spaces and supporting infrastructure (storage,
restrooms, etc) and to provide free rent for a currently undetermined number of
years in eight heritage blocks closest to the waterfront. This means that cultural
organizations will not need to raise capital funds for new facilities. However, they
will be responsible for their own fit out, exhibition and associated capital and
operating costs within those spaces. Two illustrations follow which are preliminary
and subject to modification. The first indicates the location of the heritage blocks
(A, B and E2 to E7) within the overall Canal Side site. The second indicates the size
of the footprints and net useable space on each floor of each of the blocks. As
mixed use facilities some of the space within each block is to be allocated to
cultural organizations, with other space for commercial or residential uses. The
other blocks are envisaged for primarily commercial or residential opportunities.
The attached questionnaire seeks to determine the interest of your organization in
participating in any of the phases of development of Canal Side, or potentially part
of the development of the DL& W building or other sites outside but close to Canal
Side. No funds that have been allocated by ECHDC to develop the DL&W building.
It is seen to provide an opportunity among cultural organizations seeking new or
relocated facilities to collaborate to share in capital costs, joint fundraising as well
as shared staffing and other operating costs, joint ticketing and other collaborative
revenue generation strategies.
We ask that you limit your response to five pages and to respond by no later than
January 5, 2011. Thank you for your Interest in this important community project.
Sincerely yours,
Thomas P. Dee, President,
Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation
Suite 500, 95 Perry Street
Buffalo, New York, 14203
Lord Cultural Resources
• C-3
Stage 1 Report
BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
Appendix C. Draft Letter from ECHDC to Cultural Organizations
Questionnaire for Cultural Organizations Potentially
Interested in Being Part of the Canal Side Project
(Please limit responses to no more than five total pages and return by mail,
fax or email to Steve Ranalli, Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation
no later than January 5, 2011)
Name of Organization: ________________________________________________
Name, Title, Phone Number and Email Address of Contact Person:
_____________________________________________________________________
Background of Organization
Please provide a brief summary of mission/objectives, history as an organization,
governance/membership, activities, audience, finances and other indicators of
current status.
Requirements for Being Part of the Canal Side Project
Please indicate why your organization would like to be part of Canal Side, the
space, financial and other needs and requirements for being part of Canal Side,
and whether you see a role in Phase 1, 2 or 3 of the project. Phase 3 assumes
locations close to Canal Side in for example the DL & W building or Outer Harbor.
Capabilities of the Organization to Help Meet Objectives for Canal Side
What indicators do you have of the ability of your organization to attract large
numbers of visitors and/or to tell the Story of Buffalo? For organizations requiring
facilities, what are your plans for achieving the capital cost and ongoing operating
cost requirements for implementation and sustainability?
Interest in Participating in Interview with the Consultants
The responses to these questions will provide sufficient information to determine
the potential for the organization to be a collaborator at Canal Side. ECHDC will
arrange 60-90 minute interviews with some of the organizations and the
consultants during the week of January 17, 2011 in order to obtain additional
information. Please indicate whether you and up to two other members of your
organization would like to be interviewed that week if required, and any
preferences for dates and times.
Lord Cultural Resources
• C-4
BUFFALO CANAL SIDE CULTURAL MASTER PLAN
Appendix C. Draft Letter from ECHDC to Cultural Organizations
Stage 1 Report
[ECHDC TO ADD IMAGE FROM EEK OF CANAL SIDE, SHOWING AND LABELLING ALL
THE HERITAGE BLOCKS, INCLUDING A AND B ON THE WATERFRONT, AND THEIR
RELATIONSHIP TO THE OTHER CANAL SIDE BLOCKS. WHAT WE HAVE IS A PDF THAT
CAN’T BE COPIED]
Ground Floor Gross and Net Square Footage Available in Heritage District Buildings
Parcel
Name
Build-To
Parcel Size Line/ Max.
Front Yard
(sq feet)
(feet)
Min.
Building
Height
(stories)
Min.
Building
Height
(feet)
Max.
Building
Height
(stories)
Max.
Building
Height
(feet)
Max. FAR
Assumed
Min. Open Assumed Net Useable
Sq. Ft.
Space Gross
10% (sq Building (@67% of
Gross) Per
feet)
Size
Floor
Main Development Parcels
E2
E3
E4
E5
E6
E7
29,045
9,408
3,880
15,365
7,630
11,026
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
2
2
2
2
2
30
30
30
30
30
30
4
4
4
4
4
4
60
60
60
60
60
60
3.60
3.60
3.60
3.60
3.60
3.60
2,905
941
388
1,537
763
1,103
26,141
8,467
3,492
13,829
6,867
9,923
17,514
5,673
2,340
9,265
4,601
6,649
2
2
30
30
4
4
60
60
3.60
3.60
1,096
735
9,864
6,615
6,609
4,432
3.60
1,238
3.60
1,145
Possible Development Parcels Along Waterfront
A
B
10,960
7,350
0
0
Parcels Under Buffalo Skyway
E10
12,383
0
E11
11,448
0
Source: EEK and Lord Cultural Resources
Lord Cultural Resources
-
-
-
-
As permitted As permitted
by NYSDOT
by NYSDOT
As permitted As permitted
by NYSDOT
by NYSDOT
• C-5