Published: October 19, 2006 09:31 pm            

BRADBERRY: Niagara Falls needs a plan

Back Home with Bill Bradberry

I don’t want to sound like I’m raining on anyone’s parade, but I think I’ll have to reserve judgment on the proposed design of the new courthouse and police station until I get a closer look at the impact the glass and stone and 62-foot concrete columns will have on the rest of north Main Street and the city’s image as a whole.

It could be a good thing, BUT ...

From all I’ve seen so far, the project totally ignores the buildings and the rest of Main Street. It’s not too late to incorporate some of the best features of the existing heritage building stock into the design, perhaps by reusing some of the materials from the beautiful old structures that will be demolished to make way for the behemoth.

In fact, I’d prefer to see the best of the old buildings incorporated into the design instead of seeing them demolished.

Located between South and Cleveland avenues, the massive 126,000 square foot, $42 million Municipal Public Safety Complex would be a welcome boost for the long abandoned, former grand commercial corridor in almost any form, but with a little planning, it could go a long way toward tying the rest of the North End together.

Much of the real beauty of the older buildings that remain there is disguised by their shabby looking first-floor facades. Don’t be fooled; there are some real gems on Main Street.

Fortunately, developer Dick Hastings and others have taken on a good number of them, purchasing and boarding up many to keep them from deteriorating any further and investing tons of their own money to salvage and rehab others.

For the most part, they have the greatest respect for the preservation of the buildings and what they mean to the community, but I fear the new courthouse may have an adverse impact on what they are attempting to do to convert and reuse the historic buildings in their mission to reinforce North Main Street as a special place.

No doubt it should be built, but what can be done now, before it’s too late to integrate the emerging historic ambiance of North Main Street into the new courthouse design?

Instead of developing our city one piece at a time with what seems like little or no regard for how each piece may affect another, we might want to take a moment to create a vision of what our city could look like in 20 years by developing a framework and a set of policies that we could use to achieve our goal of redefining ourselves as a more livable city and a world class tourist destination.

Typically, communities attempt to control their destinies by adopting legally enforceable comprehensive plans, but as far as I know, we have not done that. We do have stacks of so-called “Master Plans” which seem to pop up with every new administration.

In fact, the most recent Master Plan encourages adaptive reuse of existing buildings on Main Street, suggesting, “current and continued residential loft conversions, and the adaptive reuse of existing heritage building stock with new retail and service uses attractive to both the local population and university students will help to restore this portion of Main Street as a healthy commercial corridor.”

Is the current courthouse design plan inconsistent with the latest Master Plan?

Not exactly, BUT ...

The North Main Street neighborhood is also the location of another major project that should be taken into consideration in tandem with the courthouse. The Old Customs House which is certified “historic” by Niagara Falls, Niagara County, New York State and is on the National Register is currently being considered for development as an Intermodal Transportation Center.

Built in 1863, and now dubbed the “Niagara Falls International Railway Station” at the Whirlpool Rapids International Bridge, the Preservation League of New York State has named The Old U.S. Custom House at 2245 Whirlpool St. one of New York State’s Seven to Save, the nonprofit group’s annual list of the Empire State’s most threatened historic places.

Plans are to relocate Amtrak’s passenger terminal now inconspicuously located off Hyde Park Boulevard and to establish border inspection facilities within a consolidated intermodal facility adjacent to the Whirlpool-Rapids Bridge and North Main Street.

Thomas DeSantis, senior planner with the city of Niagara Falls agrees restoration of the Old Custom House will serve as a catalyst for revitalization of the city’s Main Street Business District.

Meanwhile, also in the North End, the Niagara Falls Housing Authority’s $80 million project to build 282 apartments and houses to replace 134 units in Center Court public housing complex will start construction within one year according to Housing Authority Executive Director Stephanie Cowart.

Hopefully, some of the rich historic architectural character of Niagara Falls will be reflected in the new construction there too.

At the same time across town, USA Niagara’s $3.4 Million Old Falls Street Downtown Streetscape Project includes new sidewalks, pedestrian areas and crosswalks, street furniture, benches, trash receptacles, bicycle racks, and period lighting in an attempt to recapture some of the charm and nostalgia of historic Falls Street’s pre-Urban Renewal glory.

It’s a start!

While all of these projects and many others still on the drawing boards are a welcome improvement for our fair city, we might end up with a better overall image if we had an enforceable comprehensive plan with sensible minimum design standards.

They should reflect some semblance of a vision of who we are and what we want to look like to ourselves as well as the millions of tourists we invite here, many of whom, like many of us, would appreciate our architectural heritage if we take steps now to preserve what we have and integrate it thematically into all of our new construction wherever possible.

Bill Bradberry’s columns appear Friday’s in the Gazette.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.