BUFFALO, N.Y. — When you think of Buffalo's waterfront, you probably picture canalside and events on the water. However, many areas in the outharbor are still vacant.
The Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC) is trying to change that.
The ECHDC Board of Directors approved three contracts that will move projects forward on Buffalo's outer harbor.
The contracts focus on three different waterfront zones — the First Buffalo River Marina, the area between Wilkeson Pointe and Bell Slip, and Terminal B.
"People just love to be out along the water's edge and these improvements will just take the outer harbor really to an entirely new level," said Steve Ranalli, the ECHDC President.
Across from Canalside, you'll find the First Buffalo River Marina.
The goal of this project is to open this section of the waterfront to the public while keeping boat docking and storage.
Perhaps the biggest changes will come to this location known as Terminal B near the new bike park.
The plans include transforming the lot into a multi-use events space and expanding the ecological restoration area.
Additionally, the board approved phase two of the project to enhance the area between Wilkeson Pointe and the Bell Slip.
Both Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz are optimistic about the plans but they raised a few concerns at the meeting.
Brown told 2 on Your Side, "I think it's critically important to be able to generate revenue so that the improvements that are being made are sustainable."
Poloncarz said, "The site that we're looking at on the outer harbor has only one entrance and one exit so if there is an emergency situation, whether it be something that requires a number of personnel to respond to, you need to have that as part of your planning."
While plans are moving forward, a potential groundbreaking is still a long ways away.
"We're gonna go through the environmental review process along with the design over the next 15 months so that we can bid out these projects late next year. We're hoping to see construction on at least one of them begin by 2021," Ranalli explained.
The ECHDC harbor development corporation received funding from the New York Power Authority to help move forward with the design. Through the Buffalo Billion II, Governor Andrew Cuomo has committed 15-million for these projects.
https://buffalowaterfront.com/u/pdf/OHOpenHouse3FBRMBoards.pdf -- First Buffalo River Marina
https://buffalowaterfront.com/u/pdf/OHOpenHouse3WilkesontoBellSlipOverview_LR.pdf -- Wilkeson Pointe to Bell Slip (overview)
https://buffalowaterfront.com/u/pdf/OHOpenHouse3WilkesontoBellSlipBoards_LR.pdf -- Wilkeson Point to Bell Slip (Details)