Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - A number of local elected leaders and other members of the Buffalo community joined the Ralph Wilson Park Conservancy on Tuesday for a groundbreaking ceremony along Lake Erie to mark the opening phase of the new Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park project.
Rooted in the guidance of "Imagine LaSalle," the community-driven visioning process for the former LaSalle Park, Ralph Wilson Park will undergo a $110 million transformation into an inclusive and beautiful park for the City of Buffalo, as well as the rest of the country.
"What they're doing here is just fabulous," said Ralph Wilson Park Conservancy Board President Keith Belanger on Tuesday. "I used to walk this park fairly regularly, and it was pretty discouraging [with] how poorly it was maintained. The city has some great parks and some more affluent neighborhoods. This park didn't get a lot of love, and it's going to get a ton of love now. This is going to be a park that will be unlike anything in our community, and will in fact, I think, be a national attraction. People will come to Buffalo because of this park. I don't think we, yet, appreciate just what this park is going to be."
"You know, I had to pinch myself that we're really ready to go," added Buffalo Deputy Commissioner of Parks and Recreation, Andy Rabb on Tuesday. "We have a project together, we have the team assembled, we have the funding to do the work. We have a construction manager that's pulling together the actual schedules for materials and staging to really build something that we don't have here.
"Parks in Buffalo have a long legacy, we're the Olmsted City, the Olmsted Park System. What a wonderful addition to the city's park system to completely transform its front door, its face to the lake. So we're really excited. So many great aspects - the bridge, the athletic fields, the shoreline, the connectivity of pathways. This is really going to be a great park for everybody."
The park will be built in phases over several years, with construction expected to begin sometime in the late summer. It will start with a signature pedestrian bridge to give park-goers easier access to Ralph Wilson Park.
Plans also call for updating several baseball and softball fields, and rehabilitating the inlet area to create a resilient shoreline and protect the park from higher lake levels and severe weather. Some other work has already been completed.
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"I'm blown away of the commitment of the Ralph Wilson Foundation for our community. I'm blown away and thankful," said Buffalo Common Council President Darius Pridgen of the project. "We talk about communities and parks, and at the end of the day, our parks are very important. The people in the City of Buffalo, they appreciate their parks. And so for this to happen, it's a historic day in the City of Buffalo. I think it is going to be a game-changer for our community, and one that will bring a lot of people together, and one that is going to help our environment.
"This is more than just a park. This is truly a transformation, when you talk about the ecosystem, and then all of the partnerships and even as we've seen [with] climate change and seeing the waves now coming up over into the park and destroying so much of the park, and for them to even pay attention to that. So to have people there from the federal government, the state, the local, and then citizens, this is a game changer."
When looking at the current landscape of Ralph Wilson Park, the 99 acres of land are relatively flat with baseball and softball fields, as well as a dog park and picnic shelters. When all is said and done with the project, hopefully by the Year 2025, it should make the park much more easier for everyone to access and use.
"It's going to be more family friendly with comfort stations. It's going to be a year-round place instead of just coming down for a hot summer day to get out of the heat and enjoy the breeze. There'll be a place to sled in the wintertime here, a revamped dog park, improved athletic facilities, an attachment to the water that doesn't currently exist," Rabb explained. "So I think this is a real special day, real special place, and we're very excited and thankful for all of the partners, and you guys have heard how many people are involved. There really is a true collaboration to get this done."
In addition, this effort by the Ralph Wilson Park Conservancy will attempt to help better connect surrounding neighborhoods in Buffalo to the park.
"There are certain parks that are very connected to neighborhoods, this park hasn't been," Belanger said. "It's got the [I-]190, that's a barrier. The current bridge is not a bridge that anybody uses, because frankly, it's dangerous. So we're going to have a safe bridge that's going to connect to the West Side neighborhood, as well as great trailways that run the length of the river here. So this is gonna be a very connected park to our community."
Over the last several years in Buffalo, a number of parks and other parcels of land have been re-purposed and re-used for a number of different events and other gatherings for the community. Areas like Canalside and the Outer Harbor have been completely overhauled and utilized as space for all purposes in the community.
This includes the potential opportunity for another gathering space for people to attend concerts, festivals, and other events that happen every year in Buffalo.
"It's definitely going to be hosting different events here," said Mary Wilson, wife of the late Ralph Wilson. "It's going to be one of the top parks in the world, and it will be talked about, and it's in the backdrop of Downtown Buffalo. I mean, how magnificent is that? I think the main thing is bringing communities together to enjoy a simple day outdoors, and where people love to be. ... For me, the crown jewel of our foundation, what we are doing. I love the parks and trails, but again, we're touching so many lives in so many different way. It's truly, truly amazing."
However, some like Coucil President Pridgen feel this new park will be more of a standalone situation, compared to other spaces in Buffalo.
"I see this less as a Canalside and more really as a respite," he said. "Today, I talked about in my opening of the 23rd Psalms and 'green pastures,' and I see it as more of that than a Canalside, something totally different. Canalside is busy, it's a lot to do. Obviously, this has a lot of amenities, but it also connects people to the water and connecting people more to nature. That's the difference."
While Canalside was seen as a transformative project during its inception, work has continued in Downtown Buffalo to continue to perfect the true vision of what Canalside was meant to be. While Ralph Wilson Park is likely to be just as transformative in the coming years, it may not be envisioned as what Canalside was right from the start.
"I think there's lots of options, but I think what it'll take is building it out first to really understand what makes sense. I don't think we envision large concerts with 40,000 people here. I don't think that's what we're talking about," Belanger said. "This is a big community park and not a concert venue. Though there will be certain community events that have taken place here historically that will continue to take place here."
"This is going to be a community events space, just as it always has been," Rabb said of Ralph Wilson Park. "The pavilion stage is remaining, as a component of the park. The community festivals - the Hispanic American Heritage Festival, Funk Fest - those types of events can continue to happen. They may not be that huge type of large-venue acts that would go out to the Outer Harbor, but there are still thousands that enjoy those community events that will still be able to call Ralph Wilson Park home. We're pretty excited about that."