NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WBEN).....A well-manicured pocket park that serves as gateway into the heart of North Tonawanda's downtown and main business district could be a major image changed for the Lumber City.
The park, funded through $1.2 million in state money, took what was a non-descript parcel where Goundry Street, Main Street and Webster Street intersect and turned it into a signature destination complete with new plantings, benches and a clock tower.
"It creates a new image," said Gabrielle Richards, North Tonawanda City Council president.
The pocket park, named after North Tonawanda civic leader Charles Fleischman, is the latest in a series of both public and private sector investments that have created a new and chic vibe for downtown North Tonawanda - extending from the Erie Canal northwards.
Mayor Austin Tylec said in the past five years, some $40 million in public sector investment has leveraged more than $150 million in private sector investment that has created more than 300 jobs and saw more than 300 apartments either developed or, in the city's economic development pipeline.
Tylec has compared the core of his downtown to that of the Queen Street business district in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
"We even have our own clock tower now," Ty;lec joked.
Between the Erie Canal and such attractions as the Rivera Theater coupled with new restaurants and boutique-like shops, Tylec said downtown North Tonawanda is ready to jump forward.
New pocket park adds to NT's downtown ambiance
New pocket park adds to NT's downtown ambiance
