Greenway boundary proposal presented to Citizen’s Advisory Committee

by Joshua Maloni
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, September 9, 2006

A rendering of the Niagara Experience Center.
(photo courtesy www.usaniagara.com/BRC Imagination Art Inc.)

There were moments during Mark Mistretta’s Niagara River Greenway boundary presentation Wednesday when the Wendel Duchscherer representative paused – ever so briefly – as if he was expecting something to happen.

After being interrupted and having his architectural and engineering firm’s mapping questioned non-stop a week prior at the Local Government Advisory Committee meeting, Mistretta instinctively hesitated at key points in his boundary proposal as if to brace himself from attack while offering the same PowerPoint presentation to the Citizen’s Advisory Committee. For the most part, however, residents in attendance at the Beaver Island Clubhouse on Grand Island were more receptive.

“This is a participatory process, not an adversarial one,” said CAC chairman and Greenway Commissioner Paul Dyster.

Mistretta once again explained the “three-tier” boundary concept, wherein those areas and projects closest to the Niagara River would get priority status – and likely priority funding – over those regions farther away (see “Boundary plan criticized,” online at www.wnypapers.com).

Residents who spoke complimented Mistretta on the first two layers, while chiding the last, or “contributing” level.

“It’s a great framework on which to hang the discussion,” said Clinton Brown, who described the “primary” and “secondary” levels as “ingenious. He called the “contributing” layer flabby, and politically motivated.

“What kind of money are we looking at for the second and third levels?” Jim Hufnagel, of the Niagara Heritage Partnership, wondered. “What level of projects are we talking about?”

“It does seem to me that this leaves the door open for inappropriate uses,” he said.

Bob Baxter, the Niagara Heritage Partnership conservation chair, echoed their criticism later in the evening, saying any plans to include inland areas such as Ransomville, Pendleton and Sanborn were “preposterous” and “lunatic ideas.” He said the Greenway pendulum was swinging in favor of recreational and political concepts over environmental ones.

Mistretta said standing committees, the governing stakeholders, would ultimately determine which areas and projects to fund.

Residents also wondered about the appeal of saying the Greenway stretches from lake-to-lake or from north to south.

Dave Colligan, of The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy, said destination points, not compass directions, should anchor the Greenway.

“We wanted our Greenway to be a mirror of what’s on the Canadian side,” he said, referencing arboretums north of the border, including the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens.

At the conclusion of Mistretta’s presentation and subsequent audience question-and-answer, new requests were submitted for Greenway funding consideration.

Former Niagara County Legislator Lee Simonson, speaking for the Lewiston Historical Association, advocated for a testimonial commemorating the underground railroad and related abolitionist efforts in Niagara County. Calling it one of Western New York’s finest moments, and pointing to the Statue of Liberty and its significance, he said, “It’s time we had a monument to signify people leaving this country for freedom.”

Bill Bradberry reinforced that idea. He spoke of the proposed downtown Niagara Falls Heritage Interpretive Center, citing it as a place to call attention to the efforts of Harriet Tubman and the 21,000 Niagara County abolitionists working to free slaves in 1837. Bradberry said such a venture could lead to economic revitalization along the Greenway.

“We have the opportunity to build something that people will want to see,” he said.

Dr. Gary Praetzel, dean of the College of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Niagara University, said the Niagara Falls area is an attraction – not a destination, and a place tourists seemingly pass through without spending significant time.

“We need to increase the length of stay,” he said.

He spoke of the Niagara Experience Center, a USA Niagara Development Corp. conceptual facility described by Gov. George Pataki in 2002 as a tourist destination that, “Will combine numerous significant historical and cultural themes, a large-format, giant screen film experience, interactive high-tech venues, and first-rate public spaces to serve as a portal for visitors to the greater Niagara Falls region.”

“This project has the potential of reviving pride in the region,” Praetzel said. Despite an estimated cost of $100 million, he said the project “is something we have to do.”