New Olcott harbor breakwall project underway

$14 million project to address long-standing shoreline problems; Hochul says project will ‘transform’ Olcott community

By Terry Duffy

Editor-in-Chief

Progress on repairing the flood-ravaged shoreline in Niagara County took a big step forward in past days with the startup of a massive, nearly 400-foot, $14 million breakwall project in the hamlet of Olcott Beach.

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul was joined by Town of Newfane Supervisor Timothy Horanburg and a number of state, county and local officials in visiting the Hedley Boat Co. complex on the Olcott waterfront Tuesday to announce the project.

Decades in the making, the Olcott breakwall project moved forward and became reality in October 2019 with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s commitment to correct long-standing erosion problems along the entire Lake Ontario shore in New York, including Niagara County.

The Olcott project, to be completed with $13.3 million in state grants and assistance through the governor’s Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative, will see the creation of a 350-foot, oval-shaped breakwall in the harbor area at the mouth of Eighteen Mile Creek entering into Lake Ontario.

The project stands to directly benefit the Town of Newfane Marina, Olcott Yacht Club, Hedley Boat Co., McDonough Marine and several private homes, according to the governor’s office. In 2019, the harbor entrance was devastated by flooding, wind-driven waves, and sediment deposition in the navigation channel. High water levels, wave agitation and new sediment deposits prevented safe refuge and navigation by large and small recreational watercraft.

“This does seem like the end to a very long journey. It’s been a long time coming,” she said.

Recalling her association as a legislative assistant with former U.S. Rep. John LaFalce’s office while a law school student, and of visits to the Olcott Beach area, Hochul spoke of the common wishes of the community from way back in the 1970s and ’80s.

“ ‘We need a breakwall; we need a breakwall,’ ” commented Hochul of the community’s wants she frequently heard from years ago.

Hochul spoke of the recent struggles the hamlet dealt with in 2017 and 2019 when historically high water levels throughout the Lake Ontario basin resulted in severe flooding, devastation and financial hardship. She called the 2017 floods a “100-year event,” that devastated Olcott and then returned in 2019. Hochul said the lake flooding experience – then exacerbated by contending with COVID-19 in 2020 – went on spur not only a community, but also a regional and state response to address the years of hardship.

“They talk about how ‘it takes a village’; well this took a town to bring back a community. And you led this (comeback),” Hochul said. “We’re going to be victorious with Mother Nature, and we’re going to win. This is one tough community. All of you have put up with so much: the flooding, the devastation (and) the impact on local tourism.

“I am really happy to be here at the conclusion of all these events and to celebrate what we are going to do here.”

Hochul went on to discuss the state’s plans that, once complete, would see the creation of an offshore oval-shaped breakwall for the Olcott harbor area at the mouth Eighteen Mile Creek. “This is going to be a $14 million project, with $13.3 million in state grants. We’re going to install an offshore, oval bubble mount breakwall, 350 feet in length.

“It will finally address the wave action and will be critical for public safety, our yacht club. I understand the impact on the boating community. I understand the impact this has had on the boating community, our fishermen, the people who store rent boats, the property owners.

“This is going to transform this community. I look so forward to coming back once this is done.”

Niagara County Legislature Chairwoman Becky Wydysh agreed, calling the project a game-changer that will go miles to further economic activity in northern Niagara County.