The Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC) Board of Directors met today to authorize and enter into a contract with Mark Cerrone, Inc. for the construction of the East Canal and associated features. The public space is planned for a section of former General Donovan State Office Building site between Main and Washington streets north of Scott Street. With this action, construction of the East Canal will begin, adding another element at Canalside that builds on Governor Andrew Cuomo’s vision for a revitalized Buffalo waterfront.
“The awarding of this contract represents the final piece of business that the ECHDC Board had to sign off on before shovels go in the ground,” said ECHDC Chairman Robert Gioia. “The East Canal project, developed under the leadership of Governor Cuomo, represents increased year-round attractions and activities for our visitors as well as a catalyst for private development.”
The project, with construction slated to begin this month, involves connecting Main Street to Washington Street with a public space that evokes the memory of the Main and Hamburg Canal, yet terminates in a shaded grove of trees, while seamlessly blending into the development site to the north and south. The project will be complete in December 2013.
EE&K a Perkins Eastman company was the project’s master architect. C&S Engineers was awarded a contract from ECHDC for design services in November of 2012. Through the design phase, C&S had numerous meetings with the City of Buffalo and the Buffalo Sewer Authority. In January 2013, C&S presented the plans and specifications to the ECHDC Design Review Committee and the City of Buffalo Planning Board who made a joint recommendation to accept the design, as it met the project’s design guidelines.
At its meeting February 19, 2013, the ECHDC Board approved the East Canal Design as consistent with ECHDC’s Design Guidelines for the Canalside Project. The item approved today authorizes construction of the approved design.