2008 Awards

HONOR AWARD - Collaborative Design

Erie Canal Harbor, Buffalo, NY

Mathews Nielsen
www.mnlandscape.com

The Erie Canal Harbor project, 2004 – 2008, achieved what many preservationists and Buffalonians had sought for years: the authentic re-watering of Commercial Slip and creation of public access to the adjacent waterfront.  The slip is the historic western terminus of Erie Canal, and will serve as the anchor for a dynamic year-round site that celebrates Buffalo’s local history and its role in the nation’s growth and development.

A collaborative master plan, completed in 2004 by the same team, identified a restored slip as the centerpiece to waterfront development which would allow, for the first time in more than a century, public access by water and land to the heart of Buffalo’s inner harbor.  The project presented herein includes: a new year-round Naval and Military Museum sited along the historic slip’s reconstructed tow path; a waterfront that allows visual access to Buffalo River and Lake Erie; an active maritime edge for visiting vessels and pleasure craft; design of a wood wharf for large events at the location of the historic Central Wharf; re-creation of a bow string bridge which bridges Commercial Slip and recalls the Canal Era; re-establishment of the historic street grid; stabilization of ruins discovered during archeological investigations; interpretive features that tell the story of this nationally significant site; and intermodal access to the site from Buffalo’s Main Street and light rail system. 

Credits

Landscape architecture and planning:  Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects PC, New York, NY (Kim Mathews, ASLA, principal; Molly Bourne, ASLA, project manager; Greg Leonard, landscape architect, Runit Chhaya, planner/landscape designer)
Architect and planning (prime consultant): Flynn Battaglia Architects, PC, Buffalo, NY  
Heritage Consultant: John Milner Associates Inc., West Chester, PA  
Associate interpretive consultant/exhibit design: C&G Partners, New York, NY
Engineers/environmental impact analysis: Parson Brinckerhoff, Buffalo, NY
Lighting Designer: Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design, New York, NY
Client: Empire State Development Corporation, New York State
Construction manager: LP Ciminelli Inc., Buffalo, NY
Archeology: Dean & Barbour Associates Inc., Buffalo, NY