(Image - Flight of Five Detail) Buffalo News had an Update on the Flight of Five project today.
“The stars are in misalignment. The stock market is in the tank, and the state budget is nowhere,” Welsby said. “Perhaps for that $1.8 million we can restore two complete locks. We can work our way up. In the meantime, we don’t give up our hunt for money.” The current investment woes hurt the availability of money for foundations, just as Flight of Five decision makers were planning a push to solicit grants from Erie County foundations. Toward that end, the city hired Full Circle Productions for 7,500 to produce a seven-minute promotional video, which was shown at Monday’s meeting.
This tiered approach makes sense to me. Even two locks would work well in defining the lower approach to the locks and showcasing how the older manual locks worked. I'd think locking through all 5 would be tedious and time consuming for a tourist anyways. This also puts off having to immediately deal with the flat concrete access bridge over the top lock.
I'll also try to see if it is possible to get a copy of the video or get a link to it if it ends up posted elsewhere. I'll have to ask later though since the delegation is of to Albany today:
The recommendation from Welsby’s engineering firm, Wendel Duchscherer, to limit the project comes as a city delegation drives to Albany today to meet with officials of the State Canal Corp. to try to settle a wide range of issues that have impeded the project, the city’s top tourism development priority.
The delegation includes Mayor Michael W. Tucker, Corporation Counsel John J. Ottaviano, City Treasurer Michael E. White, Welsby and David R. Kinyon, chairman of the Flight of Five Committee. One of the issues to be debated is a legal tangle over whether the city needs a long-term lease to gain access to the state property for the restoration work, or whether a short-term permit will do.
Original post here:Flight of Five 2011 Opening?
6 comments:
I'm just gonna ramble on this one...First I don't think breaking it into stages will work."And hear is a reproduction of the Flight of Five. As you can see there is only one lock right now..." lol. Another thing that bothers me is Tucker's comment about a private tourism company using the flight. Does this mean Erie Canal Cruises will be making money off the city's work? Rocketboy I don't know if I feel the Buff News articles have been negative, but thats your opinion and I am partial to that paper ;). I do remember reading not too long ago that Buffalo wanted to create a lock reproduction near their "terminus". Makes you wonder if they would relish a failure in Lockport?
I don't get a bad vibe from the Buffalo News at all. It comes across as non-editorial reporting to me.
I also don't think that Buffalo is "out to get" Lockport or supress it. Buffalo deserves to be noted as the original terminus of the Erie canal and celebrated as such, as does Albany.
What Buffalo has now, the rewatered oringinal Commercial Slip, is a product of law suits and public lash back against the original plan to just lay down some "interpative" concrete work on the site. The state wanted the easy way out and the City was just happy to be having money spent at the time. Luckily people stepped in and halted the original sceme. That is what is needed here too. Residents behind a project perserving/recreating a very unique portion of our past for our enjoyment and that of others.
Somebody is going to have to "run" what ever goes in there. I rather see it leased out to a private company rather than be ran by a gov't entity. Even better if it is a company that already does a great job with lock tours and promoting the city. Projects such as Buffalo's Inner Harbor, Rochester Possible Rewatering of the Genessee River Aquduct, Camillus rewatering of the Nine Mile Creek Aqueduct etc are all worthwhile in perserving and creatinc activity around our shared 200 year history of the Erie Canal.
I agree with you on that picture (I recall mentioning it to the GF), though I think it is a pic of the building that is now renevated on Richmond (Canal St). The picture was obvisouly before renovation.
At the best I'd hope for apathy leading to a poor choice of a stock photograph that popped up under a seach for "Harrison Lockport". I guess it could be more.
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