Lockport NY

Comments have froze here due to an unofficial Blogger bug. Please continue the conversation in the new thread:

The LUSJ reported that the Flight of Five Project to restore the north set of canal locks to period operation, has been granted the ability to restore them in phases instead of all at once.

The city is close to securing the state’s permission to restore two in the Flight of Five series of canal locks.

Pending final signoffs by the state Canal Corp. and Department of Transportation, the city will use the remainder of an old federal “earmark” to put Locks 68 and 69 back in working order, David Kinyon, chairman of the volunteer-staffed Lockport Locks Heritage District Committee, said this week.

It’ll happen because the city finally has gained access to $1.7 million, the balance of a federal transportation award obtained for Flight restoration in 2005, by then-U.S. Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds.

Though the money was committed, it sat unspent for years because the city was prohibited from using it until it had pledges in hand to fund a total restoration project...

 A huge score for the project and one that makes a lot of sense. One the wonders of 19th century engineering sits in the middle of our city and we should be good stewards. It is about time we catch up with other projects through out the state restoring long abandoned aqueducts, etc. A lot of those projects are in outlaying areas. Having ours in the middle of DT provides another piece of the puzzle for making a unique interesting vibrant place to live, work and visit.

Who will store the mule?

The LUSJ reported on the progress over at 160 East Ave (Next to LUSJ itself.)

While the improvement is huge for the previously vacant building, the result of the street facade is lacking.

The project passed before the planning board last year. My only comment during the session was the the East Ave frontage designed to look like the back or side of a building. The use of the rear as the main entrance is easily understood since the parking is (thankfully) at the rear of the building.

Just because the front of the building is not main entrance (or even an entrance at all) should not preclude that the front facade of a structure interact visually with the street. The lack of any law based design guidelines in the city create situations like this where by time you get to comment on the project all you can do it suggest something. Something which will most likely be ignored since it is not the law to do so and the project has long been designed.

A simple porch structure, even if non-functional would easily tied the building into the street instead of "ignoring" it.

Kind of related to this project, and the languishing parking ramp project, is this parking ramp design from Miami University in Ohio.

If a parking structure can interact with its frontage, why can't a medical building? And if the parking ramp ever gets replaced, a design such as this would fit nicely along Pine and Main.