The President of Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation addressed a lunch hour crowd at the Central Library Wednesday.
Thomas Dee capsulized where downtown waterfront development stands and where the multi-million dollar project is headed.
"Buffalo's greatest resource is water," said Dee.
Congressman Brian Higgins was pivotal in making the wake-up call. More than three years later, you can see the results when you drive the lakeshore complex or visit what's come to be known as Canalside.
The project is not down, but the tangible results, so far, are substantive.
Tom Dee told the the gathering at Working For Downtown's Brown Bag speaking series that every project undertaken or in the works is for us the people.
"Everything we focus on is public access. Getting people to the waters edge, getting them to enjoy the water, and once they are there we need to find things for them to do," said Dee.
Dee noted last summer's waterfront concert series that drew more than 400,000.
This summer, the hope is the music will attract even more.