Development officials say they need more time to complete one of the most prominent components in the redevelopment of Buffalo's waterfront.Work on a series of historically-aligned canals and bridges will likely be complete next spring, not this fall as originally planned. Issues with the contractor were cited as the reason for the delay.
Harbor Corporation Chairman Robert Gioia says the development team is focused on ensuring that high quality work is done for the centerpiece project.
"This is very complicated construction. It is something where we're dealing with multiple contracts around the area and we want to get it right," Gioia said Wednesday.
Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation President Thomas Dee says despite the delay caused by issues with the contractor, harbor officials are not concerned.
"The timing of this is going to work out just fine. When Canalside is opening up January 1, we're going to start to get activity there. The city and the Sabres are building HARBORcenter. That's going to be up and running. So we're not overstressing about the timeframe on this because we're really stressing on the quality. We're going to focus on this being a high-end, high-quality project that's going to...work in harmony with other projects as they're being built around that area," Dee said.
Dee says construction of the rebuilt canals and their two accompanying bridges is a complicated venture that officials want to get right. Officials say the price tag for the $23 million project is not going up.
Once complete, the canals, in the vicinity of the former Memorial Auditorium, will host small watercraft in the warmer months and be used for ice skating in the winter.
Among the other projects in the pipeline, Dee says, are a restaurant, a public marketplace, and a children's museum. 800 events will be held at Canalside this year, nearly double the number from last year.
