Officials cut the ribbon Friday on a dock extension along the Buffalo waterfront. The 520-foot extension at Canalside doubles the length of the existing space. It will allow as many as 40 additional boats to dock alongside the Central Wharf.
State Senator Tim Kennedy calls the continuing progress along the waterfront a "victory for the people."
"This is something we should all be proud of and it all starts right here on the water's edge, the front yard of our community. Something that, for so many years, people talked about being embarrassed to come down to the waterfront because there was nothing to do. No one can say that anymore," Kennedy said.
A portion of the dock extension has a lower profile to allow easier access for small vessels like kayaks and canoes.
"At the waterfront, the attraction is the water and Buffalo is learning to develop its waterfront. We've seen great progress in the past five years. This is another installment of the great progress that is intended not only to provide access from the land to the water, but also from the water to the land," Rep. Brian Higgins said.
Higgins says one of the goals at the burgeoning waterfront is to make Buffalo a destination for Great Lakes boaters, along with area residents. Eight-hundred events are scheduled for Canalside this season. Around 800,000 people are expected to visit the Inner Harbor over the coming months.
"For a generation, our waterfront really didn't know what it was going to be," Assemblyman Sean Ryan said. "We know now what it's going to be. It's going to a waterfront that's for us and it's going to be for recreation."
The nearly $1 million project was completed on-time and on-budget using state funding.
