DUVALL: Talks down by the river

By Eric DuVall<br><a href="mailto:duvalle@gnnewspaper.com">E-mail Eric</a>
The Tonawanda News

May 05, 2008 10:57 am

— I was invited to the North Tonawanda Waterfront Commission this week to offer my opinion and explain the paper’s stance on several issues relevant to their ongoing work. It was a productive hour and it was nice to hear people who, to the best of my knowledge come with no ulterior motives, but want to affect positive change.
Some areas of interest and mutual agreement were found when they asked me which issues I felt readers were most interested in when they come up in the news. Those issues, in order:
• The much-maligned boathouses: I’ve taken on this issue before, but it bears repeating. Privately owned boathouses on publicly owned land is the worst possible use for one of the nicest waterfront areas in all of Western New York.
We all want to see them come down.
I’ve said this before, too: If we replace them with the most convenient plan instead of the best one, we’re making a big mistake. We already have one sparsely populated waterfront park (see above). Why would we want to create another one.
Seems to me, we should consider what we think is the best option, regardless of perceived difficulty, and figure out how to make that work. Realistic goals are important, but plenty of big projects started out with skepticism. If we let the problems define our solutions, we’re always going to wind up with less than satisfactory results.
• The canal concerts: Mayor Soos and this paper haven’t seen eye-to-eye on this issue at times, but we’ve charted a wait-and-see stance on the new promoters.
All in attendance agreed improvements need to be made to the operations under the former promoter, now putting on the shows in Lockport. I and our editorial board felt it was a mistake not to work with the promoter on those issues. We criticized the mayor, and rightfully so, for not being more proactive and putting at risk the shows entirely.
A new sheriff is in town when it comes to free Saturday night music, and the onus is on Mayor Soos and his new partners to not only match, but beat the attendance and experience of the previous years.
Anything less and this whole ordeal was a distraction and a waste of time for all involved.
• Gratwick-Riverside Park: All involved agreed that it isn’t functioning at near its full capacity.
It gave me the opportunity to share this paper’s overarching position on waterfront development, and that would be our preference for merging the public’s land with the attractions that only private sector business can create.
The nicest playground and picnic pavilion in the world is still only going to attract a small percentage of the population. Look at Niagara Falls — even one of the Seven Wonders of the world can’t draw much of a crowd on the American side because once you get over the majesty, what’s left?
The answer at both the falls and Gratwick is sadly “not much.”
They’re working to correct that and, if the Legislature ever gets its act together and hashes out a plan with the power authority for disbursement of the Niagara River Greenway money, we could see a windfall of investment to improve that stretch of the river.
Speaking of distractions, it was a wonderful thing to have an hour’s discussion on issues in North Tonawanda and not have Wal-Mart come up once.
Can anyone say honestly that a super Wal-Mart is more important to the long-term health and well-being of North Tonawanda than any of those three issues? Wal-Mart gets people riled up, but at the end of the day, whether it comes or not, it isn’t going to dramatically impact the day-to-day lives of most people here.
Those who like it will shop there and those who don’t, won’t. Those whose homes are in a less attractive spot as a result have a justified gripe, but developments like these have to go somewhere and “not in my backyard” is never, by itself, a good enough reason to stop something from happening.
I wish as many people were in attendance for the waterfront commission’s meeting as there are for Wal-Mart hearings. If there were, we’d probably be a lot closer to the concrete resolution of issues that could improve the quality of life in this city far more than any one store — no matter how big — ever will.
Managing Editor Eric DuVall’s column appears every Wednesday and Sunday. Contact him at 693-1000,
ext. 112, or by e-mail to duvalle@gnnewspaper.com.

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.