Grrrr!

The Buffalo News gets letters:

Thank God for Donn Esmonde. Finally someone with a voice in this community understands how cripplingly stupid the Bass Pro deal is.

I was the economic development adviser to county executive Dennis Gorski, and I have been aghast at this deal from the outset. Here’s the equation for this “economic development” retail deal: products sold come from outside of this community + customers come from inside of this community = withdrawal of wealth. That’s right. Our “leaders” want to invest $25 million of our money to make our community poorer. Period.

Craig makes this fantastic point:

I wonder if Gorski’s former economic development advisor is also opposed to the casino? The money spent at the casino will stay right here in Erie County. That’s his point, isn’t it?

Look, I’m still anti-casino and pro-Bass Pro, and I can definitely understand why people are upset that even a dollar of public money is going towards the Bass Pro project. But most everything we buy is not sourced locally, and not all stores are locally owned. Does it make our region poorer if you spend money at a Best Buy, which employs local people and contributes to our local and state sales and property taxes? The idea, incidentally, is to help construct an historical destination – with shopping – that people from out of town will come and visit, even if just as a side trip from the Falls.

If this deal is really just another public works project for an economically hopeless region, then they should stop lying about its economic justification and call it what it is. Then let them explain how they have no plan for our economic recovery. There are so many legitimate ways to create wealth. This deal is criminal.

David Chambers
Williamsville

I didn’t see where anyone said a retail center on the Canal terminus is going to “create wealth”. I thought the point was to build something attractive in order to attract people and have them spend their money in downtown Buffalo.

In fact, Larry Quinn himself makes the point beautifully. The mission is to:

Remake downtown as the true retail and business center of the region.

Ready now to read some persuasive stuff?

The first step requires the presence of a major destination retailer that will attract millions of people downtown and truly activate the lake and river with water-related activity. Bass Pro’s commitment to reconstruct the historic Central Wharf fills the bill.

Step two: Use Bass Pro, one of the hottest and most in-demand retailers in North America, to attract an experienced national mixed-use developer to bring the other national and local stores, apartments, restaurants and hotel that will create a new urban place on currently vacant Main Street. Mission accomplished with Benderson Development, whose ties to the local community are a bonus.

Step three: While the first two steps are under way, build a bridge across the river to connect downtown to the outer harbor. The bridge will serve as the gateway from downtown to the waterfront and lay the groundwork for new neighborhoods and recreational areas along the river and lake. This is potentially a very exciting and transforming event for the City of Buffalo. It should be fairly simple.

Here is the kicker for those who are aghast that the master plan for preserving the history of the Canal terminus is being shat upon (emphases mine):

Although the corporation’s plan for Bass Pro and Canal Side adheres to this step-by-step process, it does not deviate in any material way with the goals and intent of the original Canal District Master Plan. Like the old plan, the new plan retains the historic cobblestone streets and the river walkway and floating pier on the water’s edge. The interpretive exhibits along the canal will be built where they were always intended. No building will be built in excess of the pre-established design standards. Although the Aud and the unsightly Donovan State Office Building finally will be torn down, no historic structures will be demolished. Parking structures will be built with historic facades and liner buildings that will disguise their true function, just like their counterparts at Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall and Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

There is only one difference between the new plan and the old one. Instead of placing plaques in the ground commemorating the site of the Central Wharf building, the new plan proposes to actually reconstruct the original building in all its glory. That will necessitate shifting the public plaza to the area adjacent to the canal historic artifacts. Given wind, weather and functionality, the new plaza location seems more appropriate anyway.

There is one more difference. The development corporation’s plan is not intended to sit on a bookshelf gathering dust with the rest of the plans that have been hatched and discarded over the decades. It is a realistic plan with a dream, a vision and, most importantly, credible people who are willing to invest real money to make it reality. It is anything but “desperate.” Unfortunately, this is where “Esmonde and Company” get lost.

Quinn then responds specifically to the chief complaints that have been raised:

They want to fight about where the plaza ought to be, as if there is a substantial difference between the new and old location.

They don’t want parking, as if any project could conceivably be successful without it.

They don’t want big-box stores, as if reconstructing the Central Wharf is analogous to erecting a single-story cinder-block building in a sea of asphalt.

They think the project costs the public too much, as if leaving the ground vacant for the last 70 years didn’t cost us millions upon millions. They ignore the tens of millions of dollars to be generated in sales and property taxes and the economic impact of new jobs.

They don’t like the process; we apparently didn’t consult with the “right” people or the so-called business leaders who shoot arrows while hiding behind a veil of anonymity and offer nothing but criticism.

And on and on we go. With all due respect to Esmonde and Company, they really are missing the point.

This is our opportunity — all of ours. Not mine, not Esmonde’s, not some well-meaning preservationist’s, but the entire community’s. It is ours to win or lose. When we announced Bass Pro, we did not announce a fait accompli to the community; we announced an opportunity.

There is plenty of room for good ideas and local input to give this project the highest-quality design. I am sure we can make it something to be proud of. It’s time to stop the threats and name-calling and enjoy the peace of a Sunday morning. We are bigger than that and have more important things to accomplish.

*clap* *clap* *clap*