Urban Design Studio Reimagines Niagara Falls' North End, Students to Present Findings to Public

Urban planning students from UB's School of Architecture and Planning will present findings from their semester-long study of Niagara Falls' Main Street and Niagara Gorge Corridors to members of the public on Wednesday, May 14, 2014 (6 pm, Niagara Falls City Hall, Council Chambers, 745 Main Street, Niagara Falls, NY).

To be presented as part of the Niagara Falls Planning Board Meeting, the master plan is the result of a graduate-level urban design studio at the School of Architecture and Planning. Under the direction of Hiro Hata, associate professor of urban and regional planning, students explored the complex planning and design issues related to redevelopment of the city's scenic Niagara Gorge corridor as well as its historic but long-troubled Main Street business district.  

Over the course of the studio, students worked with various members of the community, including a major property owner and studio sponsor TM Montante Development, Wendel Architects and Engineers, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and the Niagara Falls Department of Planning and Development.

The master plan offers concepts for creating new economic development opportunities and world-class public spaces that optimize the city's international and scenic opportunities. The plan focuses on extending tourist activity from the Rainbow Bridge to the Whirlpool Bridge, and considers the consequences of removing the Robert Mosses Parkway. Also offered in the plan are concepts for generating investment in the city's proposed cultural district, along Main and Whirlpool streets and the new International Railway Station.  

The master plan will also be presented to participants in the Congress for New Urbanism's national conference, to take place in Buffalo June 4-7, 2014. Hata and his students will join city leaders in facilitating "Reviving Niagara Falls' Urbanism: Design Charette."