It has a snappy new slogan and some more details are emerging around plans tied to streetscape improvements for Niagara Falls’ Downtown Redevelopment Initiative (DRI).
Consultants working on the project held their second in a series of community presentations and listening events on Tuesday evening at LaSalle Preparatory School. They unveiled what appears to be the project’s goal, titled: Main Street Is For Everyone!
As he had at an earlier public presentation, James Fruechti, a landscape architect with the project’s design firm Fisher Associates, told those in attendance that the DRI is “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reimagine Main Street.” Calling public input of the project “essential”, he said the initiative aims to serve both Falls residents and visitors.
“It looks to bring people to the downtown core,” Fruechti said.
He listed goals of strengthening access to public places, promoting tourism and attracting both businesses and residents into the area by making it “a destination.” The DRI looks to connect the state park with Main Street by increasing the attractiveness of an area bounded by the Earl Brydges public library, the Falls train station and the park running along Whirlpool Avenue.
“We want to create a walkable, active neighborhood,” Fruechti said.
He said residents who attended the previous public presentation told the consultants they wanted a “safe walkable Main Street, with lots of storefronts.” Fruechti said design teams were looking at finalizing plans to bring new signage, lighting, trees and benches to the Main Street project, along with a “quad space” by the library that would function as an event space.
The $3 million project, funded by the New York State Department of State, is scheduled to break ground in 2027.
“Many of you have fond memories of Main Street,” Mayor Robert Restaino said. “We can create a Main Street that has vibrancy again.
The mayor pointed to new levels of business investment targeted to the street through the city’s Urban Renewal Agency.