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| Communities by Design Built Works: Architects Demonstrate the Value of Community Design | | > | A Civic Vision for Turnpike Air Rights Boston, Massachusetts | | > | East Baltimore Comprehensive Physical Redevelopment Plan Baltimore, MD | | > | Inner Harbor East Baltimore, MD | | > | Lafayette Courts Baltimore, MD | | > | Mid-Embarcadero San Francisco, California | | > | Landmark Lighting Master Plan Milwaukee, WI | | > | New York State Canal Recreationway Plan Albany, NY | | > | Pennsylvania Convention Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | | > | The Village of Park DuValle Louisville, KY | | > | Riparian Meadows, Mounds, and Rooms Warren, Arkansas | | > | UrbanRiver Visions seven communities, Massachusetts | | > | West Harlem Waterfront Park New York, New York | | > | R/UDAT Built Works | | > | R/UDAT Austin, TX | | > | R/UDAT Moose Jaw, Canada | | > | R/UDAT Salt Lake City, UT | | > | R/UDAT San Angelo | | > | R/UDAT Springfield, IL | | | |
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Project Details
Architect: Beyer
Blinder Belle, Architects and Planners LLP
Award: National AIA Award for Regional and Urban
Design 1996
Implementation Status: Adopted by State, many
projects developed as a result over the entire 500 mile lenght of
canal, follow up projects initiated by state and local, 200
communities affected.
Erie Canal Way: National Heritage Corridor (PDF 3,600KB)
View Communities by Design Built Works: New York State Canal Recreationway Plan
(requires Google Earth)
Find Communities by Design Built Works: New York State Canal Recreationway Plan
(Google Maps)
Main Page - Projects Index
Background
In the 20th century, commercial and passenger use of the New
York State Canal System – 524 miles of navigable waterway,
including the Erie, Champlain, Oswego, and Cayuga-Seneca Canals
– dwindled in the face of competition from railroads,
highways, and the St. Lawrence Seaway. Sections of the
system’s predecessor towpath-era canals had been abandoned or
covered for use as parks or roads. Many canalside communities that
owed their initial growth, urban form, and economic livelihood to
the canals had turned their backs to their waterfronts, and the
region’s natural and cultural resources were threatened. In
1992, the New York State legislature enacted legislation creating
the New York State Canal Recreationway Commission, with a mandate
“that the beauty, historic character, and environmental
integrity of the canals be preserved for future
generations.”
The New York State Canal Recreationway Plan, prepared under the
supervision of the Recreationway Commission and with intensive
public input, was completed in 1995. The Recreationway Plan
presented a new vision of the canal system as a linear park, taking
advantage of the region’s historic heritage, preserving the
beauting of its natural settings, and utilizing recreational
improvements to enhance economic opportunities. Its recommendations
and designs included a system of boating and tourist amenities,
spaced to accommodate different modes and speeds of travel;
guidelines for the preservation of existing historic resources and
the design of new public facilities; measures for conservation of
habitat and improvements to water quality; specific waterfront
improvements to support a variety of recreational boating
activities; a multi-use end-to end Canalway Trail; improved access
to the canals from the New York State Thruway and area air and rail
terminals; a thematic framework for interpretation of canal
history; new products to improve marketing efforts; and designation
of the canal system region as a National Heritage Area.
Implementation Status
Implementation of the Recreationway Plan has included far too
many investments, government and private actions, and local
construction projects to list here. A partial list of state-funded
projects from 1995-2004, attached, does not include the many
federally funded projects inspired or guided by the Recreationway
Plan.
Chief among these is the Erie
Canalway National Heritage Corridor, created by Congressional
legislation in 2000 to plan for, encourage, and assist historic
preservation, conservation, recreation, interpretation, tourism,
and community development in the 234 municipalities linked by the
canal system. The Corridor designation, a direct result of the
Recreationway Plan, brings a broader scope, federal resources,
increased visibility, and a new level of clarity, vision, and
energy to existing planning and implementation activities – an
“umbrella” to help convene, coordinate, and catalyze
existing and new collaborative efforts, including those initiated
by the Recreationway Plan itself. The Corridor’s Preservation and Management
Plan, completed in 2006, is the first comprehensive guide to
planning across the entire canal system region, and its
implementation has already begun.
Another critical result of the Recreationway Plan was the New York
State Canal Revitalization Program, a ten-year program of
investments totaling over $80 million. All seven of the Canal
Harbors and dozens of the Service Ports and Lock Park projects
proposed by the Plan have been completed, as well as over 245 miles
of the proposed Canalway Trail. When the Trail is completed in
2007, it will be the longest continuous mixed-use trail in the
nation. These improvements, as well as targeted marketing and
interpretive activities funded by the program, have helped
transform the canal system and adjoining state-owned lands into a
recreational resource with increasing recognition across the
country and the world. At the same time, the State has increased
its investments in the preservation and maintenance of the
region’s greatest historic resource – the canal system
itself. In total, the State has invested over $230 million in canal
system improvements since the Recreationway Plan.
Public Process
Implementation of the Recreationway Plan was based on four basic
strategies: public investment by the Canal Corporation; cooperative efforts
with state agencies; Canal Corporation partnerships with private
enterprise and nonprofit organizations; and encouraging local
government participation. Local goals, priorities, and strategies
for much Recreationway Plan implementation have been guided by
Local Waterfront Revitalization Programs, prepared through a public
process by communities or groups of communities with help from
state agencies. The Canal Revitalization Program was overseen by
the Recreationway Commission, the same public body that produced
the Plan, which holds regular public meetings. There has been
extensive local and regional media coverage of key implementation
activities.
Preparation of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor
Preservation and Management Plan, which seeks to continue and
expand on implementation of the Recreationway Plan, was informed by
extensive public input. Community surveys provided a base level of
information about the current status of historic preservation,
interpretation, and economic revitalization activities. A first
series of public meetings was held in 2003-2004 to gather
impressions from the public and explain to local communities the
legislated purpose of the Corridor; a second series of meetings was
held in 2005 to present the draft Plan, gather public comments, and
galvanize the support for implementation. Numerous meetings were
also held with tribal representatitves, political leaders, and
private stewards of heritage resources.
Community Impact
New York State’s investments through the Canal
Revitalization Program have in turn spurred numerous federal, local
government, and private investments. These range from the creation
of new marinas, hospitality services, and other recreation-related
businesses, to the adaptive reuse of historic canal-related
structures and vessels, to the redevelopment of entire urban
waterfronts in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and many smaller
cities and villages. Many municipalities, assisted by nonprofits
and state programs, have reconnected their main streets or park
systems to the canals and rededicated themselves to the
preservation and interpretation of canal-related historic and
cultural resources. Recognizing the linkages afforded by the canal
system, many communities have formed regional partnerships for
watershed management, as well as for marketing, tourism
development, and interpretation.
A major goal of the Recreationway Plan was to help change local
perceptions of the canal system; the new attitude that resulted is
exemplified by events such as the Cycling the Erie Canal bicycle tour, the
Waterford Tugboat
Roundup, and numerous local and regional “canal days”
celebrations that have garnered extensive local, regional, and even
international participation. Once perceived as an industrial relic,
the canal system is now championed by many residents, business
owners, and politicians as a vital recreational and cultural
amenity, as a link to the region’s history, and as a natural
habitat worth protecting. And even as recreational use of the
canals and related trails and parks have increased, there is
widespread appreciation for the canals’ continued utility as a
commercial transportation system, as large or unusual shipments
bring crowds to the locks.
Lessons Learned
The public process for the Erie Canalway National Heritage
Corridor Preservation and Management Plan provided valuable insight
into local perspectives on the Recreationway Plan and its
implementation. In general, local residents were very appreciative
of the Recreationway Plan and its impacts on recreational
opportunities, public perception of the canals, and related
economic development. At the same time, many residents sought a
more open forum for discussion of key canal-related development
issues such as water management and disposition of public lands,
improved access to information about available funding, and
increased opportunities for regional collaboration in marketing and
economic development efforts.
Principles for Livable Communities
1. Design on a Human Scale: Many of the Recreationway Plan
improvements brought a pedestrian scale and function to previously
industrial waterfronts. The Plan’s design guidelines for new
public spaces informed choices ranging from landscaping materials
to street widths.
2. Provide Choices: The recreational improvements of the Plan are
enjoyed by people of all backgrounds, and have provided new
recreational alternatives in many communities that previously had
limited opportunities.
3. Encourage Mixed-Use Development: Under the Recreationway Plan,
neglected industrial and commercial waterfronts have been
transformed into viable recreation and retail activity centers.
These in turn have helped spur neary residential and commercial
development.
4. Preserve Urban Centers: As many canal communities grew up around
their waterfronts, improvements under the Recreationway Plan have
helped strengthen urban centers by bringing new activity to
canalside downtown streets. An emphasis on historic preservation
has also helped to curb sprawl.
5. Vary Transportation Options: Improvements such as the Canalway
Trail and waterfront promenades have provided new options for
walking and biking. The canal system itself, maintained and
improved at the recommendation of the Plan, provides a viable
commercial shipping alternative to highway truck traffic.
6. Build Vibrant Public Spaces: All seven of the Plan’s
recommended Canal Harbors, and many of the recommended Service
Ports and Lock Parks, incorporate well-defined public places,
meeting facilities, and spaces for performances or other gatherings
such as canal festivals.
7. Create a Neighborhood Identity: The new facilities built under
the Plan have been designed to contribute to an already strong
sense of place created by historic patterns of development around
the canals. Even as uses have shifted toward recreation, retail,
and housing, the unique canal-era quality of many communities has
been strengthened through adaptive reuse and appropriate new
streetscapes.
8. Protect Environmental Resources: The Plan recognized
conservation of natural resources as critical to the preservation
of the canal system’s water quality, recreational value, and
viability as a tourism generator. Actions supported by the Plan
include efforts to mitigate erosion of canal banks and reduce
pollution of canal waters and canalside lands.
9. Conserve Landscapes: The Plan’s land management
recommendations have helped to guide the disposition of state-owned
land alongside the canal system, emphasizing development within
existing settled areas and the creation of a continuous
“greenway” for recreation and habitat.
10. Design Matters: The Recreationway Plan emphasized design as an
important component of the public process. In many communities, the
Plan’s schedule of recommended improvements increased
awareness of the value of historic preservation, adaptive reuse,
and context-sensitive design.
Overall Sustainable Contribution
The canal communities of upstate New York have been undergoing
extensive economic restructuring for more than two decades. As
industrial and large-scale commercial activity has declined,
downtowns have emptied and new development has shifted to the
suburbs, straining local infrastructure and eroding formerly
distinct town-country borders. The Recreationway Plan provided a
framework to revitalize urban centers with accessible recreational
opportunities, diverse cultural offerings, and a strong sense of
place based on historic character. These “quality of
life” investments supported sustainable growth by attracting
new residents, businesses, and tourists – and their
investments – back to the region’s urban centers.
The Recreationway Plan reenvisioned the canal system as the key not
only to the region’s past, but to its future as well – as
a new center for economic and social activity and community pride.
The sustainability of that vision has been proven by the recent
completion of a new planning effort, the Erie Canalway National
Heritage Corridor, which will build on the Recreationway
Plan’s achievements with federal resources and the high level
of visibility and credibility provided by the National Park Service
and Congressional designation.
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| Improved access to recreational activities ranging from boating to cycling to waterfront strolling, as pictured in Pittsford |
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| Seneca Falls Waterfront in 1994 |
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| Seneca Falls Waterfront in 2004. Recreationway Plan's design guidelines for public spaces have been incorporated into the community's comprehensive plan. |
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| Rochester Waterfront in 1994 |
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| Rochester Waterfront in 2004. Public improvements have prompted public/private investments along the waterfront including new mixed-income housing, retail, and commercial developments, a marina and a waterfront sports center. |
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