Is the state making up for past wrongs in Niagara Falls or serving its own interests?
That was at the heart of comments made during a public meeting Tuesday night on a proposal to redesign the Robert Moses Parkway as it enters Niagara Falls State Park.
And representatives for the state's Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation got an earful. A story in today's Niagara & Region section explains the latest conceptual designs for the southern section of the parkway and the public reaction.
Many of the speakers at the meeting expressed disappointment over the way the state has managed the park for more than a century. They told project consultants that their failure to draw up a proposal to remove the road from the park and restore its natural landscape is a mistake.
Dozens of people who attended the meeting and appeared to be opposed to the plan came together and are affiliated with a commercial building, One Niagara, that operates a paid parking lot and a retail center just outside the state park.
Others came on their own.
Whoever they came with, many of the people at the meeting appeared to oppose the latest conceptual designs and to blame the state for the condition of Niagara Falls.
"I have to explain every day pretty much why there's a hideous mess to look at in what was once a beautiful city," said Robert Helms, a musician who also works in One Niagara.
Jeff Lebsack, of Hatch Mott MacDonald, the lead consultant on the project, said the proposals are meant as an improvement.
"Everybody working on this project really does care about the city and our efforts are oriented to trying to return and correct some of these things that happened," Lebsack said. "We're going to try to change some of that."
-- Denise Jewell Gee