Ralph Wilson Park is a 100+-acre waterfront park on the shoreline of Lake Erie in downtown Buffalo. Rooted in a multi-year community visioning process, the park is undergoing a $110M transformation to become one of the most beautiful and inclusive public spaces in the country, serving nearby residents and visitors from across the region and beyond. Construction is expected to continue through 2025.
Read this week’s update to park neighbors and stakeholders here.
Below are updates we include in our monthly e-newsletter.
From Katie Campos, RWPC Executive Director, on September 13th, 2023:
The park is buzzing! The splash pad, pool, skate park and football field were packed right up until the start of school. Our park is clearly beloved by so many neighbors; we’re working hard to build an even better park for you to enjoy!
Construction is also adding to the buzz! Crews have been building the sea wall and the inlet on the south end of the park. We are replacing the vertical, hard sea wall with an armored slope of marine rock.
As strong waves hit the cement seawall now it exacerbates the disturbance in the water. We are replacing that with armored slopes – very large stone with gaps in between. The wave energy will move through those openings and get dissipated instead of gaining force when reflected off the hard embankment.
Learn more about operation: protect our shoreline here and read more about construction progress here.
What makes Ralph Wilson Park great is that it is and has always been deeply rooted in community. Our Community Working Group walked through the park last week and brainstormed ways to keep the park abuzz in every season. Teaser: we are going to host a park pop-IN! Stay tuned for the first date this fall. Our Heritage Engagement Blog below highlights the benefits this outdoor fun can bring us all! Please join us – sign up to be a part of the Community Working Group here or to volunteer here.
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From Katie Campos, RWPC Executive Director, on August 9th, 2023:
The core of the park is officially closed for construction! The pool, splash pad, skate park and football field remain OPEN. The temporary dog park is open on the 4th Street side of the park (find directions here). Construction over the next few weeks will focus on fencing, demolition, installing environmental safety-measures, and beginning the shoreline work.
Safety is our number one priority and the public will not be able to access the construction site. As you can see from outside the gates, there is already massive construction equipment moving around the site.
We’re reusing everything we can! The City of Buffalo worked with the crews to sweep and reclaim any materials for reuse – bleachers, benches, fencing, even the granite curbing! And, of course, the dog bone bench which will be featured in the new dog park.
In the coming days and weeks, the construction team will begin excavating the shoreline near the sea plane and dredging for the inlet. Dredging involves excavation or “digging” of soil and rock that is below the water line.When construction takes place in the water, they put up a turbidity curtain to hold the water and sediment back, so it doesn’t disturb the lake. You can learn more about the shoreline and the inlet here.
The Shoreline Trail Detour signs will be in place next week. The Conservancy is putting up temporary signs at Erie and Lakefront Blvd on the south end of the park and by Porter and Niagara on the north side. We regret that there is a gap between when the park closed and when the official detour signs go up. We are sorry for the inconvenience and frustration this caused our bicyclist, walking and running neighbors. Thank you for your patience.
From Katie Campos, RWPC Executive Director, on July 10, 2023:
Construction fencing started going up at the park today, signaling the next big step in transforming Ralph Wilson Park. Over the coming weeks, we will wrap some of the fencing with student art work and images of what the park will look like after construction.
This morning, Andy Rabb (City of Buffalo Deputy Commissioner of Parks and Recreation) and I were joined by the Gilbane Construction team to provide an update on this phase of construction.
Fencing went up on the 4th Street side of the park first for the temporary dog park to ensure there was no disruption in access for all of our dog friends and their humans. Over the course of the next couple of weeks, you will see fencing go up throughout the park, heavy machinery like excavators being delivered, and Gilbane will start mobilizing barges and marine equipment to begin work on the shoreline.
Public safety remains our #1 priority. The core of park will be an active (and major!) construction zone with heavy machinery and materials moving around. While the core of the park will remain closed during construction, we hope you visit us at the splash pad, the pool, the skatepark, and the football fields throughout the summer!
Katie, Andy Rabb, and members of the Gilbane Construction team were on-site on Monday, July 10th to share an update on the next phase of construction.
From Katie Campos, RWPC Executive Director, on June 14, 2023:
The big question on everyone’s mind…when will construction get under way at Ralph Wilson Park? The answer…soon! The construction team, Gilbane is gearing up to start construction in the next month. You will see the construction fencing go up to signal that Gilbane is about to begin. We are working up some designs to put on the public-facing fencing to tell the story of how we got here and tap into the excitement about what the park will look like when it is complete. You’ll also notice lawn signs going up to let park users and neighbors know what to expect.
Last Monday our community celebrated the groundbreaking of the new Bills Stadium. Today, we celebrated the ribbon cutting at the Buffalo AKG. Within the month,
construction will start at Ralph Wilson Park. Not surprisingly, with three major infrastructure projects occurring at the same time, we are hitting the limit of construction crews available! This is problem we haven’t had in Buffalo in a few decades, and while the delays are frustrating, Buffalo is making a huge comeback, and we are incredibly excited to be a part of it.
You can check out what parts of the park will be closed to construction below. The pool, splash pad, skate park and football fields will remain open, as will a temporary dog park.
From Katie Campos, RWPC Executive Director, on April 6, 2023:
Construction on our park will begin in earnest this summer, and we want to make sure our community is aware of what is going on. We also want to share the cool science behind the park design decisions.
The park will be an active (and massive) construction site. Safety is of the utmost importance during this process, and we are working in partnership with the City of Buffalo to communicate what will be accessible and what will be closed off during construction. We want to keep everyone safe and informed while this major infrastructure project is underway.
Quite a bit of the park will still be open, and we hope you take advantage of it! The pool, splash pad, skatepark, football field and a temporary dog park will be open this summer. You’ll notice that the skatepark is actively being used, and we look forward to cooling off in the pool and splashpad this summer! In fact, we just rented the shelter by the splashpad to celebrate my kids 2nd birthday! You can rent a shelter through the City of Buffalo here.
It is important to note that one of the main drivers behind transforming the park is that it was deteriorating. Storms have become more intense with climate change– seiche events are more severe and much more of the park floods with each storm. Unfortunately, the blizzard this past December wreaked further damage on the park – leaving in its wake sinkholes six-feet in diameter and severely damaged paths and breaks in the guard rails along the sea wall.
Gilbane, the site Construction Manager, will begin its work this spring. The park will be a massive construction site, and much of it will be closed to ensure public safety — the park promenade and everything south of the football field parking lot will be closed to the public. Gilbane will be posting a detour for the Empire State/Shoreline Trail in the coming weeks, which we will share.
Over the next few weeks, Gilbane will be selecting companies to begin work on Phase 1 of the park. As their work schedules are confirmed, we will have a better sense of what that construction will look like, and we look forward to sharing that with you. We know that it is important for park users to understand what is going on, and we think the story behind the work is a fascinating one!
PREVIOUS UPDATES
Phase One of Construction is Underway (from Feb 2023)
Phase one of construction began in 2022. The graphic below outlines the area of the park impacted during this phase. We anticipate this phase will be substantially complete by the end of 2024.
In addition to the site preparation and tree replacement process, the first phase will also include improvements to three baseball and softball fields, renovations to soccer fields, adding restrooms, and rehabilitating the inlet area to strengthen the shoreline and protect the park from higher lake levels and severe weather. There will also be a new pedestrian bridge across the I-190. The bridge will increase access to the park and waterfront and include new landscape landings.
The second phase of construction will begin concurrently, likely in late 2024. Many factors impact construction timing – we will continue to update the website with current status and information.
Site Preparation Began in 2022
In late 2022, the tree replacement process began to allow for shoreline reconfiguration which is necessary for flood protection, ADA accessibility, and significant changes in topography (think: hills). At this time, 276 trees were removed. About 2,680 trees will be planted as part of the park’s reconstruction. The WNY Land Conservancy is collecting seeds from local native plants and growing many of these plants from the ground up. WNY Land Conservancy will provide 50,000 plants, including trees, shrubs, grasses, and wildflowers to the park. This tree replacement process will provide a greater ecologic benefit to our shoreline than what was there before.
Each piece of this project is designed to protect and improve the environment. Some of the trees will be used as part of a plan for submerged shoreline habitat, called a rootwad*, and the rest would be chipped up. Many of the newly planted trees will be native species and will provide year-round seasonal enjoyment, shade, and ecological benefits to terrestrial and avian species. *A rootwad is a bank stabilization and aquatic habitat improvement strategy. It is a buried or a partially buried dead tree into the stream-bank with the root system still attached. This method improves the natural habitat and enhances the bank stability.
The process will help reconfigure the shoreline to provide flood protection for the parkland and to create pathways that meet American Disability Act (ADA) standards. Residents will be able to continue to use the park during this process. The park’s design was created with the community’s help and input, and it celebrates the equity and diversity reflected in Buffalo and the surrounding community.
In addition to the site preparation and tree replacement process, the first phase will also include improvements to three baseball and softball fields, renovations to soccer fields, adding restrooms, rehabilitating the inlet area to strengthen the shoreline and protect the park from higher lake levels and severe weather. There will also be a new pedestrian bridge across the I-190. The bridge will increase access and include new landscape landings.
Once complete, the Ralph Wilson Park will be an interactive recreation space for both children and adults to enjoy. The park will feature a diverse assortment of native plant and tree species that will improve the lives of birds and other area wildlife.
Event Updates or Cancellations
Events in Ralph Wilson Park have been suspended during construction.
Contact Us
If you have additional questions, please fill out the form below and our project team will get back to you.
The park has been deteriorating and we needed to re-grade it to protect against rising water levels, increasing storms, and weather events. The park has been battered by storms. The majority of the park floods during a storm, and if the park wasn’t being rebuilt into the community’s vision, it would likely continue to be underwater during storm events and further compromise the seawall and park.
There are two reasons for this: primarily, climate change. We are experiencing more frequent and intense storms. There are intense winds and waves that pick-up strength as they come from the west part of Lake Erie. Those winds are funneled into the park — our shoreline and Canada’s creates a funnel as the lake flows into the Niagara River and the park is in the bullseye.
The second reason is that the hard shoreline doesn’t absorb and dissipate the wave action, and the shallow water level of Lake Erie creates a bathtub effect that increases, rather than decreases, the waves.
To protect against flooding from increased weather events and rising water, we are creating a new, resilient shoreline; raising the elevation of the park near the shoreline (581’ above sea level – currently the park is at 579’ above sea level); introducing changes in elevation (hills) up to 30 feet; and ensuring that the park will be ADA accessible, which it currently is not.
This PowerPoint provides a visual overview of the ways in which we are improving shoreline resiliency.
We prioritized 4 shoreline design goals:
Structural resilience
Flood protection
Ecological restoration
Enhanced water access and experience
We engaged the experts to research and analyze what we can do to better protect the park and surrounding community. We introduced shoreline complexity, a departure from the straight, hard shoreline. We are replacing the vertical, hard sea wall with an armored slope of marine rock. Right now, wave energy reflects of the hard, vertical sea wall and exacerbates the disturbance in the water – it creates a bathtub effect where the water hits the sea wall, bounces off, gains steam, and then come backs stronger. We are replacing that with armored slopes – very large stone with gaps in between. The wave energy will move through those openings and get dissipated instead of getting reflected and more chaotic.
We analyzed the potential impact of storms and waves on the park after we raise the elevation of the bulkhead from 579’ ft above sea level to 581’ and replaced the hard, vertical sea wall with an armored slope and we found that the elevated bulkhead reduced flooding and wave impact.
Once the park is completed, we will have planted about 2,600 new trees (approximately 5x the amount of trees removed) that will provide comfort through shade and wind protection and seasonal interest through flowering and fall colors to all visitors. Some of the removed trees will find a second life in the inlet area as rootwads and standing snags to enhance the new habitat being created.
The trees were removed in the early winter of 2022 as a way to protect the Northern Long Eared Bats, who were in hibernation elsewhere by that time. This was a requirement of the regulatory agencies to protect the species.
Reimagining Outdoor Play at the Buffalo Waterfront
New play spaces for kids coming to the redesigned Ralph Wilson Park.
It’s hard to miss them this week. Weighed down with backpacks, pouring off buses and running across the crosswalks, Buffalo kids are hard to miss during back-to-school season. Such visibility of Buffalo’s Generation Alphainspired us to think about these important potential park-goers. What can a better park do for Buffalo’s kids and how will the community-driven redesign behind this summer of construction impact our city’s youngest citizens?
In scientific research, the evidence overwhelmingly shows a range of health benefits for people with regular access to nature and outdoor spaces like an urban park. It is not just physical health, research on mental health links access to green spaces during childhood with a lifetime of benefits. Earlier this summer we wrote about the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), one of which focuses on building better cities with increased access to urban green spaces. In this global goal, increasing access for children is highlighted. In building a piece of natural heritage for generations to come, Ralph Wilson Park will provide an incredible resource to visitors of all ages, with kids perhaps enjoying the greatest benefits. As Buffalo will soon see, the Imagine LaSalle community group put in motion the creation of a park that will give local and visiting children a place to remember. The new Ralph Wilson Park will impact the kids of today as well as those of generations to come, reimagining what outdoor play can be in downtown Buffalo.
So what exactly is in store for children at the future Ralph Wilson Park? Let’s start with the play spaces. Innovative and colorful, kids visiting the park will have their pick of spaces made exclusively for them. Soon we will see kids running wild on a massive freighter ship, exploring the belly of a giant salamander, and scaling the back of a huge bird-shaped jungle gym housed in the future play garden. The playground currently near 4th street will be reimagined as well, through a partnership with Kaboom!, a national nonprofit that works to end playspace inequity. This new playground will be designed by the kids, for the kids!. The splash pad and the park’s existing community pool, the most widely used public pool in Buffalo, will continue to be highlights of the park as well, helping families cool down during the summer.
Beyond these new play spaces, kids will have access to improved baseball and softball diamonds, as well as soccer and football fields, and plenty of lawn areas for outdoor games, continuing sports traditions that bring teams like the Westside Little League back year after year.
And there’s more! In the past, access to Lake Erie was difficult and dangerous. Not anymore. The new park will feature a new lagoon for fishing and kayak launch that will make accessing our incredible freshwater lake easier for boaters and fishers. Even getting to the park will be more kid-friendly. The new pedestrian bridge will transport everyone safely across a highway that has long acted like a barrier to entering the park on foot. The built features in the final version of the redesigned park will offer so much to our younger visitors.
While the new physical features of the park will be exciting on their own, the Ralph Wilson Park Conservancy hopes to offer even more for Buffalo kids. A natural heritage place like this park opens up a world of engagement possibilities. Field trips for Buffalo schools could use the park to open young eyes to local ecology, as it will soon be filled with local plant species and friendly habitats for native critters. For older classes, a visit to learn about the shoreline restoration could supplement lessons on sustainability or environmental sciences. Likewise, the Conservancy’s future plans for community programming will engage people of all ages. When the final park is revealed, the benefits to Buffalo’s kids will just be starting.
While current construction may make it hard to visualize, the final redesign of Ralph Wilson Park will be a huge investment in our city’s future. Not only will this section of the Lake Erie shoreline be a revitalized destination for locals and visitors alike, access to the state-of-the-art park will better the lives of children for generations. The future is bright down at the former LaSalle Park, and our kids will be one of the biggest demographics to reap the benefits of this new green space in downtown Buffalo.
Gilbane Building Company was selected as Construction Manager for the park in June 2022, and the official groundbreaking was held in July 2022. The core park was closed in July 2023 and the park is currently under active construction.
Increasing access to greenspace and waterfront
Construction continues on the main park, including the signature pedestrian bridge and the Great Lawn. The Great Lawn will be a location for respite and events. It will transition to a sledding hill during the winter month to ensure year-round activation.
Creating dramatic spaces
The Grove features the Edith Wilson and Linda Bogdan Gardens. It creates an eye-popping entrance as park-goers walk into the park across the pedestrian bridge.
Ensuring shoreline resiliency
Initial construction will also include the inlet, a park element which combines shoreline resiliency with ecological uplift.
Enriching the wildlife habitat
Throughout the construction, thousands of new trees and native plants will be added, as well as additional landscaping improvements.
Future construction
Future construction will include the destination play garden, blueway site to increase safe water access, expanded bike and pedestrian trails, additional sports fields/courts, and more.
