What a night! More than 200 community members joined us at Waterfront Elementary on Tuesday, May 20th for an update on Ralph Wilson Park.
More than 1200 partners, community members, and stakeholders were involved in the planning and design of the park, including the 20 person Imagine LaSalle Focus Group who dreamt up what a world-class waterfront park can be. Learn more about Imagine LaSalle here.
Katie Campos, RWPC executive director, welcomed the crowd and thanked our many partners and volunteers for their support. She shared some exciting updates about the park’s phased opening, highlighting how the community-driven design is taking shape. She also encouraged everyone to keep an eye on our summer events calendar. More event announcements coming soon!
Marnetta Malcolm, vice-chair of the Ralph Wilson Park Conservancy board of directors, Imagine LaSalle focus group member, and founder of the Buffalo Funk Fest, encouraged the community to stay engaged. She emphasized that this is YOUR park and got everyone excited for the opening next year!
Andy Rabb, RWPC board member and deputy commissioner of parks and recreation, elaborated on what will be available when the park begins opening in summer 2026, including the 4th Street side of the park, the Ralph Wilson Park pedestrian bridge, two baseball/softball diamonds, soccer fields, the great lawn, much of the southern end of the park, including the area around the inlet. The rest of the shoreline, the play garden, and the dog park is part of the next phase of construction, which should begin later this summer.
In addition, our partners from the Western New York Land Conservancy were on hand to share updates on their work to help plant native species throughout the park, plants that support pollinators, protect water quality, and thrive in our local environment. They are doing this by providing native trees, shrubs, and grasses grown by local nurseries using seeds and starts from local plant communities. Learn more here! The City’s Office of Strategic Planning was also there to share their work on the lower West Side.
Couldn’t make it? Check out the media coverage from WGRZ and WIVB.
View our event photo gallery, and our presentation from the event.
Check out the construction progress & community engagement highlights from the past year.
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Here are answers to the questions we received at the meeting. Still have questions? Send to info@RWParkBuffalo.org.
When the park is completed will the Buffalo Marathon course return to the lakeside park similar to the LaSalle Park days?
We hope so! That is up to the organizers of the marathon, but we would welcome having this race run through our waterfront park.
When will the Great Lawn be open?
The Great Lawn is part of phase one and will be open in summer 2026.
How will security in the park be handled?
The Ralph Wilson Park Conservancy is raising money to support enhanced security efforts, beyond a working relationship with the Buffalo Police Department, to ensure the safety of community members and park assets.
What will the hours of the park be?
As part of our effort to ensure security at the park, we are working with Council Members Nowakowski and Rivera to amend the park hours to sunrise through 10pm, to be in line with the rest of the City of Buffalo parks.
For more information, check out our community meeting recaps from 2024 and 2023. And stay tuned for announcements on our upcoming summer events!