LaSalle Park: UB, project partners seek public’s input at workshop Jan. 17

BUFFALO, N.Y. — One of the nation’s leading landscape architecture firms, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (MVVA), will be in Buffalo on Jan. 17 to launch the conceptual design phase of the Imagine LaSalle park redesign project.

The meeting will be held from 6-8 p.m. Jan. 17 at International Preparatory School, 110 14th St., and will offer an opportunity for the community to directly discuss recommendations and ideas for the park with MVVA designers and community engagement facilitators from the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning and the UB Regional Institute (UBRI).

To kick off the meeting, UBRI will summarize the engagement work that went into creating the community’s vision for the park over the summer of 2018. MVVA will provide an overview of the conceptual design process and landscape architecture principles that guide their work. Attendees will also hear MVVA’s analysis of existing conditions and design opportunities in the park.

Registration prior to the event is highly encouraged. To register for the workshop, or to learn more about Imagine LaSalle and the conceptual design process, visit ImagineLaSalle.org.

During the community workshop portion of the meeting, community members can travel between stations arranged by design theme, such as connectivity, water access, athletic recreation and others. The public is encouraged to review design concepts, talk about ideas with team members and share written input at each station.

MVVA will return to Buffalo for additional public workshops in February and March.  Each month, the design team will present updated concepts that have been revised based on input from previous meetings and offer a chance for the community to share additional feedback. In late spring 2019, MVVA will return to Buffalo with a conceptual design, including renderings and a large physical model, which will go on public display after the design presentation.

The conceptual design phase builds off the community vision created in 2018, while incorporating specific ideas from the community about what should go into the park, where it should be placed, how it should look and more. After the conceptual design phase is complete, designers will begin schematic design in preparation for construction.

The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation’s generous donation of $50 million to LaSalle Park, announced in October 2018, supports the ongoing design and community engagement process to transform LaSalle Park into Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park.

Imagine LaSalle is a community-driven initiative to guide the transformation of LaSalle Park into Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park. This effort is made possible through the generosity of the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation in partnership with the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo.

The University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning and one of its research centers, the UB Regional Institute (UBRI), are managing this engagement process to ensure broad and meaningful community input shape the park’s future. Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, a New York-based landscape architecture firm known worldwide for its creative and unique urban design with projects that include parks, plazas, cultural institutions, gardens and more, is leading the conceptual design of the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park.

The City of Buffalo is an active project partner represented by its Division of Parks and Recreation, the Department of Community Services and Recreational Programming, the Buffalo Urban Development Corporation and the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning.