Growing up in the City of Tonawanda in the 1930s, Lloyd Long and his friends always wanted to swim across the Niagara River to Grand Island.

The river would come to mean more to Long when he served as mayor of Tonawanda from 1958 to 1965, during which time he initiated the baby steps of the city’s riverfront development that would transition it from the strictly commercial use it had then to the recreational predominance it holds today.

As mayor, Long and some councilmen at the time walked along the river in 1959 and proposed constructing the current City Hall on the waterfront. One year later, they laid the groundwork for what is now the multi-use trail along the waterfront in Niawanda Park.

In the decades since, the city’s riverfront, fueled by the park and such eateries as Mississippi Mudds and Old Man River, has blossomed into a hub of activity during the spring and summer.

Meanwhile, farther down the Niagara, North Tonawanda’s Gratwick Park embodies the obstacles and opportunities inherent in developing a waterfront hindered by the limitations of being a former brownfield site, and there are several of them along the river.

And then there’s the Town of Tonawanda, whose riverfront features industrial facilities like the Huntley plant interspersed with parks and biking and jogging trails.

Three municipalities, three stories and varying degrees of success define how waterfront property is used today. A far cry from the Depression-era economics of Long’s day, those whose jobs are to develop plans for best using natural resources have no shortage of opinions on the Niagara River’s current state in the Tonawandas.

Creating greenspace

Local planning experts agree that parts of the Tonawandas are indicative of good waterfront usage, but there certainly is room for improvement. Take, for example, Gratwick Park in North Tonawanda.

“It was capped, they put some trees in the ground and walked away from it thinking that it’s done,” said David L. Kenyon, a landscape architect with Wendel Architects & Engineers. “Well, there’s a lot more potential there.”

Kenyon grew up in the City of Tonawanda and now lives in North Tonawanda. “I go to (Gratwick Park) quite frequently with my family, and the feeling I get is, it’s barren, it’s wide open, it doesn’t have a cozy feel to it,” he said, adding that part of that is because of the capping work that was done as part of the remediation process. “It’s just pretty sparse out there.”

Niawanda Park in the City of Tonawanda, local planners and architects say, has a lot going for it, as evidenced by the immense traffic visible there, from bicycle riders to inline skaters to families picnicking along the river.

“Niawanda Park is really an underappreciated jewel in terms of local parks, and one I think could be a catalyst for resurgence of the City of Tonawanda,” said Jason Knight, a city resident who is a planner with Greenman-Pedersen, Inc., which has an office in Buffalo.

“Each (waterfront) is unique in its own way. Niawanda is very family-friendly and pedestrian-oriented and a more attractive recreation area,” Knight said. “Gratwick is a more passive location where you see kites being flown and car shows.”

While Niawanda Park needs little focus other than regular maintenance and upkeep, city leaders have contracted with the Wendel firm to create a design plan for improvements to the city’s waterfront along Young Street, in an attempt to better connect the riverfront with inland areas, especially Tonawanda’s downtown commercial district on Main Street.

“We see great opportunity for development there, and that will spur development along Young Street and create a more pedestrian-friendly space,” Kenyon said. “It’s a nice little spot and has great potential. Right now, it’s pretty much owned by the vehicles that drive up and down it, and we’re looking to tone that down a bit.”

Ellen L. Parker, a planner with Wendel, said the Young Street project will incorporate mixed uses of residential, commercial and greenspace and fill in the urban fabric with a sense of “old urbanism.”

Along the North Tonawanda riverfront, Gratwick Park isn’t the only area with untapped potential. Lumber City officials are in the process of looking at the feasibility of developing the waterfront there.

Refining an industrial powerhouse

On a more suburban scale, there’s plenty of room for improvement in the Town of Tonawanda, Parker said. Unlike much of the city, the Town of Tonawanda’s waterfront isn’t so accessible. Facilities like the Huntley plant occupy much of the town’s waterfront, harkening back to Tonawanda’s days as an epicenter of industry.

“It was the industrial center, the industrial powerhouse, and that legacy is still there,” said Parker, who worked on creating the town’s comprehensive plan. “It is an industrial waterfront, and that’s part of the legacy of American waterfronts.”

It’s those varying experiences — from industrial to picturesque — that make the Tonawandas unique, planning experts say.

The town is making strides to open up its waterfront. The Sherwood Greenway plan would connect the Sheridan Parkside neighborhood, including a park and a golf course, with the riverwalk near the town boat launch, Parker said. That project has some funding. However, there are right-of-way and property acquisition issues, which town officials are working out with the Thruway Authority.

Another area with potential is the 55-acre Cherry Farms site south of the Grand Island bridges. Formerly a brownfield site owned by National Grid, that parcel has been remediated and capped, and is being eyed as multi-faceted park.

Achieving a truly effective riverfront that draws inland people to the water and boaters and park users to commercial districts takes time, Parker said. “It’s one little project at a time. It’s baby steps. You can’t get the silver bullet.”

One area outside of Pittsburgh knows that all too well. Learn what that community is doing in the third part of the riverfront series.

Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.