By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – More than two years after it was announced, a pre-development agreement to bring a Bass Pro downtown was approved Friday. The Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC) has reached an accord with the Missouri-based retailer to build an Outdoor World store adjacent to the historic commercial slip.
It was on November 29th, 2004 when Bass Pro officials gathered with local elected leaders dressed in hunting jackets for a big announcement at Shanghai Red's. Bass Pro President Jim Hagale said his company would convert the old Memorial Auditorium into its largest Outdoor World store.
Despite the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, a final deal was elusive. Bass Pro stores opened in nearby Auburn and Toronto. On any number of occasions, we heard that a deal was imminent. Then, nothing happened.
The creation of the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation raised expectations. Bass Pro now had a single entity to deal with. But it soon became apparent that Bass Pro was no longer interested in the Aud. So, negotiations shifted earlier this year to finding an alternative site. They settled on one adjacent to the historic commercial slip that is in the final stages of being restored.
Benderson Development will oversee construction of the Bass Pro store and adjacent retail outlets. It will be called Canal Side. Plans call for a 100,000 square foot Bass Pro store. The wood, glass and brick building with multiple roof lines and facades will evoke the historical design of the original pre-Civil War Central Wharf building.
Plans also call for construction of a 20,000 square foot Erie Canal Museum and 30,000 square foot arcade/public market.
"This is a significant project that will both energize development in Buffalo and connect the downtown area to the waterfront," Governor Eliot Spitzer said in a written statement from his Albany office.
Mayor Byron Brown says Bass Pro presented plans that the public will find appealing.
Count Tim Tielman among those who are not pleased. Regardless of the design, Tielman does not like the idea of a big box retailer being plopped into the historic canal district. He's executive director of the group, Campaign for Buffalo History, Architecture and Culture. Tielman says he skeptical of conceptual designs that promise an historic look.
Tielman says the environmental impact statement for the commercial slip restoration signed several years ago specifically prohibits a big box store nearby.
Bass Pro is expected to attract shoppers from outside the region, which is key, says Canisius College Economics Professor George Palumbo, to the impact it will have on the region's economy.
Officials say $25 million in state funding would be earmarked for Bass Pro, down from the $66 million that would have been needed to convert Memorial Auditorium. The agreement does include $10 million in state funding to tear down the Aud. The ECHDC will own the building and Bass Pro Shops will pay common area maintenance and fees of $300,000 a year for an initial 20-year lease with renewals to 50 years for a total of $15 million.
Construction is scheduled to begin a year from now with the store opening to the public in 2009.
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