Niagara Falls Gazette, Thursday, January 17, lp63. H •¥,

JACK"fe. GELLMAN CHARLES THIELE . WALTER L. EGGERT ANTHONY L. BAX WESLEY J. HILTS CaztHt Photos' by Joe Ogn!b«ne

DONALD J> O'HARA

By.BILL BRANCHE

Gazette^ City Hall Reportar

How does the plan for private downtown rede­velopment that was unveiled today, relate to the pre­liminary plans the city already, has for South End:

urban renewal?

The answer, in very general terms, is that it re­lates beautifully to the general neighborhood renewal plan now being, prepared by. DeLeuw, Cather Assb-V

ciates for the city. f; V

This is not to say .that the plan for. a giant mall in Falls Street will not present its problems, so far as the urban renewal process is concerned. But "the prob­lems appear to be in matters of detail rather than in any oasic conflict between urban renewal concepts and the mall schemed

In fact, the hew plan seems-to enhance the pros­pects for real urban renewal in the SouthrEnd.

Here is the reason why: 1. In an urban renewal project, the sponsoring

agency (usually the city) actually-takes the role of a landjspeculator. It decides on the area to be covered: by the project, obtains federal government approval and financial aid, and then buys the land in the project, and demolishes some or all of the, buildings. Then it hopes some private investor will come along, buy the cleared land, and build something economically pro­ductive on it.

This is what would have happened in the Falls Street area if private investors hadn't; come up in. advance with'a plan for redeveloping the whole area.

As it is, the normal urban renewal process will, have to be followed through in the rest of the down­town area. (This section, dubbed "Rainbow Center," is the area bounded by the old Hydraulic Canal, plus a few blocks north of the canal.)

In fact, the Falls Street area will also have to go, through the normal urban renewal process, with this difference: there won't have to be -any uncertainty, about redevelopment at the end of the process.

• Details of the plan have already been presented to city officials and to DeLeuw, Cather, the^Ianning consultant.

DeLeuw, Cather and Mid-American Appraisals Corp.V which is preparing an economic study of the South End, will have to take the proposal for a down­town covered mall and incorporate it in their studies. No doubt there will have to be consultations and com­promises during this process.

In addition, DeLeuw, Cather will.also have to make some revisions in its proposals for the rest of the downtown area. The consultants had recommend­ed that-downtown renewal be carried out in seven stages, with the Fali^ Street area to be the. first.

The project unveiled today slightly overlaps some boundaries of some.of the other project areas. It wiU.also no doubt affect street plans in other parts of downtown, as well as the timing of the other stages.

It is notable, however, that the hew.Falls Street plan conforms pretty generally with the tentative plan put forward by; DeLeuw. Cather last summer. The cbnsulta'nts urge^diA "shopping. maU-^though a more modest, one—tfor tfalls I Street,' with high-rise motels and apartment buildings' toi'"-be built to the east and south, as wellvas on the Prospect Street fringe. :" ;

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.Once all plans have been completed, they will be presented to the City Council and the Planning Board for referral to the Federal Housing and Home Finance Agency, which administers- the urban renewal pro--grain.,. • ^ -' .. :){

If federal officials approve the entire plan—in­cluding the Falls Street phase—it will be certified for federal aid an,d. returned to .the city. The plan. will, then have to be approved by the Council and the Planning Board, after public hearings have been held.

Then the city will have to have its consultants begin detailed plans for the separate^project areas within the Rainbow Center. Presumably, the Falls Street project.will require relatively little further planning so that the city could apply almost at once for federal funds to help, with the project.

When federal funds are provided, the city can be$n acquiring land and demolishing buildings.

The.usual rules on financing will apply. The-city will put up a sixth of the net project cost, and the state' and federal governments will furnish the rest. The gross project cost is the price of the land and buildings, plus the cost of demolishing the buildings, plus the cost of public improvements that have to be made in the area. The net project cost is this total, minus the amount of money realized from re-sale of the property to a private developer.

So thorough a revision of downtown will prob­ably require a good deal of work on city-owned sewer and water lines. The city can do this work and apply the cost to its share of the project.

i

INTENT— Looking; and listening during explariar office of DeLeuw, Gather arid,Associdtes> plan-tion of the plan for a Falls Street covered mall ning consultants to the city;and Melvin WahVa today were, from left, Henry G. Hauser of Arnberg member of the New Niagara Council — Gazette and Co. men's store; Harry Quinn of the Buffalo Photo. v

Pledge Members of the City Council today

promised their full support for- the proposed-; downtownmall,...and gaid. they will do everything possible to get speedy approval for the plan.

• A representative of the city's con­sultant planning firm warned, how­ever, that it may take two years to start execution of the mall project.

The planner *- Fred J. Elmiger, chief engineer in the New York City office Of DeLeuw, Cather and Associ­ates—and members of the Council were all'enthusiastic at the prospect of cooperation between a private de veloper and government agencies in the proposed redevelopment of the Falls Street area. • Mayor Calvin L. Keller, speaking

at the breakfast meeting at the Park­way Inn at which the plan was un­veiled, said:

"The Council is for downtown urban renewal. The thing that has bothered us has.been that we might go ahead with acquisition, of land and demolition of buildings, and then might not get the tenants to take over. This proposal solves that problem."

y The mayor promised that the m ll plan *twill be given the immediate at­tention of the Council." . Review Is Promised

Mr. Elmiger said DeLeuw, Cather, which has already presented a pre­liminary general neighborhood re­

newal plan (GNRP) for'the whole South End, including the alls Street area, said, the planning firm will give "full attention and review" to the new proposal in "studies to relate it to the GNRP area."

He commented that the proposal .conforms to the preliminary GNRP," '"but there are six other projects in the GNRP area. It's up to us to decide how each area is to be treated."

He said the mall plan proposes al­most totaVclearance of the Falls Street area, rather than the conservation, rehabilitation and spot clearance his firm had originally proposed. "Prov­ing eligibility (for federal funds) for total clearance isn't as easy to do," he said. May Take Two Years

When asked how long federal ap­proval for the project would take, Mr. Elmiger said:

!Tf the GNRP were submitted to the city within the next two months, we could have federal approval by May or June. We could probably get permission to go'into detailed project planning for the Falls Street area be­fore that I can't see how you could go into execution (land' acquisition, demolition of buildings; and new con­struction) in less than two years from the time you begin detailed project planning." ,

Councilman Wesley J. Hilts' reac­tion was very direct:

% "Oblnk this- is tremendous. We've got 'to move.. We should stajt-right now to get this plan- worked 'in with the DeLeuw, Cather plan so we can act right away." He said the GNRP should be presented to the city in a month. . -\\.'.

Councilman John B.Daly said: '; "The drastic situation '(downtown)

requires a drastic solution. I .think this is a very possible solution.T am sure you will get pretty quick action on It." 7 Speed Is Promised - "It's the best plan I've seen," said

Councilman Anthony L. Bax, "and if we buy it, I'll go along with trying to.-cut the red tape/' :

Councilman Donald J. O'Hara com­mented:

"From twhat I see, it looks very fine. My only questions are, how firm are the commitments from prospective tenants and how do the other Falls Street people feel about it?"

(Mr. Gellman said the commitmenti from many of the prospective mall tenants are "very firm.")

Mr. Elmiger commented after the meeting that he feels the obvious local enthusiasm for the plan, coupled with the fact it provides a ready-made re-developer for the area, would help to spur early federal action. Urban re­newal programs are administered by the Housing and Home F i n a n c e Agency.

Urban Renewal

Where does industry fit Into the proposed Rainbowv

Center urban renewal plan? Not out in left field as

some may feel. in fact, in the opinion of

Walter L. Eggert, vice • presidentxand general man­

ager of Moore Business Forms Inc., it probably will be the nudge that 1* needed to attract new industry to the city and to keep all the Industry the city has.

t The difference lies in the change of spirit Uiat would naturally follow the revital-izatlon of the downtown area. It should chase away the blues. '

"Speakjng from the stand-point of Industry^ Mrt Eg­gert told the Parkway Inn gathering today, "I know that industry never wants to establish a plant in an area full of pessimism and lax spirit"

Foreseeing a new era of optimism and bound ing spirit*, Mr. B*g«rt predtet, m that a .revitalized Niag-

* irra Falls would then be in a position to lure new in­dustry*, 'h&i • '.'> '.•» ?•

'Terhaps we'll never get > ariy more major industries, but we. could expect sdme smaller plants, such as

those you see along the Queen Elizabeth way.

"I think this'Is the start of a tremendous Industrial expansion program In Ni­agara Falls."

Asked by Jack E. Gellman whether local i'ndus t r i e s would be interested in tax­ing space in the proposed mall to exhibit their prod­ucts or diagrams of their processes, Mr. Eggert agreed that it would be a field, of public relations worth study­ing. , ?-•-> <- i !

Additional support for the general redevelopment plan came from Walter S. John-ion, building contractor,

"We're on deid • center now and going nowhere,", he said. "Certa in ly we should be all for it."

torn Talbot, chairman of the Downtown Development Committee, added W* par* tonal endorsement

"We hear too many people s^, loofc at wfraVtfcejr he** done ov«ir In Canada. Thji will change, all thai Thja will restore our dty io 1U rightful place as av tourist center,"

Amonr 'those attending the meeting was Vincent & Jones ol Rochester, execu­

tive editor of the Gannett Newspapers.

Jack E. Gellman noted that .the . Rainbow Center mall was not a rash idea he put on paper without thor­ough study and considera­tion.

Before formally unveiling the plan today, Mr. Gell­man talked it over wi th local city officials, civic leaders, merchants, indus­trialists and businessmen.

He contacted members of C i t y Council individually and spent an afternoon with City Manager Edward J. Connell getting his views. • He also reviewed the pro­posal with Edward Loverde, city planning director, and James Collins, director of:

housing reha b U Hat lo n, Charles Thfele, member of the architectural firm of Cannon, Thlele, Bets Ac Can­non, hesded the architects ? X ot t1 n I .the preliminary sketches and map.

Mr. <jallntaii aven. went out of town to secure assist­ance. . -i :• . .. Y'.'s- ,,-.;

H* quoted ailetter from a S^ars Roebuck & Co. re­gional supervisor that Sears' only question was, how big would their new store be?

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Spur Here

The chairman of Sattler's, who had hoped to attend the meeting but was unable to, also wrote his approval. Sattler's, he said, was al­ways Interested in locating in Niagara Falls and that if the proposed mall Is under­taken it would definitely consider coming in.

Under the proposed mall operation, Mr. Ge l lman pointed out, each merchant would own his own building and the land under it. But as part of the overall mall operation he would be ex­pected to share In the cost of such common services as lighting, snow removal of the parking lots, and heat­ing and air conditioning the enclosure.

, The program could be completed within four years from the date that it Is ap­proved, he told city officdals.

During that period, the land clearance and construc­tion will be undertaken in phases to enable all the businesses to r e m a i n in operation u n t i l their new facilities are built. This will maintain city property tax and s a l e s tax revenues, something which would not1

be. possible under other cir­cumstances.

Cornell's Aid on Motor H6tel Lauded

One of the principal figures in the recent action to have some Buffalo Avenue proper­ty rezoned to allow construc­tion of a Holiday Inn motor hotel there has said Niagara Falls "would have lost the Holiday Inn" If it had not been for the "personal inter­est" of City Manager Edward J. Connell In getting prompt action.

William J. McDonald, at­torney for Hanfahan Real Estate, which holds options on the properties at 114 and 118 Buffalo Ave., wrote a let­ter to the manager, saying:

"If it had not been for your personal interest in the wel­fare of the community, and If you had not made your time available, through the use of your office, for working out last-minute details, this peti­tion would have been delay­ed further and without ques­tion, Niagara Falls would have lost- the Holiday Inn..

"I sincerely appreciate the extra time you gave to this matter and I am well aware of the extra effort it took on your part, In order to protect everyone's Interest. in the most fair way possible!"-

What's Today

Bookmobile — Ferry Av­enue and 25th Street, 3:30-4:30 p.m. . Jorch Club —- Mee ting,

Park Hotel, Niagara Falls, Ont, 6:30 p.m.

Board of. Apptals—Meet­ing, City Hall, "7:30 p.m.

Board of Education—Meet­ing, Board of Education Building annex, 7:30 p.m.

Cataract Cavaliers Drum Corps—Rehearsal, John J. Welch American L e g i o n Post, No. 331, 7:30 p.m.

Diocesan Labor Colltgt— Opening class, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School, 7:30 p.m.

Cataract Camera Club— Meeting, Hyde Park caddy house, 7:45 p.m.

Sweat Adelines — Rehear­sal, Liederkrani Club, 8. p.m.

Niagara Falls P h i l h a r ­monic Orchtitra—Executive meeting, 327 Buffalo Ave., 8 p.m.

Niagara Ski Club—Meet­ing, Alps Restaurant, 9 p.m.

Tomorrow Beekmeblle—Porter Bead

and 29lh Street, 1:154:15 p.m.; Milplne Plaja, 4:30-

. 8 p.m. Golden Age Club—North

End Club, meeting, Zion Lutheran Church Hall, 1 p.m. v

Niagara Section Institute of Electrical Engineers —.

Meeting, Sir Adam Beck Power Station, 7 p.m.

Basketball — Trott Voca­tional vs. Lackawanna at Ni­agara Falls High School gym; Kenmore West at La-Salle, Junior varsity games, 7 p.m.

Niagara Radio Club —• Meeting, Civil Defense Con­trol Center, 8 p.m.

Barbershop Quartet Soci-ety—Meeting, LlederkranU Club, 8:30 p.m.

Camper of Year Award —Prograb, Bacon Memorial Presbyterian Church, 8 p.m.

* • * TV

Wire Service Carries Falls Project Story

The proposal for develop­ment of a major portion of the city's Rainbow Center project i n t o a commercial-tourist center became a na­tionwide news story today within hours of its formal presentation.

The Associated Press filed a story fo rits member news­papers th i s morning after the Information was provld* ed to the AP by the Niagara Falls Gazette.

Former Mill Worker Dies Harold J. Brown, 74, of 225

Fourth St., died In Mount St. Mary's Hospital today (Jan. 17, 1003) after a brief illness.

Born in Chicago, Mr. Brown came to this city as a child and for 39 years was employ­ed as a millwright with the Ontario Paper Co. in Thor-old, Ont,

He retired from the Ontario Paper Co. at Thorold jn 1955 and from 1957 to 1959 was employed by the Niagara Frontier State Park Commis­sion.

Mr. Brown was a member of the Ontario Paper Co. 25-Y*ar Club, the Niagara Coun­cil No. 247, Knights of Cplum-bus, for 40 years and was a member of the Holy Name So­

ciety of St. Mary's of the Cataract Church. He was *n honorary member of the Knights of Columbus.

Surviving arc a son, Ed- , ward H. Brown, this city, and three granddaughters.

Funeral services will be held at the Rhoney Funeral Home Saturday at 8:15 a.m. and at St. Mary's of the Cata­ract Church at 9 aJn» with in­terment in Gate of Heaven. Cemetery.

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