The plan, "Reshaping Upper Main Street," was presented Dec. 18 at a public meeting sponsored by the UPTOWN Coalition, Inc., a group of area business owners, property owners and residents of upper Main Street, which commissioned the project. The meeting was held in the Gloria J. Parks Community Center, 3242 Main St.

The neighborhood is bounded on the south by LaSalle Avenue and on the north by Kenmore Avenue. Included in the plan are proposals to be implemented within six to eight months, as well as long-range proposals to be developed over the next 20 years.

The project was the work of 11 students enrolled in a semester-long graduate studio in planning and design, taught by Hiro Hata, associate professor in the School of Architecture and Planning.

The students produced proposals for streetscape, landscape and building enhancements for the section of Main Street between the LaSalle rapid-rail station and Kenmore Avenue. Three working groups were formed; each developed an extensive master plan for one section of Main Street. The working-group plans comprised the overall master plan for the area.

Team I was made up of Dan McMann, Adam Schwock and Dan Keefe. Team II members were Chris Drobat, Juan Perez, Karen Li and Christina Illi. Team III was made up of Alfredo Falcone, Angelo Perna, Antonio Frasca and Aly Hamdy.

They offered proposals for improvements to the Kenmore Avenue/Main Street intersection, which introduces the district to driver and pedestrian traffic on the north.

The South Campus was linked with the rest of the district via pedestrian-friendly entrances to campus. One entrance incorporates a small, visually inviting public-park area that mimics a small amphitheater with circular seating built into a rise in the ground. On-campus housing development and a small conference hotel facing Bailey Avenue were suggested by the students, as well as restoration of brick commercial facades to reflect the prevailing architecture of the area.

The students proposed the development of parkland at the south end of the district that would use the vacant land abutting the abandoned railroad grade between Shoshone Park and the LaSalle rapid-transit station. This parkway would serve to connect Shoshone Park on Hertel Avenue with the University District and its commercial strip via walkways. Another proposal involved walkways to connect the pocket parks that dot the residential neighborhoods between Main Street and Kenmore Avenues, thereby linking streets and neighbors in new ways.

The planners proposed a moderate alteration to the South Campus bus loop and the area directly across Main Street from the loop.

In the strip across from the loop, they recommended the neighborhood work to attract such services as newsstands, restaurants, a bakery, deli and dry cleaners. They also proposed a few high-quality specialty stores to draw pedestrian traffic into the revitalized commercial strip‹"give people a place to meet, to hang out, someplace to go...," as one student put it.

The students proposed options for parking, unifying facade design, linking isolated streets, lighting and signage that would tie the area together conceptually.

In developing the project, students worked closely with Common Councilmember Kevin J. Helfer, who represents the University District and who sponsored the funding for the project. Helfer also attended several of the studio's planning sessions, along with members of the UPTOWN board of directors. They discussed the progress of the proposal and made suggestions as it developed.

"This new commitment by the university to the improvement of the South Campus is justified by the strong and viable residential community that surrounds it," said Helfer. "From the local and regional standpoint, this is a starting point and a catalyst."

Helfer pointed out that in the past, community-development projects have not always been well-integrated into the neighborhood and so did not provoke the growth promised.

Marilyn Cappellino, a member of the UPTOWN board, said the group will take the lead in locating the funds and partnering with private sources to ensure implementation of the plan. This will begin once the final proposal is accepted by the community.

"So few community/business redevelopment plans are actually used," Cappellino said. "People are sick of hearing about plans that never come to fruition. We decided that we'd approach this differently‹with the promise that if the coalition was able to offer input during the planning stages, we would support the final recommendation before the community and work to make sure it sees the light of day."

Hata noted the project is a good example of town-gown symbiosis. "We have come together here in an active, cooperative way," he said.

Funds for the project were made available through a block grant from the City of Buffalo Department of Community Development.

Also involved were the Niagara Frontier Transit Authority, the New York State Department of Transportation and the UB Department of Facilities Management.