Located at the western terminus of the Erie Canal, Buffalo’s waterfront became the portal for a massive wave of migration and trade from the East Coast and Europe beginning in 1826. JMA was retained as the historic preservation and interpretive consultant for the preparation of a master plan for a historical park adjacent to downtown. Working in collaboration with Flynn Battaglia Architects, exhibit designers Chermayeff & Geismar, and Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects, JMA was instrumental in the interpretive design for historic elements which reveal the site’s significance.

Implementation of the master plan incorporated existing historic elements discovered just below present-day ground level. Modern program elements were organized around the original street pattern and commercial slip. JMA worked with the project team to integrate and interpret cobblestone streets, sandstone curbs and paving, several building ruins, and the stone-lined commercial slip that provided access to the Erie Canal as part of the design.

The slip, which is the centerpiece of the waterfront park, was restored and re-watered to physically connect to the Buffalo River. Foundations of buildings that lined the slip were exposed and stabilized as interpretive elements. JMA also designed the reconstruction of the wood wharf which had lined the harbor at the junction of the Buffalo River and commercial slip.