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Artvoice readers sound off on Bass Pro

After six years of talk, the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation has announced a deal with Bass Pro. The basics: ECHDC will spend $25 million in public money to prepare the site and to help Bass Pro to build a 100,000-square-foot store beside the rewatered Commercial Slip in the historic Canal District; $10 million in public money will be used to tear down Memorial Auditorium; and Benderson Development will be designated developer for the entire Canal District, the Aud site and a couple other vacant blocks linking the Canal District to downtown Buffalo. Historic preservationists say that a big retail outlet is not what they had in mind when they stopped backhoes from destroying the archaeological remains of the western terminus of the Erie Canal six years ago. What does the rest of Buffalo think?

Name: John Jakubowski

Residence: Amherst

Occupation: Educator

What do you think about the Bass Pro deal? Frankly, I’m pleased about it, because I’m pleased to see that something is happening, and I think that Bass Pro can be a catalyst to other growth. I certainly don’t think that Bass Pro in and of itself is the answer, and I was pleased with some of the comments that I heard that they’re not hanging everything on Bass Pro. Bass Pro certainly could be an anchor to the area, but that’s going to be a draw for other businesses that will grow up around Bass Pro and develop the waterfront.

What do you think about Benderson Development being named as the lead developer for the whole area? Well, I think it does need some kind of leadership and some kind of coordination. I’m not that familiar with Benderson, but I do think it’s a good idea to have one developer.

Will Bass Pro bring you down to the waterfront? No, but what else grows up around Bass Pro will bring me down to the waterfront.

Do you fish? No.

Name: Z. Manzilla

Residence: Buffalo

Occupation: Graphic designer

What do you think about the Bass Pro deal? They’ve been talking about this for, like, two years, you know, and we still ain’t even built a bridge yet, and now we’re worried about Bass Pro? I see one bridge, you know? Only very desperate people eat what you fish out of this lake, so I’m trying to imagine…what, as a hobby, do you try and catch those little Japanese suckerfish that have been coming up here? What is there to catch? It’s a little along the lines of putting a Lexus dealership on Delaware.

Will Bass Pro will bring you down to the waterfront? No more than it already does…I like the waterfront, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t fish it and I don’t see a lot of people who do. Those that do, I think they enjoy that, but I don’t really think they need a Super Mega-lo-Mart, and I don’t think that people from out of state are going to come and stay at a Super Mega-lo-Mart next to a hotel, or whatever it is that they’re planning to build there. It seems unlikely to me—when you think fishing, you really don’t think Buffalo.

Name: Stuart Levy

Residence: Buffalo

What do you think about the Bass Pro deal? I think it’s great, I think it’s fantastic. It’s been a long time coming.

What do you think about Benderson Development being named as the lead developer for the whole area? Well, Benderson has been very successful, I think it’s a great idea. Benderson’s got a great record so we’re lucky to have them.

Will Bass Pro will bring you down to the waterfront? Yes, it would. That, and the HSBC Arena, and I hope eventually a gambling casino. Anything to stimulate downtown, with the new housing and new restaurants.

Do you fish? Yes, I do. Not in the last 10 years, but I do.

Name: Karen

Residence: Recently relocated to Buffalo from Utah

Occupation: Art history and nonprofit development

What do you think about the Bass Pro deal? Well, I didn’t know how long awaited it was. I was kind of excited when I heard plans fell through for that…I’m not a big fisherman, so I can’t really say that’s a place that I’m going to go visit often. I guess on the upside, if it can be a place that brings more families downtown, sort of like a Pier-esque kind of center, maybe it can be a positive thing. But it’s not going to be something that I go tell all my friends around the country that they need to move to Buffalo for. I’m kind of hoping that it falls through again…It’s prime real estate and kind of speaks to who Buffalo is and how we want to portray ourselves to the country. I think it would be better if we didn’t focus on cold weather and sports…maybe more along the lines of the creative, cultural things we have going on here.

Will Bass Pro will bring you down to the waterfront? No, to be honest. Maybe with the aquarium that’s going in, but I can’t say that I going to go down to Bass Pro to get a fishing pole and go fish. It’s just sort of disappointing, because I love Buffalo, growing up here, I’d love to see more young, exciting things that appeal to somebody in their 20s and 30s. I mean, I’d like to fish, but I just don’t know that it’s going to be prime on my list of things to do on the weekend.