SALAMANCA — Those interested in the future of Salamanca’s Main Street and the possibility of activity on the Allegheny River gathered Saturday at the Ray Evans Seneca Theater for a community forum, hosted by students and a professor from Cornell University.
A class of about a dozen led by George R. Frantz of Cornell’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning presented to a group of community leaders and local residents their findings so far for a project analyzing Main Street and the Allegheny River in Salamanca, and the potential of improving their uses in the years to come.
“This is our first visit. We’ve been walking around during the morning and taking stock and inventory of the Main Street, as well as other areas of the city, to familiarize ourselves with it,” Frantz said.
The class’s goal for the forum was not only to tell the community what they’ve learned so far, but to ask what they have missed and some things that might be important that they should look into in more detail, Frantz explained.
“We’re here to get your knowledge and wisdom to help us go back to Cornell and come up with a good plan for the downtown, for Main Street, for Salamanca and for the Allegany Territory,” he said.
Before opening up for questions and answers from the community, students in the Land Use/Environmental Planning Field Workshop class presented on two aspects of Salamanca, the Main Street area and the Allegheny River, discussing both their histories and characteristics in the city that the students have learned or observed.
Following the presentation, members of the audience were asked to share their thoughts and ideas and share any information they thought would be relevant to the project going forward.
Sandi Brundage, youth bureau director and grant writer for the city, said she would like to see more biking and walking around the Main Street area, noting the possibility of a trail from Main Street to Crowley Park that the class had mentioned in their presentation.
“The question comes up about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and that dike and whether or not they would allow us to do that,” she said.
City Clerk Tracy Chamberlain echoed Brundage’s thoughts on the trail. She also mentioned the need for more parking on Main Street for businesses, noting the city’s hope to add diagonal parking in front of the mall.
Jare Cardinal, director of the Salamanca Rail Museum, said she was happy to see the museum included in the presentation. She said they have plans in the works at the museum to help bring more activity to the north end of Main Street.
Former Seneca Nation President Rob Porter spoke on the cultural and racial differences between the native and non-native residents in Salamanca throughout its history, saying the evolution of the Nation’s relationship with the city and the community is a big opportunity.
“People have a hard time seeing change happen, and it’s no question for anyone who has lived here and is part of this community, we have seen change happen,” he said. “It’s going to be hard to do any of this unless there is some consolidated teamwork and money.”
Salamanca school board member Meghan McCune encouraged the students to look at some of the projects with partnerships between the city, Nation and school district, such as the Veterans Memorial Park project and the HGTV grant video submission.
“It’s something very unique to our city that I don’t see in other places,” she said.
Common Council member Sandi Magiera expressed her pride in seeing the progress in the city over her past four years in office, saying it’ll take baby steps to keep moving in that direction.
“I really love this city. I love the people in it,” she said. “We are one in this city, and I think we have all learned that in the past few years, and we are moving forward.
Following the forum, attendees had the opportunity to talk further with the students in the theater lobby with posterboards of the downtown and Allegheny River set up for easy reference.
“I was very pleased with the community forum,” Frantz said afterward. “The audience was one of the most engaged audiences I’ve encountered, and the many people who spoke did so with a passion for and commitment to their community.”
During the presentations, students James Warren, Shanee Moodie and Nathanael Cheng discussed the Main Street plans, and Liz Feight, Hassan Saleem and Naomi Haber presented on the river. Other class members included Douglas Gensler, Emlen Brown, Jared Cisneros and Grace Nyambura.
(Contact managing editor Kellen Quigley at kquigleysp@gmail.com)
