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CANAL STORIES: FROM ALBANY, BUFFALO, PROVIDENCE & BEYOND
Saturday, November 18
1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
NYS Museum, Huxley Theatre
222 Madison Ave., Albany (Empire State Plaza)
The event is free and open to the public.
Join Albany Waterway Inc. for a panel discussion and community forum on the economic benefits, cultural attractions, and civic pride created by urban canals in Buffalo, Providence, across Canada and beyond.
Hear about successful canal projects outside the Capital Region and the vision for a transformative canal project for downtown Albany. The canal project is a re-imagining of Albany’s rich historic, social, and economic connections to the Hudson River and Erie Canal that helped make the Empire State the most prosperous in the nation and Albany one of the nation’s largest cities. The canal project coincides with statewide bicentennial celebrations in 2025 being planned for the 200th anniversary of the 1825 completion of the Erie Canal between Buffalo and Albany.
Panelists:
Anthony Masiello, former New York State senator and Mayor of Buffalo who will detail the economic impact of Buffalo’s Canalside, which reclaimed an industrial wasteland with $300 million in new development. Canalside has become the city’s biggest attraction with more than 1,000 annual events, including concerts and fairs in the summer, and ice skating and hockey on an adjacent rink in the winter.
Ken Orenstein, former Executive Director of the Providence Foundation, who will speak to the positive changes to that capital city by the restoration of a river and the relocation of an interstate highway and Amtrak rail lines to inspire an urban oasis that attracts tens of thousands to the city, benefitting the economic, social and environmental needs of its residents.
Dan Rubinstein, a writer and stand-up paddleboarder based in Ottawa, Canada who traversed hundreds of miles on his paddleboard across Canada and to New York City and back by way of canals and rivers. He is writing a book about his waterborne adventure and will share the profound bond he formed with canals and urban waterways.
Len Tantillo, acclaimed maritime artist and award-winning painter of historical scenes, who is also a board member of Albany Waterway Inc., will offer a visual representation to create “a Venice for Albany.”
Professors Denis Foley and F. Andrew Wolfe will discuss their archaeological dig and exciting discoveries at the site of original Erie Canal Lock 1 along the proposed northern end of the canal project in the warehouse district in North Albany.
The event will be moderated by Paul Grondahl, author, Times Union columnist and Opalka Endowed Director of the New York State Writers Institute at the University at Albany. It will include a panel discussion and audience Q&A.
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