An artist’s concept of what a proposed water park on Lake Shore Drive in Dunkirk could look like.
City of Dunkirk officially splashed into a quest for a water park last week.
The Common Council unanimously approved allowing city government to pursue a $5 million grant for the water park under the state’s Restore NY program.
The proposed 25,000-square foot indoor water park would be built next to the Clarion Hotel on Lake Shore Drive, on land that’s currently vacant.
It would be run by the proprietors of Steelbound, the Ellicottville brew pub/restaurant that opened a location inside the Clarion in July.
Bill Bursee and Bill Gugino, two of Steelbound’s partners, lobbied the Common Council Tuesday to back an attempt for the grant to help fund it.
“We’ve been working closely with the city and the investors to possibly bring a… water park attached to the hotel. We’re in support of it and we’re excited to bring it to the floor,” Bursee said.
Gugino asserted it would lead to a wave of Dunkirk waterfront development.
“We think really it’s ultimately going to change the landscape of the waterfront,” he said. “For a long time, we’ve all kind of realized we need to make Dunkirk a destination, and I think this is finally the thing that might spark that. It’s not just going to improve the hotel and conference center that’s already there, it’s going to improve the whole area. It’s also going to bring a lot of other businesses…it’s also going to create a lot more for tourism here.”
According to the resolution passed Tuesday by council, if the city gets the $5 million, “the project developers will commit the required match of 10% of the awarded amount in cash and in-kind contributions.”
The site is composed of eight city-owned parcels totaling about 1.8 acres, on Lake Shore Drive near Deer Street.
It “once contained a variety of residential, commercial and industrial structures,” states
a city Planning and Development Department request for expressions of interest in the site. “These included a fish house, cigar factory, automobile shop, machine shop, soap factory, and a hot house (a form of greenhouse),” along with a gas station.
“In the late 1800s, a creek flowing through the center of the site was filled in and in the early 1900s, the property was expanded through the placement of fill in Lake Erie to create the current shoreline.”
A 2018 environmental assessment concluded the site could be redeveloped without any cleanup work on it.
