Canal Improvements Project (2005 Main Street)

Village of Pittsford
County: Monroe County
Population: Less than 5,000
Village Hall: (585) 586-4332

In August of 2004, the village completed Phase III of its Erie Canal Waterfront Improvement Project. The project culminated a decade long effort by the village to transform its historic waterfront into a regional destination. Schoen Place, a narrow village street running parallel to the north bank of the Erie Canal, bisects the village's waterfront district.

In the early 1990s, despite increasing retail business in the area, the waterfront remained underutilized. In the mid 1990s, the Village Board appointed a volunteer citizens committee to study the waterfront and provide recommendations for its improvement. The village sought funding and initiated a series of capital projects to improve its waterfront. The project created a waterfront park including a promenade, pedestrian plaza, pavilion, benches, lighting, and docking boat fueling dock facilities for private craft and a tour boat. Since the mid 1990s, the Schoen Place waterfront has remained the village's most popular place for strolling, biking, and people-watching.

The 2004 Erie Canal Waterfront Improvement Project extended the improvements established in the earlier phases. Key elements include an overlook pavilion, another small-vessel dock, a small plaza, and decorative lighting. The former highway-style guard rail separating the towpath trail from Schoen Place was replaced with a curbed landscape median containing street trees and roses. Elements of the project were kept simple to preserve the area's distinctive historic character. Street drainage, which formerly sheet drained across the towpath, was directed into storm sewers. The project incorporated citizen-donated benches and memorial pavers. The completion of the project represents completion of improvements for the full length of the village's commercial waterfront.

Further growth in the area seems imminent. Across the street from the project, an existing ice cream parlor has opened an outdoor porch and terrace overlooking the water. Plans to renovate the three-story historic Pittsford Flour Mill as a bank and offices are near final approval and the phased rehabilitation of the T. J. Zornow Bean Mill has begun. Due to increased demand, the Village has leased the vacant former railroad bed behind the mills to provide overflow parking for the area. The 2004 Canal Improvements Project transformed a neglected area into a source of community pride.