The 2,900-square-foot Longshed at Canalside’s Central Wharf is undergoing a significant modification. Work is currently underway to install a 3-season glass addition on the exterior of the building that will allow visitors to more comfortably interact with the 4,400 SF structure throughout the year.
Now that the replica Erie Canal Boat Seneca Chief is moored in the 1825 terminus of the Erie Canal, work is underway in the Longshed, to transition the building into the starting point for visitors during 2025 Erie Canal Bicentennial Commemoration. The new visitors experience – “Waterway of Change: A Complex Legacy of the Erie Canal” – will coincide with Buffalo hosting the World Canals Conference in 2025.
Personally, I think that it would be great to see some sort of café element within the new 3-season glass addition, as it would be an incredible vantage point to view the activity on the Great Lawn, no matter the time of year. The glass addition is a nice extension of the building that offers up a number of usage scenarios.
I spoke to one of the workers who was installing the glass panels. He told me that the “3-season” addition was being constructed to address inclement weather, including tornadoes [laughing]. I suppose that would make it a 4-season enclosure? I asked him if there was going to be some café-style seating with pop-up coffee vendors, and he said that he hadn’t heard anything of that nature. As we chatted, he and another worker sounded off about the need for a good cup of coffee in the neighborhood… maybe a local roaster might be the perfect match for the space? The Longshed Café, perhaps? One can only hope.
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