By Matthew Ricchiazzi:

The Board of Directors of the Albright Knox Art Museum is considering a number of expansion strategies. The institution’s collection is expansive, and most of it goes unseen given the museum’s limited exhibition spaces.

I want to suggest locating the institution’s expansion gallery at the region’s preeminent geographic focal point: atop Goat Island. No other site would lend the institution the global stature and international relevance that would be derived from positioning it adjacent to the iconic Niagara Falls.

Given the 8 million annual visitors to Niagara Falls State Park — and an estimated 20 million annual visitors to Niagara Falls, ON – this site would give the Albright Knox a large, robust, diverse, international audience, and with it a cultural relevance and newfound stature on a more global stage.

Imagine three large gallery spaces atop the island’s surface parking lots and linked together with a wide underground gallery corridor spanning the length of the island. Let’s build a destination art museum, among the largest in the world.

At $10 per visitor, upwards of 10 million potential visitors could generate a considerable operating budget – and the institution already boasts a vast collection of art that is now just kept in storage. As for the cost of constructing an impressive museum among the world’s largest (and acknowledging that this location demands the most extraordinary architecture), we should turn to the state and its energetic Governor with his “Billion for Buffalo”.

County Executive Mark Poloncarz has made a new convention center a priority, and is conducting a study of the industry to consider potential site locations. I hope that the study isn’t narrowly confined to Erie County, and considers sites in Niagara Falls – which would drive a priceless marketing advantage over Buffalo when attempting to break into the relatively limited convention industry.

If we do enter the convention industry then it shouldn’t be half-done or piecemeal. In order to have a legitimately catalytic economic impact and to woo national trade associations and international events, then the architecture should be awe inspiring; the size of the facility should be vast; and the experience of the venue should be utterly unique.

Imagine 8 levels of cavernous exhibition spaces built mainly underground, but allowed to peek out of the side of the gorge with sweeping views of Niagara Falls, the Canadian skyline, and overlooking a riverfront like none other:

The old site of the Schoellkopf power plant has seen many iterations of use over its history, but currently sits idle. The state is making some minor improvements to the base of the site at the bottom of the gorge for boat storage purposes related to Maid of the Mist operations.

When I see these old pictures from the Buffalo History Museum, I think two things: 1) we should be monetizing more of this “Blue Gold” that flows through our region endlessly; and 2) we’ve never had an acceptable level of public access to the base of the Niagara gorge. Sure, there are some hiking trails that make the base of the gorge accessible a few miles north of Niagara Falls, but we really underutilize a one-of-kind waterfront.

Imagine a series of water taxi landings that provide unique boardwalk-like spaces at the base of the gorge. Imagine sweeping pedestrian promenades descending the forested cliffs of the gorge, linking the city above to its waterfront below.

Exempt downtown Niagara Falls from State and County sales taxes on retail merchandize, and we can finally get around to building a world class destination that we can be proud of.

Matthew Ricchiazzi holds an MBA in Finance and Private Equity, and a BS in Urban Planning, both from Cornell University. He founded Change Buffalo PAC to promote issues of new urbanism in Western New York. He can be reached at changebuffalo.org.