This project is designed to bring back the grandeur that once was North Tonawanda’s Main Street.

The Streetscape improvements to North Tonawanda’s Main Street will be implemented in multiple phases. The overall design intent was to visually narrow this very wide street and to create a pedestrian sense of scale and appropriateness for this important down town area.

Brick Banding - The brick banding running in two parallel strips along Main Street is a gesture that is meant to illustrate the trolley tracks that once ran along Main Street. This link to the past will correspond with significant dates in North Tonawanda history, as part of a timeline staggered throughout the brick sidewalk sections of the city center, as well as visually narrow the width of Main Street Corridor.

Brick Patterned Timeline - The brick pattern running along Main Street will include a timeline feature. The timeline will highlight significant dates in North Tonawanda history. The staggered nature of both the brick pattern and the timeline will create an aesthetic that increases interaction along the current under-populated street. The hope and design intention is that visitors will once again mingle along Main Street. This gesture will correspond with the brick striping and the link meant to illustrate the trolley tracks that once ran along Main Street.

Mosaic Sidewalk Design - Lending to the artistic nature and appeal of the Riviera Theatre, mosaic designed stone-work will offer a timeline of images to include the site of the first schoolhouse and the site for the first city hall.

Trolley Car inspired Seating - The intention for North Tonawanda’s Main Street is the modernization and improvement of the streetscape, but to also provide a link to past marvels. North Tonawanda once boasted a streetcar trolley. Today the area will function as a pedestrian friendly median and mimic the track which was once there. The trolley-streetcar will allow for resting and reminiscing amidst the shady planted arbors or offer a location to catch up with an old friend. Apart from the median area, this type of seating can be introduced throughout the entire streetscape.

Informational displays - Along with the brick banding timeline and mosaics, these displays will offer another look at the history of downtown NT, providing a more interactive element. Two possible locations are nearby the Elks Lodge, where the first city hall was situated and outside of the Methodist church, built in 1880 on the site of the first schoolhouse.