Clearwater Reservoir – Buffalo NY

Description

Clearwater Reservoir, located under what is now La Salle Park (formerly Centennial Park) along the shores of Lake Erie in Buffalo, New York, was a massive federal Work Progress Administration project completed in 1936. The project put thousands of local laborers to work.

The water supply reservoir was “roofed over with a concrete platform to provide a much needed auto parking space.”

Buffalo’s Courier Express discussed the dedication of the project on December 30, 1936, writing of the $1,000,000 project. Buffalo’s then-Mayor George J. Zimmermann stated: “With completion of this reservoir Buffalo’s water system will be equalled by no other city.” He declared the project to be “a vast improvement … to every Buffalonian.”

The paper continued: “The reservoir, completely buried, will become a portion of Centennial Park. It will have a capacity of 12,000,000 gallons of water for emergencies and will help feed the newly installed high-pressure fire lines … It replaces the olf Best Street reservoir, now being converted into Roesch Stadium [which was known by several other names over its lifetime]. Construction was started in November, 1935.”