FORT ERIE, Ont. — The man who oversaw the design of the Peace Bridge’s new Canadian plaza wanted it built with stone and wood — nothing fake.
Those who cross into Canada here can see architect A. Silvio Baldassarra got his wish.
He even arranged some three dozen boulders — each weighing between 40 tons and 90 tons and standing as tall as eight feet — to build a fountain in front of the new customs building.
Baldassarra, vice president of NORR Limited Architects & Engineers of Toronto, said he remembers dispatching an employee to select the boulders from a quarry north of Toronto.
“I said, ‘Don’t come back with little rocks,’ ” Baldassarra said.
Spruce trees from Quebec provided the wood for a spectacular, asymmetrical roof over the large customs building.
Those from the U.S. side of the bridge couldn’t help but note the disparity between the gleaming Canadian plaza and the maze of asphalt and traffic on the Buffalo plaza.
Josh Sawislak, senior adviser to U.S. General Services Administration Administrator Lurita Doan, attended Monday’s opening ceremony as the Bush administration’s representative. In his speech, he praised not only the “effort and skill” but also “the thought and care evident in the design.”
“Let me assure you that Administrator Doan and [the General Services Administration], as well as our partners at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, are fully committed to a similar project on the U.S. side of the Peace Bridge,” Sawislak said.
He said he looked forward “to a day when we can stand together again and share these thoughts on the other side of the river.”
Speakers at Monday’s official opening praised those responsible for the look of the plaza, for their use of natural materials and for their thought behind the design. About 250 officials and dignitaries attended.
Skylights run the entire length of the new customs building, allowing natural light to filter down through a twostory atrium where travelers at counters fill out paperwork and talk with customs officers.
“There’s a sense of being outside,” Baldassarra said. “I think it makes you feel more at ease.”
Rocks – not concrete barriers — were put in front of the inspections booths.
“It’s gorgeous. We know the face of this border has changed dramatically and for the better,” said John A. Lopinski of Port Colborne, a Peace Bridge director.
The $36 million upgrade of the Fort Erie plaza includes three new buildings: the Travellers Operations Building, the Peace Bridge Authority Administration Building and a shared facility for the Refugee Processing Unit and Peace Bridge Newcomers Centre.
Lopinski urged Americans anxious for plaza expansion plans in Buffalo to drive across the Peace Bridge to look at the Fort Erie plaza.
“It proves, if given the chance, that we strive for excellence,” Lopinski said.
He sees more political support on the American side than ever before.
A lot of it comes from Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, who cited environmental, economic development and transportation reasons for building a new U.S. plaza in his remarks during the opening ceremony.
The Peace Bridge recorded about 5.5 million car crossings and 1.3 million truck crossings in 2006, making it Canada’s second busiest border crossing. But car trips fell 1 percent compared with 2005. And there are nearly 1 million fewer trips now than in 1999.
Uncertainty about delays — even on days there’s no congestion — contributed to that decline, Higgins said.
“They don’t know what to expect,” Higgins said of travelers. “And that uncertainty leads to avoidance.
Adding capacity will alleviate actual congestion and remove any doubts travelers will have about delays, he said.
“Our work isn’t done until we have a new American plaza,” Higgins said.
Will the politics ever stop so something can actually get done for once?
Now the Canadian side will be this brand new, state of the art amazing building and booth lanes, while the american side are these poor looking booths.
To be fair, the Canadians have been, and continue to be, one of the major obstacles in replacing the Peace Bridge itself. They want the old bridge preserved for historic reasons.
The US side doesn’t want to rebuild our plaza until we’re sure where it’s going to be. Different bridge designs have the plaza in different locations.
I’d me more upset, but less surprised, if Buffalo built a 150 million dollar plaza only to have to tear it down and rebuild it somewhere else when they found out the new bridge was going to exit a mile away.
I could care less about a fancy new bridge, but do something about the horribly inadequite booths. There are far too few booths to handle the volume of crossings on a busy day.
Edit - Has anyone noticed the number of booths on the Canadian side is much greater than that on the US side? And guess what, it doesn’t back up nearly as much to the same extent the US entry does.
Edit - Has anyone noticed the number of booths on the Canadian side is much greater than that on the US side? And guess what, it doesn’t back up nearly as much to the same extent the US entry does.
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I’m sure it doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that Canada’s immigration policy is only about 1/2 a step below “wide open door”. They didn’t even ask for my ID when I went to the track day.
^^ really? everytime i go across i get pulled over and searched, and then my car is searched for 15 minutes and then they say go to that desk and sign the paper and have a good day. :bloated:
^^ really? everytime i go across i get pulled over and searched, and then my car is searched for 15 minutes and then they say go to that desk and sign the paper and have a good day. :bloated:
^^ really? everytime i go across i get pulled over and searched, and then my car is searched for 15 minutes and then they say go to that desk and sign the paper and have a good day. :bloated:
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You did something to get flagged. Happened to me when I was in high school. I eventually found out that I had pissed off some off duty Canadian customs guy because I was driving like an ass. For about 6 months every time I crossed I was pulled over, car searched etc. I guess eventually they got sick of not finding anything and removed me from the list.
But generally, Canadian customs is much more lienent than US customs. Maybe not to punk Leaf’s fans living in Buffalo, but to the general population.
I could care less about a fancy new bridge, but do something about the horribly inadequite booths. There are far too few booths to handle the volume of crossings on a busy day.
Edit - Has anyone noticed the number of booths on the Canadian side is much greater than that on the US side? And guess what, it doesn’t back up nearly as much to the same extent the US entry does.
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Yeah…Not enough booths, Thats the problem…(sidenote - It is not the problem.)
But I find it funny that you think the horribly inadequite booths cause traffic to back up. Because that is our major concern at the border…Keep traffic moving!!!
God forbid you have to wait to cross an international border.
And as far as crossing times go do you realize the amount of canadians that cross into the US for stupid BS like shopping or for just for dinner or the casino because of how close the dollar is
Im all for a nice looking new plaza, but extra lanes isnt going to help the delays. They need to start treating their officers better and hiring more of them if you want to decrease congestion. Right now there are too few officers under way too much stress being forced out on double shifts and for extra time that they should have rotated out of. And if anything gets by, they will throw them under the bus that it should have been caught.
