BUFFALO, N.Y. — Spectrum News 1 is highlighting the fight to restore Buffalo's historic Humboldt Parkway with the Kensington Expressway Project.

Now, stakeholders are providing a look at what the restored parkway could look like and how the transformation could benefit the city.

What You Need To Know

  • A fight is ongoing to restore the Humboldt Expressway in Buffalo after it was demolished decades ago to make way for the Kensington Expressway

  • A 3D model, produced by students from the University at Buffalo’s School of Architecture and Planning in collaboration with the ROCC, imagines the parkway yet unseen with a portion of the 33 capped

  • With the Kensington Expressway Project gaining traction, envisioning restoration for the Humboldt Parkway is becoming more of a reality

Looking to the past to envision the future — that has been the motivation behind those who have rallied for the restoration of Humboldt Parkway for decades. 

Artist Max Collins was inspired to visualize this philosophy after learning about the Restore Our Community Coalition’s years of activism.

“I really enjoy that process of responding to a site, to the history of a place, what the neighborhood is like, so I had that approach going into the residency," said Collins. "It was really just the first day when I went over into that neighborhood and I kind of walked over to the expressway and it clicked, that this is what used to be a parkway.”

Collins’ exhibit was on display at the Albright-Knox Northland, just blocks away from the Kensington 33, where a permanent mural stands today. Composed of a paper photograph of the expressway set over a colorized image of the original parkway, the piece is meant to weather naturally, as the expressway peels away revealing what lies beneath, a hopeful foreshadowing of a restored parkway.

A 3D model, produced by students from the University at Buffalo’s School of Architecture and Planning in collaboration with the ROCC, imagines the parkway yet unseen with a portion of the 33 capped. UB has collaborated with the coalition over the years, preparing two research studies explaining the impact a restored parkway could have based on Frederick Law Olmsted’s original vision. 

“We’re continuing in the performative history of Olmsted to place the City of Buffalo in a pretty dramatic and large-scale park and parkway system,” said Robert Shibley, dean of the UB School of Architecture and Planning.

“Restoring this Humboldt Parkway has a huge impact and ripple effect, if you will, to the neighborhood and to the entire city,” said Hiro Hata, associate professor at the UB Department of Architecture.

With the Kensington Expressway Project gaining traction, envisioning restoration for the Humboldt Parkway is becoming more of a reality, and it’s all thanks to those who refused to give up the enduring fight.

“If we didn’t have the kind of consistent love for the community and the sadness for the destruction of communities to motivate action, I don’t think we’d be able to have even the conversation we’re having now,” Shibley said.

“Restoration can be done," Hata said. "I think that’s really huge and important because that’s been kind of a sore wound, an open wound for the past 50, 60 years.”