New Signage Adds to Improved Medical Campus Streetscape
Lighting, pathways, gardens and public art enhance public spaces
Buffalo, N.Y., October 7, 2014 – New, colorful directional signage is being installed on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, nearly completing significant streetscape enhancements to the Campus that began in 2010. The wayfinding system, developed by Corbin Design, will have a cohesive look and will direct patients and visitors to the major campus destinations.
The 44 signature signs will be installed throughout the Campus, from Goodell to North Street and Main to Michigan. In addition, informational kiosks that include full campus maps and other information about the Medical Campus will be located at major pedestrian areas.
The signage is one more step in the improved look of the Campus that includes the completion of Ellicott Park, a $6.3 million federal streetscape project that extends along Ellicott Street from Goodell to Best Streets. Designed by nArchitects, the 3,300 linear park runs through the heart of the Medical Campus and includes angled paths, islands, and plazas, as well as banded concrete, illuminated benches, a diverse planting scheme, and signature LED lighting – the first of its kind in the city of Buffalo. Ellicott Park was developed with input from a variety of Medical Campus stakeholders and was designed to encourage purposeful interactions between employees, patients, visitors, and neighbors, increase active living opportunities, and provide better access to the Campus institutions.
In addition to input on design and development of streetscape improvements, Medical Campus stakeholders are also taking an active role in the ongoing upkeep of the surrounding areas. The BNMC Inc. team has adopted specific garden beds in Ellicott Park and are actively weeding, cleaning and handling general maintenance to ensure that the beds look their best at all times. Other Medical Campus businesses and organizations are encouraged to adopt a bed in the linear park. Those that adopt a bed are supported by BNMC Inc. Green Team members and are recognized with signs in the adopted bed.
The investment in improving the overall streetscape on the Medical Campus creates a unique environment, while providing a safe and walkable public space. Many improvements are also energy efficient and environmentally friendly, such as the 21 electric vehicle charging stations throughout the campus and the LED lighting in the public right of way on Ellicott, as well as the installation of a bio-retention facility to filter contaminants that would otherwise enter the Great Lakes and adding solar/wind powered lighting in the parking lot across from the Innovation Center. In addition, exterior public art has been added at the corner of High & Ellicott in partnership with the Buffalo Renaissance Foundation and on the MiGo parking garage at Michigan and High Street in partnership with a community art committee.
While the enhanced public spaces are designed primarily for employees, patients and their visitors, BNMC, Inc. actively encourages the public to visit the Medical Campus as well. Initiatives such as “Tunes in the Tent,” musical events held every Tuesday at noon at Ellicott Park over the summer, and the “Walking on Wednesdays” program that provides walking tours through the Medical Campus are open to the public. Learn more about the BNMC at bnmc-old.local.
About BNMC, Inc.
The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC, Inc.) is a self-sustaining social enterprise successfully combining innovation, job creation, and urban revitalization. The non-profit BNMC, Inc. serves as the umbrella organization for the anchor institutions comprising the region’s premier health care, life sciences research, and medical education institutions located within the 120-acre campus. The BNMC Inc. fosters conversation and collaboration among its member institutions, its partners and the community to address critical issues impacting them, including entrepreneurship, energy, access and transportation, workforce and procurement, neighborhoods, and healthy communities, with the goal of increasing economic development and building a strong community. bnmc-old.local