MLK Park project on cusp of completion

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - The splash pad at MLK Park in Buffalo wasn't completed in time for the summer. But by the looks of things on Tuesday, residents will have a new attraction in time for winter.

Crews were working through the rain to finish the project. Much of the delays, we're told, were between the contractor and the architect of the project. Now only two small spots are left to pour a special concrete that takes seven days to cure.

Coalition to Save Martin Luther King Park Chairman Sam Herbert said, "I just feel good. I'm happy. The concrete in the wading pool is a first time combination of concrete and fiberglass and it's designed to last for 30 to 40 years."

The project was scheduled for completion before last summer, but it took longer than contractor Man O' Trees projected and another swim season was lost. But this winter, people will be ice skating, just like back in the 1950s and 60s when then Humboldt Park had a rink on one side of the park casino and a wading pool where the splash pad is being built now.

David Knight has lived across the street from the park for 50 years.

"Finally we get what appears to be a pretty nice park. We moved over here in 1963. When I moved here it was a mixture of Polish, German, and I think we were the first African Americans to move into this area here. And as a kid, I remember diving off the pole over there and having fun swimming," Knight recalled.

Herbert said, "We don't get million dollar projects too often on Buffalo's east side, but this is $4.5 million in taxpayer money and it's $4.5 million that was well spent."

It will likely be a few more weeks before the project is finished. We left messages with the president of Man O'Trees, but he did not return our calls.