Kanazawa Island, a tiny island located next to Lake LaSalle, is in the process of receiving “much-needed” renovations, according to a UBNow article. Situated near Wilkeson Quadrangle, the island is a little-known formation on UB’s vast campus.
In recent years, the island has been, for the most part, obscured by trees and bushes. It will be getting new sidewalks and tree plantings, according to the university.
“Kanazawa Island was in disrepair for many years,” Sean Brodfuehrer, an architectural planner in Campus Planning, said in the UBNow story. “The original asphalt paths were much too wide and were crumbling into the lake. And at the same time, students and alumni still found it to be a special location.”Brofeuhrer, the project’s designer, says the origin of Kanazawa Island is “a bit of a mystery, to be honest.”
“The construction drawings and photos when Lake LaSalle was created do not show this as an island. It was just a peninsula to the mainland,” Brofeuhrer said. “At some point after the Ellicott Complex was completed, it became an island.”
As part of the facelift, UB will plant 12 flowering trees, including nine eastern rosebuds, that will form a circular ring around the inside of the path and be “similar to a cherry blossom” as they produce a pink flower. The university recently narrowed the island’s sidewalks to five feet and pulled them back from the shoreline.
The renovations are part of the university’s plan to “replace cracked and deteriorated sidewalks around the university,” according to the UBNow story. The island currently features a footbridge, a circular sidewalk and a couple of benches.
Kanazawa Island is named for the Japanese city of Kanazawa, a sister city of Buffalo. The seal of Kanazawa can be found on the sidewalk that encircles the island.
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