The replica bowstring bridge is now in place over the rewatered Commercial Slip, just a block and a half from the front door of HSBC Arena.

Can you see the remnants of the foundations in the foreground? This is a special and hallowed place. Here is where America’s commerce and industry met and pushed westward in the 19th and early 20th centuries, a hustle and bustle of ships, grain mills, docks, bawdy houses and residences, and now will enjoy new life as the restored Canal Side Inner Harbor project.

I can’t wait until this is all done. I can’t wait to come down here on a warm summer Buffalo evening… to reflect on the old Buffalo, and to let my spirits soar and imagine what the new Buffalo can become.

Now undergoing renovation along Mississippi Street, a block away from HSBC Arena, is this former loading dock structure, and that building is finally taking shape as the new home of Morrissey’s Irish Pub.

So why am I labeling this “The Bad”? Well, basically the progress for this entire development, which includes a four story office building, retail space and 36 loft condominiums, has been agonizingly slow. Avalon Development and Savarino Construction got approval from the Buffalo Planning Board for this project way back in September, 2005, they launched this cool website and stuff is now getting done there in dribs and drabs.

I met proprietor Dennis Brinkworth during the Buffalo Old Home Week last August, and he then predicted a Thanksgiving opening; in December they said March 15. Check out the photo - does it look like they’ll be pouring cold Guinness Stouts in three weeks?

My props to Savarino Construction for even taking this on… if it all gets built out (including the lofts) I’ll give them all the love in the world for being the visionaries. But for now I guess you can call me impatient.

Here is the new Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino going up three blocks east of HSBC Arena, and don’t feel bad if you don’t confuse this structure with the Wynn or Bellagio in Las Vegas. For this hideous abomination is the “temporary” 5000 s.f gambling hall that will open soon, while the permanent structure gets built in the next couple years, as this rendering should give you an idea what the place will look like.

I’m not crazy about the idea of a downtown casino, but if it is meant to be, then I want it to be the snazziest thing this side of Atlantic City. My fear is that lawsuits or other delays will kill the permanent casino, and we will be left with this sleazy storage garage with its few dingy slot machines and snack bar.