The LaSalle Park shoreline is threatened with deterioration by regular pounding from Lake Erie waves, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is beginning to study how to save it.

The City of Buffalo and the federal government will spend $500,000 on a study to determine how best to protect a roughly 4,800-foot-long stretch of threatened lakefront parkland.

City and corps officials say the project is important because the park is the site of a city pumping station and water filtration plant, and it is a popular recreational venue.

"This is a critical infrastructure expenditure on our waterfront," Mayor Byron W. Brown said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon behind the Col. Francis G. Ward Pumping Station in a windy LaSalle Park on the West Side.

This section of breakwater dates to the 1920s or 1930s and has been upgraded over time but remains in substantial need of restoration, Don Poleto, a senior engineer with the city's Department of Public Works, said after the news conference. The breakwater was constructed from concrete on top of timber poles. As waves pound against the shoreline, the water washes underneath the wall and erodes it, Poleto said.

In the spring, this erosion leaves large sinkholes along the shoreline that must be filled in, and the sinkholes are worse on the section of breakwater that isn't protected by the Lake Erie breakwater. "It's a maintenance nightmare for us," Poleto said.

The breakwater itself has been damaged by years of erosion, but it is not included in this study, Lt. Col. Stephen H. Bales, Buffalo District commander of the corps, said Tuesday.

The study will focus on a stretch of LaSalle Park shoreline that runs from the foot of Porter Avenue south to an old seaplane ramp that juts into the lake just north of the Erie Basin Marina, officials said.

This restoration project is vital because it covers an area that is home to the pumping station and a water filtration plant and is regularly visited by the public, Bales said. "The ice, water and wave action that we have on the shore of Lake Erie and Buffalo creates a lot of stress on the shoreline here in LaSalle Park," Bales said.

The study will begin in October when Corps of Engineers divers conduct an inspection of the seawall.

The study will develop several options for performing the needed work on the shoreline and should take between 18 and 24 months to complete, said Michael Draganac, project manager for the corps.

The cost of the study will be split between the federal government and the City of Buffalo.

Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, obtained a $250,000 federal grant for the project.

The city obtained a $250,000 grant from the New York Power Authority-funded Buffalo and Erie County Greenway Fund Standing Committee to cover its share.

Officials on Tuesday said they could not yet estimate the cost of the full shoreline protection project.

swatson@buffnews.comnull