The decision to move the Gateway Harbor concerts out of North Tonawanda to Lockport is short-sighted at best.  NT’s mayor’s animosity toward the concert promoters certainly did not help the situation.

After a six-year run in North Tonawanda’s Gateway Harbor, the massively popular Molson Canal Concert Series is moving to the City of Lockport.

North Tonawanda Common Council President Brett Sommer confirmed late Tuesday that the decision by promoters had been made to move locations, leaving the Twin Cities shut out of the free shows that drew tens of thousands annually to the Erie Canal’s shore.

Sommer, a Republican, criticized Democratic Mayor Larry Soos for making comments that Sommer said “opened the door” for promoters to seek a new venue outside the Tonawandas.

Soos on Tuesday denied saying he wanting the concerts to leave, though he told the Tonawanda News near the end of the 2007 series that the promoters could “take it to Wheatfield.”

The Gateway Concerts were close and convenient for many people, especially residents of the Tonawandas, Amherst, North Buffalo and Kenmore.  Lockport will have a tough time attracting many of those residents.

The location along the canal in NT was ideally suited for concerts.

Read it all:  Niagara Gazette - NORTH TONAWANDA: Molson concerts to leave NT