Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - It is expected to be an electric atmosphere this later this week at KeyBank Center with the return of the NCAA men's basketball tournament to Downtown Buffalo.
It will be the eighth time in the city will host March Madness games for the NCAA Tournament, with it being the seventh time since 2000 where KeyBank Center has hosted games. The city is also scheduled to host NCAA Tournament games in 2026.
"We're certainly pleased that eight college teams are here for the NCAA tournament. It is a great boost to the City of Buffalo," said Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown on Monday. "It gives us the opportunity to really showcase our downtown, to showcase many of the great businesses that we have in the City of Buffalo. And with businesses struggling through a pandemic for two years, it will be a nice opportunity for some infusion of revenue into many other great businesses in our community."
With people flocking in from all around the country later this week, there will likely be some discussions as to the state of the arena and its lack of some major upgrades since it hosted its first series of games in 2000. The building opened in 1996, and has since gotten some facelifts to keep up appearances since. However, the arena has not seen many major spectator facing renovation projects since.
Senator Chuck Schumer was in Buffalo on Monday to announce millions of dollars in funding for projects on the Buffalo waterfront and some upgrades needed to Buffalo's transportation system. As part of this announcement, Schumer revealed there are plans to build a covered skybridge connecting the "to be developed" DL&W Terminal to KeyBank Center.
"The folks who will ride metro rail will one day be able to go from the train directly to Sabres games, Bandits, games and concerts without having to brave the elements," said Schumer along the Buffalo River on Monday. "This $2 million investment will go towards the development of this pedestrian sky bridge, linking the end of the metro rail line with the largest entertainment venue in our city."
Related
With the news of a sky bridge in the plans to be built connecting the terminal to KeyBank Center, is this a potential sign of things to come for some much-needed upgrades to the arena?
"I certainly think when you see public investment like that, that's an investment of $10.5 million in the waterfront, in the sky bridge at the DL&W Terminal, investment in the NFTA. Public sector investment oftentimes stimulates private sector investment," Brown said. "I think it is a good sign that our congressional delegation; Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand, and Congressman Higgins have been able to secure those assets for this community. And in other cases, we've seen when there has been public sector infrastructure investment, it's oftentimes followed by private sector investment."
While the City of Buffalo does not provide upgrades to the arena, it does work in partnership to provide security, traffic control, and other infrastructure investments in-and-around the area of the arena. Brown says the city is pleased and thankful for the money coming in through the American Rescue Plan that will allow the city to make significant infrastructure investments in every single section of the city, including around KeyBank Center.
"The community will see more money invested in infrastructure than they have in a very long period of time," Brown said. "This is a generational opportunity that we have in Buffalo with the kind of resources that are coming into the community."
While Brown provided no comments on any necessary upgrades or future upgrades to KeyBank Center going forward, he laid out the continued plans for other infrastructure investments around the arena.
"We're gonna continue the car sharing Main Street project, there will be major streetscape projects near the arena in Downtown Buffalo. As part of the city's Race For A Place plan, we will be investing heavily in infrastructure, making our downtown, making our Main Street more attractive for private sector investment, attracting more residents, more people who want to live in the community," Brown said. "We can see from the development community that major investments are being made in housing, affordable housing, housing in general, so there will be a lot of investment being made in the City of Buffalo."
You can listen to Mayor Brown's entire conversation below: