Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - After officially taking over as President and CEO of Shea's Performing Arts Center on Monday, Brian Higgins kicked off his first week in his new office by laying out his plans and vision to build on the institution’s success.
Higgins' leadership role includes oversight of Shea’s Performing Arts Center, as well as the theatre campus that includes Shea’s Buffalo Theatre, Shea’s 710 Theatre, and Shea’s Smith Theatre.
During his time in Congress serving the 26th Congressional district in New York, Higgins has been a staunch advocate for the arts, helping deliver more than $16 million to Western New York arts and cultural institutions through federal programs like the National Endowment for the Arts.
As President and CEO at Shea's, Higgins plans to stress the importance of investments in the arts for its positive impact on life quality and the economic power the arts deliver to the surrounding community. He feels there are a number of opportunities in the city's Theatre District to inject new viability and excitement that will accrue to the benefit of businesses and organizations that make up the district, as well as the economy of Downtown Buffalo.
"When people go to the theatre, when people go to concerts, they also go out to eat, they patronize bars and restaurants. That's a very, very important aspect to all of this," Higgins explained. "There are partnership opportunities with the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor, also home to great music, history and culture. And opportunities to draw in more people who live and work in Downtown Buffalo. From the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus to Seneca One Tower."
Higgins pointed to a 2023 report titled “Upstate’s Creative Spark” by the Center for an Urban Future, which references Shea’s Performing Arts Center and the city’s arts community as a whole:
"The explosion of artistic activity across the city has created jobs and contributed to the first population growth Buffalo has seen in decades. From 2009 to 2019, employment in the arts and culture sector in Buffalo surged 58.9%, while in the same period, overall employment upstate grew by only 4%. From 2011 to 2021, the resident artist population in Buffalo increased 45.3%, from 1,229 to 1,785, while in 2020, the city’s overall population increased 2% — reversing a decline that began in 1950."
Higgins noted that early investment in architecture has created a place that is very conducive and attractive for the arts and cultural community of Buffalo and Western New York, and he wants to continue to grow that.
A leading champion of the federal Historic Tax Credit program, which drove more than $1 billion in investments in the transformation of 250 historic restoration projects in Western New York, Higgins notes opportunities to highlight Shea’s Performing Arts Center as a heritage tourism destination, and propel further interest through the architecture of the nearly 100-year-old building.
"Beyond the performances themselves, Shea's has become a destination for heritage tourism, and those who appreciate architecture as art," Higgins said. "As you know, Buffalo is fortunate to have an extraordinary architectural legacy in Western New York. Louis Sullivan, who actually built theaters in the United States as well, including in Chicago, he had a young intern with him by the name of Frank Lloyd Wright. He fired Frank Lloyd Wright not for lack of talent, but for lack of humility. But Daniel Burnham, Richard Upjohn, Louise [Blanchard] Bethune, Henry Hobson Richardson, of course, Frank Lloyd Wright, and the Rapp brothers, who worked with Michael Shea to create these great, great venues."
Citing Canada as a target market for growth, Higgins noted that Canadian travelers spend $20 billion in the United States annually. Ontario is on a trajectory of population growth that is anticipated to increase 31.5% between 2019 and 2046.
"I've heard from numerous people, including receiving letters as recently as yesterday, my first day, from people in Canada, the province of Ontario, that believe that Shea's has great, great potential in drawing the Canadian market to Buffalo and Western New York through the Broadway series, which is very, very popular. It's a brand in and of itself," Higgins said. "But keep in mind that nearly 40% of the entire population of Canada lives in Ontario. That's Fort Erie up through and including Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area. While they do have theaters in the province of Ontario, none more historic and attractive than this one, including the offering of plays and musicals. So we think that's a market we can play into.
"If you look at other sectors of the Western New York economy - professional sports, retail, college enrollment, medical services - all have a significant portion coming from Southern Ontario, or the entire province of Ontario. We will aggressively pursue a plan to cultivate new patrons to the arts in Buffalo from the province of Ontario."
Higgins also credits Shea’s talented staff, loyal patrons, and strong community support for the theatre’s ongoing success. His tenure comes at a critical time, as Shea’s Performing Arts Center prepares to unveil its 2024-25 Broadway season at Shea’s Buffalo Theatre.
"The staff here has been committed to the mission of expanding the opportunity for Shea's to become the premier entertainment destination in all of Western New York," Higgins said.
The historic landmark is also in the planning process to celebrate its centennial anniversary in 2026.
"That will be an exciting year full of events, and we'll use it as a basis from which to increase the donor base, if you will, of the Shea's Buffalo to help finance the addition and the improvements," Higgins said. "It comes at a very, very interesting time in this institution's history. This has always been a magical place."
Higgins says the expansion is going to be a project that's between $20-to-$23 million project to complete, which will include elevators, new restrooms and entertainment areas. He says plans have not been finalized yet, and they're still tweaking those ideas.
"It's very, very important. I've only been here a couple of days, but you ask some of the longer tenured staff here, it's a haul going up to the offices, which are three floors up. That needs to be addressed, and the leadership here, including the staff, wants to address that," Higgins noted. "That's a project we will be involved with, I will be involved with, making sure they have the resources, foundations, government and private donors to make that a reality. But it's another commitment that the family of the Shea's Buffalo has made to making this magical place even more accessible."
Higgins was formally announced as the next President and CEO of Shea's in late November, and takes over after more than 19 years serving Western New York in the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C.
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