Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The way NFTA executive director Kim Minkel sees it, the $57 million the transit authority invested in building the new DL&W Terminal Metro Rail station was as much about today as it is about tomorrow.
The station, inside the landmark South Park Avenue building, made its official debut on Dec. 8. Its debut marks the first time since 1962 that the public has been welcome inside the venerable Buffalo building.
And, if Minkel has her way - the public will not only continue to be invited inside the terminal but welcomed and encouraged with new developments in the works.
"This is about encouraging new development," said Assemblyman Jon Rivera.
The DL&W station is the first new Metro Rail station since the six-mile-long transit line made its debut in the mid-1980s. It comes against the backdrop of continued development in the Canalside portion of downtown Buffalo but also against plans of extending the Metro Rail into Amherst and the University at Buffalo North Campus.
"We would love to bring people from Amherst into Buffalo using the Metro Rail," Minkel said.
Minkel said there are several DL&W Terminal projects underway - and more remain in the planning.
By next summer, an elevated walkway between the second floor of the DL&W Terminal and KeyBank Center's 100 level will be completed, making arrival into the arena a "coatless" experience.
Also expected to open next summer is a second level outdoor deck and patio overlooking the Buffalo River and a truck ramp that will allow food trucks to set up on the second floor.
Buffalo Electric Glass is also expected to open next summer.
In the meantime, developer Sam Savarino said he was "wrongfully terminated" for the DL&W project last month and is starting legal action against the NFTA. Minkel, citing the possible litigation, declined to comment but did confirm a new development RFP will be issued soon.
"We still have 75,000-square-feet up there that we want developed," Minkel said.
For now, just having the station open and the public welcomed back into the terminal is a good first step.
"I consider it a great start," said Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes.