Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Buffalo's Central Terminal, a historical Buffalo landmark that has been out of operation since 1979, will receive $61 million towards its revival from New York State in efforts to restore the building and provide more funding to eventually re-open it.
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"This is wonderful news, not just for the Restoration Corporation and the committee and the volunteers, who has been doing such a great job over the years, it's great for the community to now have a significant investment to move this project forward to implementation," said James Morrell, Vice-Chair of the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation.
"It's a project that we've been waiting for decades. That building opened in 1929 and shut down in the mid 70s and ever since there have been a number of redevelopment proposals, but this one is real because there's real money behind it," said outspoken supporter of the terminal, Congressman Brian Higgins.
What is the $61 million dollars going to do? Are we going to see noticeable changes? The estimated cost to complete the full project is estimated between $290 million and $300 million dollars.
"It's believed that that would be the approximate amount of money that is necessary to complete the redevelopment of that entire property. The interior, the exterior and creating a lot of public access, which will serve as an attraction to the site," said Congressman Higgins.
"We're looking at over $290 million to redo the entire project. What the $61 million is going to do is provide the stabilization, it's going to take care of the asbestos, it's going to bring the us the ability to bring individuals into the building and be safe. It's going to reactivate the common calm or concourse area, the lunch room as well as the grounds and the parking garage. So $61 million, is gonna go a long way, but you may not see a bunch of that investment stuff that's behind the scenes to make this building safe," said Morrell.
This money is coming in addition to the State's plan to invest in Buffalo's East Side, with $1 billion dollars going to the re-design of the Kensington Expressway and $30 million dollars going towards improving the Broadway Market. Congressman Higgins believes that this is a very critical step to some economic growth in Buffalo.
"We'll look at that as a catalyst for the redevelopment of that whole Broadway Fillmore neighborhood, which needs an injection of new economic activity. We're very confident that this $61 million would be able to attract the private sector interests to make this a fully funded project at about $300 million dollars. There's also the opportunity for historic tax credits, which could be worth up to $50 million in addition, so we're getting closer to that number. This is obviously a great announcement by our Governor. I have talked with her several times about the importance of this project," said Congressman Higgins.