Senator Dale M. Volker, Assembly Majority Leader Tokasz & Members Of The Wny Legislative Delegation Announce $44 Million In Funding For Culturals And Economic Development Projects
(Albany, NY) Senator Dale M. Volker (R-I-C, Depew) today announced that $44 million in state funds previously earmarked for the Adelphia project has been reallocated to several high-profile economic-development and cultural tourism projects in downtown Buffalo. Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Assembly Majority Leader Tokasz and members of the Western New York Legislative Delegation all played a major role in reallocating and securing these state funds for our region.
The following cultural and economic development projects funded are:
$21 million for Bass Pro;
$14.8 million for the Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus;
$3 million for the Buffalo Transportation/Pierce-Arrow Museum;
$2.5 million for HealthNow;
$1 million for Frank Lloyd Wright’s Rowing Boathouse Corporation;
$1 million for Nash House; and
$700,000 for Shea’s Buffalo Theater.
"These funds are critically important to provide an economic boost to Buffalo and Erie County. These projects will help create and retain jobs by investing in business, life sciences research, tourism, the arts and recreation," said Bruno. "I applaud Senators Dale Volker, Mary Lou Rath and George Maziarz for their efforts to ensure these funds are used to benefit economic development in Western New York."
"These major investments will produce real economic benefits for Erie County," said Silver. "Bass Pro Shops will open a new multi-million-dollar superstore that will create 400 new jobs and the vacant Memorial Auditorium, or ‘Aud,’ will be transformed into a Bass Pro superstore that will serve as the centerpiece and anchor tenant of a major development effort in Buffalo’s Inner Harbor."
"Today’s funding announcement not only sustains, maintains and solidifies existing cultural, medical and entrepreneurial organizations in the City of Buffalo," said Volker, "it also lays the foundation and builds momentum for future economic development activities that will take place in Buffalo in the near future. Additionally, the economic ripple effect that these state financial investments will spur, will be significant and will provide continued job creation, job retention, and peripheral business opportunities for our residents."
"Reallocating the Adelphia funds and assuring that they remain in Western New York has been a priority of the Western New York delegation for several years, and I am very pleased that we have reached an agreement on these worthy projects," said Tokasz. "The capital investments we are making now will have long-range economic benefits for our communities and the entire Western New York region for generations to come and will serve as a catalyst for future business development and cultural tourism endeavors."
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