In a triumphant victory yesterday, the Buffalo Planning Board gave the green light to the Buffalo RiverWorks project, which is a huge first step towards seeing the completion of the visionary waterfront recreational complex.
I spoke to Doug Swift, president of RiverWorks who was elated with the outcome. “We made history yesterday. Buffalo is taking back its own destiny… while we were under some pressure due to the timeline of the Labatt Pond Hockey Tournament (see lead image) that we will be hosting,” Doug said. “I feel that the process went smoothly considering the large scale of this project. We have the official permits, and now we’re in the design, development and the construction document phase. At the same time, OSC will be moving its equipment to the old American Axle Plant on the city’s East Side. We’re moving full speed ahead and expect the First Phase of the project to be open by Memorial Day with a fall of 2014 completion. We’re not stopping construction until we’re done. My partner in this, Earl Ketry, who has built an impressive hospitality enterprise here in Buffalo, is looking at this as a dream project for the city, as am I.”
To learn more about the project, click here.
Lead image: Work has begun building six mechanically refrigerated ice rinks for the Labatt Pond Hockey Tournament – the scheduled announcement for that date could come as early as this week now that the project is officially moving forward.