A new outdoor ice-skating venue should be open in downtown Buffalo by late fall. Lt. Governor Robert Duffy and state and local officials helped launch the 'East Canal' project at Canalside Thursday morning. The replica canal will run from Washington Street to Main Street between the former Donovan Building and Scott Street. Duffy says the region's federal, state, and local officials are working together to revitalize the city's waterfront.
"Buffalo is just coming together in so many ways and really facing the challenges every upstate city faces. But no upstate city has this going on. We have three contiguous blocks of construction," Duffy said.
Along with the East Canal, other replica canals are going in on the block that formerly housed Memorial Auditorium, the former Donovan Building is being rehabbed, and work on the Sabres' HARBORcenter is underway.
The public-private investment on the three blocks totals nearly $230 million.
All of the new canals are expected to open in time for the next skating season.