BUFFALO, NY (WKBW/Release) – The Buffalo Zoo’s new Polar Bear Exhibit served as the backdrop today when Mayor Byron Brown unveiled highlights of his recommended 2013 Capital Budget.
The $21 million recommended spending plan includes City-wide Infrastructure Replacement, parks improvements, upgrades to the Hatch Restaurant at Erie Basin Marina, and funding for the Buffalo Zoo, Coca-Cola Field, community centers, demolitions, and libraries.
“My recommended Capital Budget contains a wide variety of capital improvement projects, including $1.8 million for City-wide parks improvements which contain funding for Olmsted Parks, LaSalle Park, Roosevelt Park and historic Broderick Park,” said Mayor Brown.
“I have also recommended $550,000 in funding for the Buffalo Zoo’s new Polar Bear exhibit, and $1.3 million for upgrades to the Hatch Restaurant at Erie Basin Marina.”
"We at the Buffalo Zoo are so very grateful to Mayor Brown and to the City of Buffalo for the $550,000 contribution to our new Arctic Edge exhibit,” said Donna Fernandes, President/CEO of the Buffalo Zoo. “The continued support from the City will allow us to create an exhibit that Buffalo residents and visitors will be able to enjoy for decades to come."
Mandated by the City Charter to be submitted by the Mayor on or before November 1st, the Common Council has until December 15th to adopt the recommended capital budget.
“In recommending individual expenditures, my administration has thoroughly reviewed the recommendations of the Citizens Planning Council (CPC), which evaluated more than $97 million in requests for capital spending,” stated Mayor Brown.
“As evidenced by the attached budget, I have adhered closely to the recommendations of the Citizens Planning Council. I’m confident, if the Common Council accepts these recommendations, that these capital investments will enhance and strengthen our residents’ quality of life throughout the City of Buffalo.”
Other highlights of Mayor Brown’s 2013 Recommended Capital Budget include:
Citywide Infrastructure – Replacement $6,000,000
Demolitions of Buildings/Structures $3,253,000
City-wide Parks Improvements (including Broderick/LaSalle Parks) $1,823,900
Municipal Building Improvements (including JFK, and Pratt-Willert) $1,600,000
Fire &Snow Fighting Apparatus $1,400,000
Hatch Restaurant Additions/Alterations $1,361,425
Ellicott Street Improvements at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus $802,500
Arts & Cultural Organizations $757,560
Downtown Ball Park (Coca-Cola Field) Upgrade $750,000
City-wide Tree Removal/Planting $642,000
Arctic Edge (Polar Bear) Exhibit $550,000
City-wide Street Lighting $500,000
City-wide Libraries $347,750
Johnnie B. Wiley Lighting Improvements $250,000
Allen St – Streetscape $250,000
MLK Casino – Exterior Renovation $214,000
“It’s important to note that the capital list doesn’t generate itself. I thank the members of the Citizens Planning Council for their dedication and commitment to analyzing this critically important information, which will have a lasting and beneficial impact on the City,” said Mayor Brown.
“I look forward to working with the Common Council and the City Comptroller in enacting this Capital Budget.”
