Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Announces the Start of Construction on the $34.6 Million Expansion of Shea’s Buffalo Theatre

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the start of construction on a $34.6 million expansion of the historic Shea's Buffalo Theatre plus an additional commitment of $5 million in capital funding from New York State. Driven by a $18.5 million state investment, the four-story, 25,600-square-foot addition will revitalize the theatre experience by introducing a new box office, expanded lobby and event space, concessions at each level, additional bathrooms and critical accessibility upgrades, including three new elevators.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Thank you, everyone. Yeah, it kind of brings back a memory of me hating to ever have to speak after Brian Higgins when we are both members of Congress. He's so eloquent, and he just nails it every time. And so, Brian, so great to see you once again. And I think you mentioned bricklayers and steelworkers. Your father was a bricklayer, my father was a steelworker. I think they'd be very surprised and honored to see the positions we've ascended to because of the way they taught us about the value of hard work, and certainly our mothers had a strong influence as well. So it's great to be back in Buffalo and to stand in this extraordinary, extraordinary masterpiece. And you use the word magical, that's the other word I always associate with this. When you walk in here, you feel you're transformed to a different space and certainly when you leave, after whatever performance you have chosen to see, you are far better for it. You've opened your eyes to new thoughts and possibilities, new music is singing in your heart as well.

And so this is a place that we must, must, must fight to ensure that it's here for many, many years to come. I was reading up the history when Shea's opened for the first time over 100 years ago, there were 25,000 people lined up around the streets because they were told that this was going to be on par with the great palaces of Europe - not just elsewhere in this country, but Europe - and they were not disappointed. It has been home to so many performances, starting with vaudeville performers and singers on stage like Dionne Warwick and David Bowie and you could go through all the other great, great people who graced this stage. Not to mention which it also hosts 43 North every year and gives it the pizzazz and the gravitas that only this place can give it. So as we announce our winners every year, I've so enjoyed coming back. But you mentioned the musical production tax credit. That has changed the trajectory of the industry, the industry of performances in our state from Broadway to Buffalo - because we're in competition. We're in competition with for a time being, it was New Jersey and Toronto and Georgia, and now the stages of London and where many productions are starting there and investing the money in all the workers and the creativity that goes into creating a performance and then bringing it back here.

So I knew we needed to be competitive, I knew I had to stand up. And I'll tell you right now, there's a lot of opposition that I'm having to stand down because I know that this is an experience that also supports the livelihoods of so many people. The people make the costumes, and the carpenters who build the stage, and the electricians, and the talent that's all part of every production. It is a massive undertaking. And as someone who has been here countless times, I also, when I get a few minutes in New York City, I slip into performances. I was at a show last week and I have such an appreciation for what is involved in creating a performance. But also it's a place of creating memories.

And I don't know how old I was, but I was pretty young when my parents brought me here to see the film Sound of Music, and I don't think this is the rerun - this might have been the first showings of this. So way, way, way back and my family didn't have a lot of money, so it was a real treat we could come here every couple of years or so - they had to save up the money. But I remember my whole family coming to see Mamma mia! We occupied the top row, I guarantee it. But the electricity that I felt as a young person and that carried with me my whole life and why I'm so proud to be able to be someone who can help you achieve what you're looking to achieve here, Brian. And it is your vision that's been instilled in the knowledge of always believing that Buffalo can do better, Buffalo can do better, and our cultural institutions can do better. And it is drivers of change like you that point the way for the rest of us. And I'm happy to follow your vision and the vision of your board of directors and Jim Egan and all the people who care so deeply about this, and certainly the great support of our County Executive Mark Polancarz, and our elected leaders who understand what this is.

But I've also been to a lot of communities across upstate New York where the theaters have closed down - they have closed and we're trying to bring them back - and many of them were all built around 100 years ago, that grand era of building. And we need to keep that up and make those investments today. So I'm proud to announce an additional $5 million, which gets us up to $18.5 million investment from the state to make this become a reality.

[...]

Brian, you showed me pictures of this a few months ago, and you had me at hello - by the way. I will not go through all the descriptions of all the amenities that you're talking about in the building. But what caught my attention as a mom who brought a little girl here - 60 more bathroom fixtures. Okay, okay, hallelujah. For all the parents who had to wait with a little girl - and you don't want to be missing the show. But also you're writing the next chapter for the theater district. It has had some highs and it's had some lows. And as we continue to make investments in downtown Buffalo, which I will say is still recovering from the pandemic, which started six years ago. The remote work took a real hit on downtown, and it hurt the vitality of restaurants. And now we have inflation and now we have tariffs. I've been going around the state talking about the impact of tariffs on restaurant owners and the price of coffee going up 50 percent and, and the products that they need to bring in. And now when you just don't think and get any worse, the cost of gasoline, which transports all the goods to the restaurants is now going up. And so the costs just keep going up and up and up.

And so that's why it's important that even during these difficult times, going way back when people still made investments through the Great Depression - they still believe that our cultural institutions must endure the tough times because there is light at the end of the tunnel. We will get through this, we always do. And in the next few years when this is completed, hopefully our economy has stabilized and people can feel a little more of a sigh of relief than what they're feeling right now, but these are difficult times. And so to all those who are part of this incredible ecosystem and the entertainment industry and the people who believe in downtown Buffalo, this is a great day for all of us. And I could not be prouder to share this with Brian Higgins, because it's a celebration of mind and soul and spirit that is just all so uplifted when you come to this place and walk out. It's a real, real gem.

I will say, as someone who spends a lot of time like I said, in New York City - my job requires it. I get to brag a little bit because, I think the largest theater in New York City - the Gershwin Theater is about 2,000 seats - I've got 3,000 in my hometown of Buffalo. I'm not bragging about the Buffalo Bills and the Sabres, I'm bragging about Shea's. And so they kind of have had enough of me bragging about my hometown. But, Buffalo was overlooked as the jewel that it is for far too long. And there's people like Brian when he was a congressman, and I worked on that effort. And I'll continue to elevate it to our collective efforts to let people know this is an extraordinary place to have a business, raise a family and enjoy the finest we can imagine in arts and culture starting right here at Shea's. So happy 100th anniversary, Shea's, and thank you very much for accepting the money.

[...]

So I have this really nice proclamation, Mark do you want to come up? We'll do the proclamation - county executive. Now, I am a good enough politician to know there's not a soul who wants me to read this whole thing now. But if you want to overrule me, we can take a vote on it. Okay, I think we're good. But this just acknowledges the extraordinary contributions over the last 100 years of this masterpiece. And I want to thank you for being the steward of it for the next 100.

Thank you.

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