BUFFALO, N.Y.-- Medaille College in Buffalo will soon have a new home for its sports teams.
Monday, local leaders and lawmakers, along with Medaille student-athletes celebrated the groundbreaking of the Medaille Sports Complex at Buffalo Color Park, which is part of the former Schoellkopf Power site at Elk and Lee streets.
The $4 million complex will include an outdoor turf field and an indoor support facility, including locker rooms, classrooms and concessions. It will be a home and practice field for its men's and women's soccer and lacrosse teams.
"We didn't really have a home. We kind of just traveled around and practiced anywhere," Matthew Gabalski, a senior student athlete said. "That involved practicing in the pitch dark at 8 p.m. on a random Buffalo soccer field somewhere."
Medaille has entered into a 15-year lease for the new athletic facility.
"The Medaille Sports Complex is so much more than just a place to play," Gabalski added. "It's finally a place to call home. It's all us athletes gathering together and saying: 'This is ours. We have this. We defend this place.' "
Work on the outdoor complex is expected to be completed by October, with construction of the indoor facility expected to begin shortly thereafter.
This new complex will be on about five acres of the 21-acre former Buffalo Color property. The developer, OSC Holdings, Inc., also envisions creating a mixed-use development to include residential, retail, and commercial space on the other land.