BUFFALO, N.Y. — On the eve of the Easter season, the Broadway Market is preparing for their busiest time of the year.
At the same time, it's contemplating its future and viability.
After challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the market hopes to see a return of the traditional pre-pandemic crowds, which haven't existed since 2019.
In recent years millions of taxpayer dollars have been pledged and spent to sustain the market which has existed since the late 1800s, with the hope that future funding could transform it into an international mecca to attract more shoppers throughout the year.
"We have made tangible changes to the exterior of the Broadway Market," Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said, regarding the $1.2 million expense over the past summer to remove awnings and repair and replace the building's stucco and faux brick façade, which has also been repainted.
Inside, the most recent improvements include a commercial kitchen used by restaurants on a rotating basis to prepare wares and the build out of a police sub station.
"We'll be having an architect come in probably toward the end of the month who will be doing an interior design of the market and meeting with market vendors, so by this time next year you will be seeing some interior changes inside the market," Broadway Market manager Kathleen Peterson said.
Added Fillmore District Common Council Member Mitch Nowakowski, "The road to success is always under construction and so is the Broadway Market."
More than $14 million has been pledged by the State of New York in recent years to improve not only the market but the surrounding neighborhood as well. However, a recent consultants report indicated the investment of $50 million might be needed to transform the market and the neighborhood into the mecca that some have envisioned.
"You can't just put a bandage on something," said Danny Potts, 81, who has been visiting the market since he was a little boy just after World War II and for the past several years has operated a restaurant at the market.
"It's coming, but I think the city and the state have to do a lot more with the whole area for it to work," he said.