BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — After years of planning, Buffalo's Common Council approved plans for a Shoshone Park field house, it'll be a more than 34,000-square-foot facility.
University District Council Member Rasheed Wyatt has cherished memories of Shoshone Park.
"I used to swim here, used to play basketball here, used to play hockey here. All those things I did right at this location," Wyatt said.
The park, which sits on Hertel Avenue, right off of Main Street, will soon be receiving a new field house.
"I'm excited for the families and for the children that in the summer and winter there's something that they can do and not just sit in the house and play video games but there'll be some amenities that they can do too and do other things that kids want to do," Wyatt explained.
Some key features of this new field house include an expansive indoor multi-purpose turf field and a community room that can be used for meetings and events.
"I'm looking forward to seeing how it can be interchangeable for other events, other things because this isn't an amenity for just the University District but for the entire city," Wyatt said.
Wyatt said the current field house isn't useful and is small, so this new one will make all of a difference.
"I'm excited because this is the first facility of its type in the City of Buffalo. We have others throughout the area but this is the first of its size throughout the city," Wyatt said.
Department of Public Works Commissioner Nate Marton said the project will cost about $11 million.
"That park is a really important asset to that part of the city and the residents of our community. We see a lot of activity, so from our standpoint to have something that our kids and our community can use year-round we're really excited about that," Marton said.
Right now, the city is in the contractual phase.
"We're getting contracts from the construction company get those reviewed and hopefully within you know a two to three-month timeframe we can turn everything pretty quickly get all the legal documents in place and get construction going," he said.
Should everything go according to the timeline, the field should be ready for use by late next year.
"It's a transformation that's really gonna make people in this community very happy," Wyatt said.
There will be a groundbreaking ceremony in the fall.
