Gillibrand, Higgins to announce funding toward planned Hispanic Heritage Cultural Institute in Buffalo

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins will announce federal funding toward a proposed $22 million Hispanic Heritage Cultural Institute in Buffalo during a news conference Wednesday on the planned site at Niagara and Hudson streets on the Lower West Side.

Casimiro D. Rodriguez, president of the Hispanic Heritage Council of Western New York, will join the federal lawmakers in promoting the venture as a means “to celebrate Hispanic arts, culture and heritage, nurturing a spirit of community and intergenerational learning, while contributing to the growth and vibrancy of our city and region,” according to documents filed earlier this year with the city.

Officials hope to break ground soon at the northwest corner of Niagara and Hudson streets, with 18 months of construction before anticipated completion in fall 2024.

The center will focus on Hispanic arts, culture and history. It will serve an estimated 45,000 Hispanics in Buffalo, in addition to 75,000 Hispanic residents across the region, representing nearly two dozen countries and unique cultures in Latin America.

Higgins and Gillibrand will announce the level of federal funding toward the project at the press conference, scheduled for just after noon.

Plans call for a 37,000-square-foot, three-story building at 462 Niagara St., designed by Stieglitz Snyder Architecture and LaBella Associates, with a completion dates as early as fall 2024.

The Hispanic Heritage Council pitched the project, which was approved by the city Planning Board in early July.

The Cultural Institute will house a museum and art gallery, gift shop, cafeteria, 150-seat performing arts theater, large event space, media center for radio or television broadcasts, learning labs, artisan and teaching kitchen, rooftop gardens and administrative offices.

Works by local artists will be featured in the gallery. The theater will house the Raices Theatre Company, in addition to hosting other productions, panels and a speaker series; it will also be available for rent as a multifunction assembly space for local schools, churches and other clubs or organizations.

The media center will be designed to house a radio or TV station using a low-power FM frequency to be identified by the Federal Communications Commission that will help provide real-world learning opportunities for students interested in careers in journalism.

To further meet students’ cultural and academic needs, the Hispanic Heritage Cultural Institute will host the Teacher Leadership Academy while also offering other academic and workforce development programs such as adult English as a second language classes, arts programming, a Saturday Academy, entrepreneurships and apprenticeships. In addition, the cultural center’s Guitar Initiative will provide free music instruction to children ages 12 to 17.

Other areas of the building – including conference space – will be allocated for lease to various small tenants, to provide supplemental revenue from rents ensuring the project is financially sustainable. In all, about 25,000 square feet will be dedicated to the new cultural institute, with 10,446 square feet available for lease and the rest set aside for community space, according to officials.

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Staff Reporter

After four years of planning and delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Hispanic Heritage Cultural Institute may be close to a ground-breaki…