After seventeen years in the Market Arcade building, Visit Buffalo Niagara (VBN) is moving to the Brisbane Building on Lafayette Square. This is great news for Downtown Buffalo, mainly due to the visibility that the storefront has at the corner of Clinton and Washington Streets.
The lead image in this post is a rendering of what the corner will soon look like. Besides adding visual life to the street, the VBN corner (boasting VBN’s new corporate identity) also has the ability of helping out tourists who are looking for information when in Downtown Buffalo. There are also maps available, as well as Buffalo merchandise. In tandem with the move into the high profile storefront, VBN’s corporate offices are also relocating to the sixth floor of the Brisbane building in order to be in close proximity to the visitor center.
“We’re really excited at the opportunities this new location will provide us,” said VBN President and CEO Patrick Kaler. “The opening of the center coincides with a new chapter in Buffalo’s history, as the city and region gain a growing reputation as a tourism destination. We’re looking forward to sharing all there is to see and do in Buffalo Niagara, giving visitors reasons to extend their stay and promoting the story of the city’s renaissance from the very heart of downtown.”
The new visitor center is being strategically located to be close to the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center, the Hilton Garden Inn and The Hotel @ The Lafayette, among others. The site is also easily accessible from Canalside, HARBORCenter, the new Courtyard by Marriott hotel and the full-service Marriott. Not to mention the rest of the activity on the block (seen here in this article). Doors are slated to open on November 3, 2014.
The visitor center will be open 9 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday. It’s too bad that the hours aren’t seven days a week, considering that a lot of visitors, tours, etc. need help on the weekends. Oh well, it’s a good start, but the weekend issue should be addressed.