Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens seeking out public opinion on expansion project

Lackawanna, N.Y. (WBEN) - The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens is asking the public for their opinion on their $28 million expansion project.

The facility has over 32,000 square-feet of space. With the expansion, it would add an additional 16,000 square-feet, and renovation to over 14,000 square-feet.

The expansion and renovation will include:
- Relocated, accessible visitor entrance
- State-of-the-art classrooms for education
- Modern even spaces
- Expanded outdoor gardens
- New exhibits
- Modernized growing space to support plant collection
- Expanded gift shop
-Gender neutral restrooms
- Café

"We have a lot of things planned for that extra space. We are going to renovate some greenhouses for our horticulture team to support our collection. We are also adding event spaces so we can rent our facility to for weddings, events, meetings," stated Interim President and CEO of the Buffalo Erie County Botanical Gardens, Erin Grajek.

There will also be new spaces for kids to have field trips, summer camps, and after school programs. Grajek says that because of the limited space they currently have, they have to turn away bus-loads of kids on a regular basis.

"We don't have adequate spaces to have those educational programs host weddings right now. We're doing the best we can with 124 year old Conservatory, and we just need more space, and we need more accessible space, just to be on par with other museums in our area and across the country with amenities that visitors really need and want," Grajek stated.

Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens is asking people to provide feedback on their online form , which closes Oct. 30th.