Rebirth and renewal, that's what Buffalo has seen downtown and along the waterfront in the last decade. This summer, Canalside is celebrating 10 years of being a part of just that.

Rich Hilliman has owned and operated Spirit of Buffalo also for the last 10 years, and has seen the transformation of Canalside from the very beginning.

"Very little was here, we actually were doing business out of a picnic table here on the boardwalk and over the past 10 years the growth has been tremendous," he said.

Hilliman says when his family opened up their business, they saw the potential, but had no idea Canalside would turn in to what it is today. He says without it bringing people to the water, their business might've sank.

"We believed it was going to happen and the people that were getting things together had a great concept going and we believed in it so we came down and a couple of rough years in the beginning and things have really turned around with everything going on down here at Canalside."

Now, Hillman and his family operate multiple river cruises and river history tours. And that's just a fraction of the outdoor activities offered at Canalside.

There's kayaking, water bikes, bikes on the boardwalk, yoga classes, kids programming and the summer concert series. And even in the coldest months people come down to Canalside for ice skating, curling and hockey tournaments.

And with all the growth that's happened over the past 10 years, it's still not stopping. The Explore and More Children's Museum on track to open soon and Canalside plans to give visitors the best experience possible.

"There's going to be small little developments that continue to advance what Canalize is all about and once that happens I think it will really create a neat little community down here," said Canalside General Manager Matt LaSota.