BUFFALO, N.Y. — Call it a sign of the times and perhaps a sign of progress.  Buffalo's largest hotel is getting a makeover, and the old signage on the former Adam's Mark are coming down, a symbol of the all work that's started to give it new life as the Buffalo Grand Hotel.

"Subtlety is not in the business plan,” said new owner Harry Stinson. “We want to really make this thing stand out. It's just a whole level of bringing it back to where it was originally as a four-star Hilton originally."

Stinson, a Canadian developer, bought the downtown property for $17 million in July.  He's investing another $10 million to renovate the 40-year-old hotel by painting the outside in bright colors and adding attention-grabbing signs in Las Vegas or New York City fashion.

"It won't be quite as bad as Times Square, but it will still be very, very noticeable," he said.

On the inside, they're fixing up the nearly 500 guest rooms, adding a coffee shop, upgrading the bar and restaurant and reviving the music venue. 

The hotel currently has about 72,000 square feet of meeting and convention space.  Stinson says he plans to expand it by 100,000 square feet with an addition to the building.

This comes after a recent study showed the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center is functionally obsolete and needs to be replaced. 

In the meantime, Stinson plans to make his own mark in bringing in the big events.

"I don't think there really should be a question of, 'should we have a good convention center in town?' We do need one,” he said. “We actually need two. Bring the events.  This is an event hotel. We have 500 rooms to fill.”

Stinson estimates the expansion will cost about $100 million and he'll do it without asking for any taxpayer money. He expects the project will be complete within two years.