BUFFALO, N.Y. — There’s a missing link in Buffalo’s hospitality scene: the convention center. 

Paul Murphy, general manager of the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center, is eagerly awaiting the publication of a study on the center's future, but he'll have to wait until July to find out what the city has in mind. 

Murphy says the county made an investment in the nearly 40-year-old building back in 2010. That, coupled with Buffalo’s booming resurgence has kept them busy. But with new hotels like the Curtiss, Hotel Henry and the Marriotts at Canalside, the facility isn’t up to par, he said.

People want different things now, including intimate spaces with high-top tables and charging ports, more outdoor elements and natural sunlight, when they go to conferences. Murphy and others in the hospitality industry have learned that spaces lacking these attributes aren't drawing the same events as places that do. 

To change that, Chicago-based consultants have been checking the current event center inside and out to see if it’s possible to renovate. They’re also looking at whether the center is competitive and meeting the demands of the market as well as customers. The search was on for a second new location and a survey with past, present and hopefully future cliental was also completed.

Murphy says in a perfect scenario, the new convention center will have a ballroom with windows that overlook the city and a terrace, a larger lobby, an expanded exhibit hall and connected parking, too. It's a dream he hopes they can make a reality, making Buffalo proud.

Once the survey is made available, Murphy estimates it will take a few years to get plans together and get construction underway.