As concerns grow about the future of the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Buffalo, questions have also been raised about another building a few blocks away — the Erie County Holding Center.

What You Need To Know


  • The Erie County Holding Center could move majority of its operations from Buffalo to Alden

  • This plan was mentioned in the Erie County executive's COVID-19 deficit remediation plan

  • The county legislature has 3 weeks to address the county executive's plan 

"This is our plan moving forward," said Scott Zylka, the public information officer for the Erie County Sheriff's Office.

He's referring to a plan that, if approved, could make the inside of the Erie County Holding Center look a whole lot different.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said, "The Erie County Holding Center has a capacity of 638 people, it currently has 300 individuals there where they are running at 47% capacity."

On Thursday, Poloncarz presented his COVID-19 deficit remediation plan, which includes a proposal from the Erie County Sheriff's Office to transfer a majority of the operations and detainees at the Erie County Holding Center in downtown Buffalo to the Erie County Correctional Facility in Alden.

Zylka said, "The Erie County Holding Center downtown will remain operational with minimal housing but the housing that will be there will be specialized housing or medical, forensic, mental health and other specialized housing needs."

Erie County Legislature Minority Leader Joe Lorigo is concerned about some of the costs that could arise with the potential change. 

"It might save costs to move inmates from the holding center in downtown Buffalo to Alden but I also think you might have additional costs associated with transferring inmates to and from court appearances. One of the main reasons the holding center is in the city of Buffalo is because of the proximity to the court system there," Lorigo said.

Lorigo recommends the county use money already allocated to the area to combat the coronavirus pandmeic.

"One of the things that I'm disappointed in seeing is this continued reliance on a federal bailout when we have close to $150 million left of the original $160 million that Erie County was given to fight COVID-19," he said.

But the Erie County Sheriff's Office says regardless of what happens, this could be their new normal.

Zylka said, "We can't go on the what if, on money coming in, we can't wait on that this our plan moving forward who knows what the future will hold for us or the county."

The county legislature has three weeks to address the county executive's deficit remediation plan.