BUFFALO, N.Y. — Community investment in cultural centers is one of the most significant ways to preserve culture and heritage to pass on to future generations.

That’s why the Buffalo community is working to build the first Hispanic Heritage Cultural Institute of its kind in the Western New York region.

What You Need To Know

  • Hispanic Heritage Cultural Institute will be the first of its kind in Western New York

  • $18.5 million has already been raised for the $26 million project

  • 45,000 Hispanics and Latinos live in Buffalo and nearly 75,000 live in Western New York

The groundwork for the center began just over a year ago.

“We’re a stone's throw away from the Peace Bridge to Canada and were also a stone throw away from the Ralph Wilson Jr. Centennial Park,” said Casimiro Rodrigues Sr., president and founder of the Hispanic Heritage Council of Western New York, which is on the road to building a new cultural institute. 

“It’s right here in the heart of our Hispanic community, the Hispanic Heritage District, Avenida San Juan,” Rodrigues said. 

One year since the groundbreaking of the new facility, its potential and intended impact on the community is even more clear. 

“It’s a facility that the community has been yearning for," he said. "It's a facility that's going to change the landscape for this area.”

With over 100 arts and cultural organizations in Erie County, this will be the first of its kind. 

“It will have on the first floor a museum, an art gallery, a theater, it will have our central offices of the Hispanic Heritage Council," he said. "They’ll be able to learn more of how the Hispanic community evolved in this area.” 

With 45,000 Hispanics and Latinos in Buffalo and nearly 75,000 in Western New York, the facility is an investment that will not only showcase culture, but also educate. 

“We don’t want this facility to be just brick and mortar, we want it to be a facility where folks can have a real good impression of the contributions of Hispanics and Latinos of this region and at the same time transform and change not only our community, but the lives of our future generations," Rodrigues said. 

With $18.5 million already raised for the $26 million project, it is raising momentum of the importance in investing in cultural institutions across the state. 

“Already I’m hearing in other cities across the state, they’re starting to think about cultural centers or cultural destination points within their own communities,” said Rodrigues. 

It's deepening the love and appreciation for culture in the community while also giving others a chance to appreciate it as well. 

“It's important that government invests in its neighborhoods and its community," Rodrigues said. "This is just an affirmation, a confirmation of what’s needed and what will be added to the arts and cultural sector of this region.”