UB is planning to expand its presence not only in the City of Buffalo, but also throughout Western New York. The UB Regional Institute will be the first unit to move into the UB Gateway building, the university's most recent annexation in downtown Buffalo.
'They're calling it the UB Gateway,' said Dr. Kathryn Foster, director of the institute. 'That's a signal, I think, to the community, not only downtown, but to the whole region that we're open for business. We'll have a kind of visibility to the public there, a kind of visibility that's hard to have when you're out here in Amherst.'
The UB Regional Institute, formerly known as the Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth, was founded 12 years ago, under former UB President Bill Greiner.
According to Foster, the center was created because Greiner believed UB had the resources and knowledge to assist on issues that the local communities and governments face and should expand its reach beyond campus.
'The Regional Institute is a research and policy unit,' Foster said. 'What we do is we create research and policy studies on issues in order to help the region make more informed decisions and help the region think more about its governance, its economy and its demographic change.'
For the last 12 years, the institute has operated out of Beck Hall, a small building on South Campus.
According to Foster, the location at Beck Hall provided them with everything they've needed. However, when it was announced that UB had purchased a building downtown and the units that the building would house were still undecided, staff at the UB Regional Institute were quick to show interest. The chance for a presence in downtown Buffalo was too good to pass up.
'They asked each of the dean's units if they had any sort of interest in space downtown,' Foster said. 'We put up our hands. We said we think that our operation, which already has a strong set of relationships with governments, foundations and the private sector, would be natural to go downtown.'
The UB Gateway, as the building is being called, was formerly the M. Wile building and is located on Goodell Street near the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, in the heart of Buffalo.
According to Foster, the intended purpose of the building as a whole is to act like a setup of open doors, where people will be encouraged to come in and learn about the campus. It will help UB give back to the community and give the community the chance to interact with UB.
Although certain areas of the building were still being used when UB purchased it, the third floor, where the Regional Institute will be moving, was completely vacant. Consequently, for the last several months, construction has focused on getting the space ready to house a modern office.
According to Subbiah Mantharam, director of operations for the institute, this has been a real challenge, as the building was originally built in the 1920s. However, Mantharam believes they have dealt with this difficulty quite well.
'They really attempted to transform the space to meet immediate practical needs, while at the same time maintaining the integrity of the building itself,' Mantharam said. 'They've done a great job with that.'
Although the new space will provide them with more than enough room to expand in the future, the move itself is not one of expansion.
'We get some support from the university, but most of our money we have to raise ourselves,' Foster said. 'So our size, whether we're here or whether were downtown, is always dependent on our ability to make sure we have contracts coming in.'
The UB Regional Institute will continue all of the work it has been doing from Beck Hall at its new downtown home.
'I think the message is that this is a new chapter, both for us here at the institute and for the university as a whole,' Foster said. 'We are very excited about going down there. We look forward to the visibility, the synergy, and the opportunities that a location in the downtown of a region will offer.'
According to Mantharam, the move is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 14, and should be set up and fully operational by the following Monday. Although construction is still going on, all signs point to everything being completed by this date.
E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
