North Tonawanda Mayor Austin Tylec discussed the recently approved $18 million project to transform the city-owned Norman Keller Building into a new community center in a video interview published Saturday, November 7, 2026. The proposal would consolidate youth, senior and recreation services under one roof at 500 Wheatfield Street.
Mayor Tylec's comments about the project's latest chapter appear in a video hosted by The Buffalo News. According to the article, city voters approved the North Tonawanda community center project, though the full details of that approval were discussed in the video itself. The ballot proposition asked whether the city should be authorized to finance up to $18 million for the project, according to beenews.com.
What the Center Would Include
The project would convert the Norman Keller Building into a community center housing a youth center, senior center and the Lumber City Development programs, per the city's own project page at playntrec.com. The design calls for a 7,700-square-foot gymnasium for recreational programming, along with a 3,000-square-foot multipurpose space and a 1,000-square-foot fitness center, the city says.
The city's page draws a distinction between two dollar figures that have circulated around the project. The $18 million figure represents the total projected cost and the maximum amount the city is asking voters to authorize for financing, while $15.5 million is described as the engineer's current estimate of the anticipated construction cost specifically. Those two numbers are not interchangeable, according to the city's own breakdown.
How the Cost Estimates Shifted
The project's price tag has moved over time. An earlier Niagara County economic development report listed an estimated project cost of $12 million with an expected completion date of 2027, the same beenews.com report notes. The city later approved a 25-year, $15 million bond resolution intended to help finance the center and attract grant funding, according to a report from cnhi.com. The current ballot measure instead seeks authorization for financing up to $18 million, a separate and more recent figure from the bond resolution.
If voters authorize the full $18 million through a 30-year bond at a 4.5% interest rate, the city estimates annual debt payments of about $1.10 million, funded through a special property tax of $0.84 per $1,000 of assessed value, per the city's figures on playntrec.com. The city also projects that consolidating facilities could save roughly $124,000 annually in operating costs while generating about $80,000 in new annual revenue, for a net annual change of $204,000, beenews.com reported.
Grant Funding and What Comes Next
North Tonawanda was not successful in its first round of applications for New York's BRICKS grant program, but the city says it plans to pursue another opportunity during the 2026-27 funding cycle. In June, the Common Council unanimously approved a resolution requesting $5 million in capital funding from Niagara County toward the project, beenews.com reported.
Should the ballot proposition move forward, the city would proceed to the next phases of the project, including finalizing design, bidding, permitting and construction, according to a report from ourmanacrossthetonawandas.substack.com. WKBW has also covered the proposal, describing it as a plan to replace the city's existing youth and senior centers with the new consolidated facility. A sample ballot posted by the Niagara County Board of Elections describes a proposition asking whether North Tonawanda may issue serial bonds not exceeding $18 million to finance the project, though the full legal wording of the final ballot language was not independently reviewed here.
