BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – Bass Pro Shops Monday announced plans for a new superstore on Buffalo’s underutilized waterfront, lending hope that additional development will follow.

The Missouri-based outdoor retailer will spend $57 million to convert the vacant Memorial Auditorium, with the federal, state and local governments committing about $66 million, officials said.

“When Bass Pro comes to a town, they don’t just open a store, they change a town,” said Gov. George Pataki, among a host of elected officials who joined Bass Pro executives for the announcement.

The project will include a 250,000-square-foot store – the third-largest in the Bass Pro chain – along with a hotel, restaurant and museum. Bass Pro plans to offer boating demonstrations and guided fishing trips on Lake Erie, officials said.

The city has been courting the Springfield, Mo.-based chain for well over two years as a way to boost tourism and inspire additional development along the waterfront that skirts the city’s downtown. The Memorial Auditorium has been boarded since the Buffalo Sabres moved to the nearby HSBC Arena in 1996.

“This announcement has been a long time coming,” Bass Pro Shops President Jim Hagale said. “We’re part of a grand plan and we’re grateful we’re able to participate.”

The 26-store Bass Pro chain is the country’s fifth-largest outdoor and sports retailer. Its flagship store in Springfield, Mo., attracts more than 4 million shoppers per year.

The chain opened its first upstate New York store in Auburn in June, with Bass Pro officials predicting it would draw as many as 3 million yearly visitors and local officials hoping for as much as $2 million in new sales revenues. That 85,000-square-foot-store features elaborate nature displays, dioramas and a 22,000-square-foot freshwater aquarium.

The Buffalo store, expected to open in late 2007, is projected to attract 3 million to 5 million yearly visitors to a city where few major retailers have a downtown presence. It is expected to employ about 400 people.

“It’s a huge day for Buffalo,” Mayor Anthony Masiello said.

A government incentive package includes $31 million in federal funding secured by U.S. Reps. Jack Quinn, R-N.Y., and Thomas Reynolds, R-N.Y., to be used for an intermodal transportation station and 1,000-space parking ramp, along with a Great Lakes-themed museum to be connected to the store.

The state’s $21 million contribution will help renovate the auditorium, demolish a nearby state office building and relocate its workers. Erie County and Buffalo will provide about $14 million for the project.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said legislation that designated Buffalo a “Renewal Community” and brought it within the city’s federal tax break zone helped land the deal. The Housing and Urban Development program is designed to encourage business expansion in urban areas with high unemployment and low incomes.

“This new Bass Pro store will jumpstart the redevelopment of Buffalo’s Inner Harbor and be a catalyst for more investment in downtown,” Schumer said.

AP-ES-11-29-04 1638EST