The 2009 and 2012 musicals won the Kenny Award for WNY high school excellence. The science laboratories and the library were completely updated during the summer of 2006. Soon after, hidden from public view, the school installed a completely new boiler system for heating the facility. In 2012, the challenges of a changing curriculum necessitated another expansion. The third and fourth floors of the former convent area were converted into nine modern classrooms and dedicated as the Sisters of St. Francis Academic Wing. In 2013, the school broke ground for a new athletic center that not only includes a gym and athletic offices but also a dance studio and the school store, the Shark Shop. In 2017, as Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart celebrates 140 years of academic excellence, other areas of the building are being updated to meet the challenges of technology and enhance learning.
The city became known for its prominent role in theater and music as well as innovative dining experiences. Shea’s Buffalo began a $20 million multi-year restoration. In an effort to improve the Buffalo waterfront, in December 2015, Harbor Center, a hockey-themed development on the Webster Block, opened to the public. The Buffalo Medical Corridor, an impressive campus of hospitals and medical centers, fosters medical innovation of the future. The same impulse helped to open Canalside, a waterfront gathering place for year-round fun and activity that celebrates the legacy of the old Erie Canal harbor. In 2011 and 2014 respectively, Terry Pegula purchased the Buffalo Sabres hockey team and the Buffalo Bills football team. People from around the United States and Canada refer to the advances in the city as the ‘Buffalo Renaissance.’