Buffalo Bills Football Stadium location

[WNYresident]

Are you serious that you think these would be feasible in a 65,000 seat venue? Except for the "3 minor concerts", these events are NOT even feasible for the FNC because it costs big $$$ to open/operate event venues, so to make the rental costs reasonable, it's go big or don't go there at all.
3 Minor Concerts - 7,500 each
15 Meetings - 150 each
12 Conventions - Trade Shows - 3,000 each
15 Community Events - 5,000 each

Not counting the Minor Concerts... Those would go to the Arena

As for the smaller conventions and community events you are only opening up a section of the new convention center. You are not going to fire up the full stadium for those events.

[leftWNYbecauseofBS]

"2 Major Concerts - 40k each" : How often does Garth Brooks come out of "retirement"? Big stadium acts are a rarity these days, NOT just in Buffalo, but everywhere.

You're showing your age.

Firstly, tours are the last opportunity for musicians to make real money. Album sales are not at all what they used to be.

Secondly, POP, Country and Hip Hop have multiple tours our there that are of the 40K size.

Thirdly, RWS is an open air venue which limits when large concerts can be held. It already has one boy band booked. I really don't see 2 large ones a year being a reach.

Are you serious that you think these would be feasible in a 65,000 seat venue? Except for the "3 minor concerts", these events are NOT even feasible for the FNC because it costs big $$$ to open/operate event venues, so to make the rental costs reasonable, it's go big or don't go there at all.

3 Minor Concerts - 7,500 each
15 Meetings - 150 each
12 Conventions - Trade Shows - 3,000 each
15 Community Events - 5,000 each

These types of events are held at stadiums like Qualcomm all of the time. So here is how I see it...

I have seen these events held at football stadiums & have read a report that research was put into.

You have just an opinion and nothing to back it up.

You're grasping at straws here, Lefty. There are NOT enough events requiring a stadium sized site to make a stadium truly useful for anything except football or baseball games.

Sure...OK.

The all knowing Linda...who lives in the sticks and gets a SR discount is the all knowing expert on event bookings and concert tours. Sure. We should just take your opinion over a study and examples from around the US at other sites. Got it.

Man you're demented.

[pointblank]

You guys already know where I stand, downtown, but the Outer Harbor. Safer land, shovel-ready and more space available than all the other proposed sites combined. Only cheaper (taxpayer saves 70%) and politically inner-circle-free (hence the reason our big media is ignoring it), retractable-dome for year-round events.







www.thebuffalobullet.com

[Linda_D]

You guys already know where I stand, downtown, but the Outer Harbor. Safer land, shovel-ready and more space available than all the other proposed sites combined. Only cheaper (taxpayer saves 70%) and politically inner-circle-free (hence the reason our big media is ignoring it), retractable-dome for year-round events.







www.thebuffalobullet.com

The Outer Harbor would be a transportation nightmare because of its limited access. What part of there's only 1 major route to the north and only 1 major route to the south do you NOT understand? If you include Ohio and Tifft Streets as entrance/exit routes, that's only 4.

The South Park site is also unacceptable IMO because of its infrastructure costs, primarily roads, and the Outer Harbor's infrastructure requirements would easily be double South Park's.

Leave the Outer Harbor as undeveloped waterfront that Buffalonians and WNYers can use as a recreation area.

[leftWNYbecauseofBS]

...you want to build it on what is basically AN ISLAND?!? Two words, "limited access"! Two more words, "case closed".

Yes, it's actually a peninsula, but, very narrow access to the mainland.

You guys are like an island, you've got to wonder why your idea isn't flying. It's way "out" there!

He's just saying what his handler is telling him to say.

[WNYresident]

What do you mean Linda? We can make solar powered ferries to carry cars back and forth to the out harbor. We are paying dearly so that some millionaires can build a factory at our expense so we might as well utilize the solar panels.

I don't know how many panels it would take to power one of these babies but I'm sure the experts that Cuomo hired to spend millions on a solar panel factory would know.

Jumbo Mark II ferries are the largest in our fleet, and carry more than 200 cars.

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Ferries/comm...da/vessels.htm

The Jumbo Mark II Class ferries were built for Washington State Ferries between 1997 and 1999, at Todd Pacific Shipyards in Seattle. Each ferry can carry up to 2500 passengers and 202 vehicles, making them the largest ferries in the fleet, and the second longest double-ended ferries in the world.[1] They all have full galley service and a "quiet room" upstairs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumbo_Mark-II-class_ferry

2500 passengers and 200 cars

Let us say 15,000 cars needed to be ferried over to the stadium.

15,000 / 200 per ferry = 75 trips.

Or do a park and ride. We can satisfy those greedy parking lot landlords.

60,000 fans / 2500 passengers = 24 trips.

We can either have 1 busy ferry making 24 round trips or 24 ferries making one trip each. If we go the 24 ferry route we can become the ferry capital of the USA. We may need to purchase one large ice breaker ship.

After the game we will have police setup with breathalyzers at each parking lot entrance. If you are too drunk to drive you can call a cab to take you home.

[WNYresident]

Final decision should be Mr. Pegula's if he's paying for it.

I think in the city would be cool. Still remember it is basically 8 games a year with limited usage if it doesn't have a roof.

[cheekman]

Hummm I said this about a week ago here is the first of many that will put the Pegula Palace on hold if it goes into the city.

Several businesses would be among casualties of Exchange Street stadium site

Together, these businessmen and others in the neighborhood could pose formidable opposition to the selection of the Exchange Street site as a possible new home for the Buffalo Bills. James Sandoro shares the restaurateur’s concerns. His Buffalo Transportation Museum/Pierce-Arrow Museum, the non-profit facility he donated to the city and operates, would be another casualty of a stadium there.Sandoro has other concerns besides the loss of the transportation museum.

He has lived in the area with his wife, Mary, Ann for 53 years, and worries a massive stadium would block the sun for homes just north of the stadium for all but a few hours in the afternoon, and throughout the winter. That includes newer housing on the north side of Swan Street that would face a massive parking lot after years of disruption.

Three or four of the buildings that would need to be torn down were built in the early 1900s, Sandoro said, and they represent the last physical remnant from that time. That includes the former Dodd’s Dairy building he recently acquired.

Closing a portion of Seneca Street off Michigan Avenue would also shut off that main drag between Main Street and Larkinville. Sandoro said it reminds him of how the street was decimated, along with neighboring streets, by the urban renewal of the 1960s.
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Several businesses would be among casualties of Exchange Street stadium site

Chef’s among places that might have to move
James Sandoro looks over his property that, after the recent purchase of the Ethox Medical complex, stretches from Chicago Street to Michigan Avenue. The Pierce-Arrow Museum owner is worried a new Bills stadium built on Exchange Street would affect his business.

James Sandoro looks over his property that, after the recent purchase of the Ethox Medical complex, stretches from Chicago Street to Michigan Avenue. The Pierce-Arrow Museum owner is worried a new Bills stadium built on Exchange Street would affect his business. Derekdepends on ‘destination’ appeal
State study focuses on three Buffalo sites for Bills stadium, as well as the Ralph

Louis Billittier Jr. favors a new Bills stadium downtown.

But he doesn’t want it built just down the street from Chef’s, which he co-owns.

One of the three favored downtown sites from a consultant’s study places a new stadium within an area bordered by Michigan Avenue and Chicago Street, and Swan and Exchange streets. But that site – the smallest of the three – would require the loss of a portion of Seneca Street between Michigan and Chicago, putting the stadium grounds right at the doorstep of one of Buffalo’s most popular restaurants.

For that reason, a likely consequence of the “Exchange Street site” would result in Chef’s – a dining institution that opened in 1923 – having to move.

“It may be in our best interest to relocate. I don’t want to, obviously, but everything is on the table, I guess,” Billittier said.

James Sandoro shares the restaurateur’s concerns. His Buffalo Transportation Museum/Pierce-Arrow Museum, the non-profit facility he donated to the city and operates, would be another casualty of a stadium there.

So could Larkinville if the Exchange Street site is selected for a new stadium. Seneca Street access to Larkinville, the popular entertainment and commercial area started by Howard Zemsky, a key adviser to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, would be shut off. Larkinville also can be reached via Exchange and Swan streets.

Together, these businessmen and others in the neighborhood could pose formidable opposition to the selection of the Exchange Street site as a possible new home for the Buffalo Bills.

Sandoro is one of the biggest landowners in that area, and he is naturally protective of the auto museum he started and grew.

Last year, Sandoro opened a new addition, featuring the Frank Lloyd Wright Filling Station, with the help of $6.3 million in taxpayer dollars, boosting attendance almost 30 percent.

He recently purchased adjacent property to significantly enlarge the museum’s footprint. Altogether, he owns more than 20 properties in the area, including parking lots.

“I’m cautiously optimistic they will rethink it and go with another site after they do a more detailed look,” Sandoro said. “They are shoehorning the stadium into a small site, and away from all the parking,” he said.

At the same time, Sandoro said he was eager to see a new stadium downtown.

“I think it’s great for Buffalo and would love to see it down here, but not exactly on one of the sites they picked, obviously, because it impacts us.”

To be sure, it could be a long time before a decision is reached whether and where to locate a new stadium, and then years after that to build. Terry and Kim Pegula, the Bills’ billionaire owners, are likely to have a large say in what transpires.

But the uncertainty has several business owners in the several-block area wondering what the future may hold.

The family-owned McCullough Coffee Roasters, at its current location on Swan Street since 1980, is one of them.

“We were a bit surprised to see that one of the options would be right on top of our facility,” said Warren Emblidge III, the company’s president. “We have been roasting coffee in a number of locations in Buffalo since 1867, so the one thing we know is change is a constant.”

But Emblidge said he was happy the Bills are staying in Buffalo and would be in favor of whatever plan offers the best deal for taxpayers.

“We’re willing to play our part if it comes down to that. We would simply ask to receive fair compensation for the land and the building, as well as the cost of relocating equipment,” Emblidge said.

Sandoro has other concerns besides the loss of the transportation museum.

He has lived in the area with his wife, Mary, Ann for 53 years, and worries a massive stadium would block the sun for homes just north of the stadium for all but a few hours in the afternoon, and throughout the winter. That includes newer housing on the north side of Swan Street that would face a massive parking lot after years of disruption.

Three or four of the buildings that would need to be torn down were built in the early 1900s, Sandoro said, and they represent the last physical remnant from that time. That includes the former Dodd’s Dairy building he recently acquired.

Closing a portion of Seneca Street off Michigan Avenue would also shut off that main drag between Main Street and Larkinville. Sandoro said it reminds him of how the street was decimated, along with neighboring streets, by the urban renewal of the 1960s.

“They knocked down wonderful buildings I tried to save. It was a disaster,” Sandoro said. “At my age” – he’s 70 – “I don’t want to fight. I want to save history and continue our mission to bring tens of thousands of people each year to our world-class museum.”

Billittier, who was a County Sheriff road deputy before retiring in 2008, said working traffic detail for Bills games in Orchard Park leads him to doubt that city streets and other infrastructure could handle the tens of thousands of cars pouring in on game day at any of the three favored downtown sites.

“I know first hand what it takes for 80,000 people, or even 60,000 people. It’s tough to move that many cars, and Abbott Road was six, seven lanes, and everything here is one lane each way right now,” Billittier said.

While Sandoro is enthusiastic about a new stadium being built in the city, he is also wary of talk about how it would create jobs. He heard those promises when Coca-Cola Field displaced businesses in the 1990s.

“When they put the baseball stadium in, they said it would be great for me and my parking lots. But before, there had been places that employed people five days a week, and our parking lots were full. Afterward, we were left with 72 games of baseball. It was an absolute disaster for us,” Sandoro said.

He said he doubted he would want his museum incorporated into a stadium as an alternative.

“I suppose we could be built underneath the bleachers, but I wouldn’t want to be there. We wouldn’t be able to operate 365 days a year, plus we have free parking.”

The report, prepared by AECOM, an engineering consultant, for the governor’s office, said the Exchange Street site would be the most accessible to nearby highways and have the best access to existing parking of the three urban sites. Its proximity to retail and mixed-used development also made it a good candidate for a multi-purpose stadium that could attract business conferences.

The report also acknowledged public input would be necessary to form a more complete picture of the issues involving that site.

“Engaging with the community to further understand potential impediments will be important with respect to this site,” the report said.

[leftWNYbecauseofBS]

Hummm I said this about a week ago here is the first of many that will put the Pegula Palace on hold if it goes into the city.

This is one site and the most problematic of the 4.

Pegula is going to want the cobblestone and that's where it's going to go.

[HipKat]

Don;t mind cheekman. He seeks out and clings to negativity like a newborn to it's mother's teat

[300miles]

Final decision should be Mr. Pegula's if he's paying for it.

The City & State will always have a say in the decision. Even if Pegula pays for the stadium entirely (which I highly doubt), it will still require permanent road closures, new highway exit ramps, and major utility and other infrastructure changes, which means the city, county, and state have a say on the location.

[cheekman]

Don;t mind cheekman. He seeks out and clings to negativity like a newborn to it's mother's teat

HK.. your the best.. go sabres and bills..

[cheekman]

Pegula gets his palace in the city lets say. Now what happens to Taxpayer stadium on OP? Could this happen?? all that taxpayer money poured into this place to keep Ralph happy.Pontiac Silverdome.
The City of Pontiac's patience with owners of Pontiac Silverdome, the former home of the Detroit Lions, appears to be wearing thin.

This 80,000-plus seat venue, sitting on 127 acres, has become such an eyesore that city officials recently sent owners a letter to find out what their development plans are.

If the owners don't formally respond to it within about two weeks, Pontiac City Administrator Joseph Sobota said the city will "figure out what the next steps are."
http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/d...uncertain.html

[HipKat]

Wait, something in Detroit isn't getting done?

[nogods]

A new stadium will be built in the location (of those being focused upon) that produces the most revenue FOR THE BUFFALO BILLS - a factor no one seems to consider in all of the debates. Pegula is probably just waiting for his consultants to tell him which of the avialble locations will be the most profitable, then he'll come out in favor of that site for a host of reasons other than the profit factor. but you can bet that projected profits will rule the decision for the Bills.

An I'll bet a big consideration will be the anticipated marketing to potential super suit purchasers. The typical season ticket holder and single ticket purchasers will go wherever the stadium is located. They probably won't be a big factor in the final decision.

I'll bet the largest potential super suit owners purchasers have already been surveyed as to locations they perceive as the most attractive to them.

The truth is that the best chance of keeping the Bills in Buffalo is to build the stadium in the location that maximizes profit for the Bills.