BUFFALO, N.Y. –With the Detroit Red Wings' storied history, two NHL owners, some of the world's top amateur teams, a few dozen indoor rinks and legions of avid fans, metro Detroit easily can back up its self-anointed nickname of Hockeytown.
But at the other end of Lake Erie, Buffalo has done something that will make any Hockeytown resident envious: It just opened a 19-story building that is devoted to amateur hockey. Experts say it's unique in North America.
It's called HarborCenter, a nearly $200-million waterfront edifice with 650,000 square feet of space that includes two rinks — on the building's sixth floor — a hockey academy, training center and parking garage.
On the first floor is an elaborate Tim Hortons that is partly a memorial to the famous Horton himself, the coffee shop chain co-founder who died in an automobile accident in 1974 while playing for the Buffalo Sabres.
HarborCenter also houses a two-story restaurant named (716) Food & Sports — Buffalo's area code — that features three bars and more than 60 TVs, including one 38 feet wide that makes the scowling face of ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith as big as a garage. Patrons can sit in booths and select their own TV game or at glass countertops that look like ice — complete with imitation skate grooves.
The 12-story Marriott hotel is under construction; retail outlets are planned for the first floor.
"To my knowledge, there is nothing like this anywhere," said Jack Vivian, an ice-surface consultant who has helped build rinks from Michigan to China. "Not with the kind of amenities they've included in the venue."
John Castine, the longtime publisher of the Farmington-based Hockey Weekly that covers amateur leagues across the Midwest, said: "It sounds like something the Red Wings should add to their District Detroit project. Otherwise, Buffalo could become the new Hockeytown."
http://www.wgrz.com/story/sports/nhl/2014/11/10/buffalo-hockey-harborcenter/18827119/
But at the other end of Lake Erie, Buffalo has done something that will make any Hockeytown resident envious: It just opened a 19-story building that is devoted to amateur hockey. Experts say it's unique in North America.
It's called HarborCenter, a nearly $200-million waterfront edifice with 650,000 square feet of space that includes two rinks — on the building's sixth floor — a hockey academy, training center and parking garage.
On the first floor is an elaborate Tim Hortons that is partly a memorial to the famous Horton himself, the coffee shop chain co-founder who died in an automobile accident in 1974 while playing for the Buffalo Sabres.
HarborCenter also houses a two-story restaurant named (716) Food & Sports — Buffalo's area code — that features three bars and more than 60 TVs, including one 38 feet wide that makes the scowling face of ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith as big as a garage. Patrons can sit in booths and select their own TV game or at glass countertops that look like ice — complete with imitation skate grooves.
The 12-story Marriott hotel is under construction; retail outlets are planned for the first floor.
"To my knowledge, there is nothing like this anywhere," said Jack Vivian, an ice-surface consultant who has helped build rinks from Michigan to China. "Not with the kind of amenities they've included in the venue."
John Castine, the longtime publisher of the Farmington-based Hockey Weekly that covers amateur leagues across the Midwest, said: "It sounds like something the Red Wings should add to their District Detroit project. Otherwise, Buffalo could become the new Hockeytown."
http://www.wgrz.com/story/sports/nhl/2014/11/10/buffalo-hockey-harborcenter/18827119/
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