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Apparently the Cardinals new stadium is a completely state of the art facility they built for 400 million. It has a translucent new roof (lets in some light, but not as much heat), a retractable field (like the crumb tray on your toaster oven, they're gonna slide the grass out of the stadium for 350 days a year). Their stadium is financed with $150 million from the team and $250 from hotel/car taxes.
Now, we spent $100 million in state money to renovate the ralph in '98. The Jets are about to spend well over a billion to get a stadium in the city, right? I didn't read up on who's paying what, but I'd venture to guess NYS will kick in at least $200 million. So is getting a new stadium built for the Bills that farfetched?
The worst professional franchise in sports history built a great stadium for $400 million, so is someone gonna try and tell me that a nice new stadium can't be built better in downtown Buffalo?
I say Buffalo should build a nice art-deco or goth-revival stadium, office, and retail complex downtown that matches the city's mix of architecture styles. It would be one of a kind, an attraction in itself like Camden Yards is/was. Gotta have the field be open-roof and bowl style, IMO, but it could be surrounded with office and retail space. Perhaps have a boardwalk with trolley's around the extended perimeter, with a pedestrian archway over the field. (Screw you, St. Louis!) Give Buffalo a new skyline. Build rail access into the facility, as part of the new high speed rail loop NYS should build between Albany Syracuse Rochester and Buffalo (a whole 'nother story...) Make it a Bus hub. Make it easy to get in and out, and walk to the offices/retail locations.
Lets say a 400 million stadium becomes an 800 million stadium because it's built in downtown Buffalo and not Arizona suburbia (although Phoenix real estate ain't cheap). I think it can be done. Question to you still in New York: do you want your tax money to pay that kind of money for the Bills?
Now, we spent $100 million in state money to renovate the ralph in '98. The Jets are about to spend well over a billion to get a stadium in the city, right? I didn't read up on who's paying what, but I'd venture to guess NYS will kick in at least $200 million. So is getting a new stadium built for the Bills that farfetched?
The worst professional franchise in sports history built a great stadium for $400 million, so is someone gonna try and tell me that a nice new stadium can't be built better in downtown Buffalo?
I say Buffalo should build a nice art-deco or goth-revival stadium, office, and retail complex downtown that matches the city's mix of architecture styles. It would be one of a kind, an attraction in itself like Camden Yards is/was. Gotta have the field be open-roof and bowl style, IMO, but it could be surrounded with office and retail space. Perhaps have a boardwalk with trolley's around the extended perimeter, with a pedestrian archway over the field. (Screw you, St. Louis!) Give Buffalo a new skyline. Build rail access into the facility, as part of the new high speed rail loop NYS should build between Albany Syracuse Rochester and Buffalo (a whole 'nother story...) Make it a Bus hub. Make it easy to get in and out, and walk to the offices/retail locations.
Lets say a 400 million stadium becomes an 800 million stadium because it's built in downtown Buffalo and not Arizona suburbia (although Phoenix real estate ain't cheap). I think it can be done. Question to you still in New York: do you want your tax money to pay that kind of money for the Bills?
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