Thursday, November 13, 2008

Buffalo Memorial Auditorium - R.I.P.



Finally! The preparation for the demolition of the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium has begun! The Aud closed in 1996. Like so many other stadiums that have seen their demise, Chicago Stadium, Riverfront Stadium, Boston Garden, etc, this too holds dear memories for those that were lucky enough to attend events in the house's hay-day. But we Buffalonians are a nostalgic group. Try to make way for progress and the preservationists stand in line to protest. Don't get me wrong, preservation is needed in certain circumstances....but this was not one of them.

David, through his connections at work, had the opportunity to go on a private tour of the Aud the week before last. This is one of the last tours as the Aud will be demolished over the course of this winter. Yes, David was pleased with the opportunity to get one last peak, yet the condition of the building further punctuates the need for its removal. For example, there were talks of removing and auctioning off the seats from the Aud. What die hard Buffalo sports fan wouldn't want a section of 2,3,4 of the Oranges, Reds, Blues or Golds for their sports room? Yet, only some of the Blues can be salvaged due to the mold damage. Yes, it is always sad to see a piece of our history gone forever. David was lucky enough to revisit it briefly, yet the time has come. Progress is at our doorstep.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I LOVED the Aud. I grew up going to games with my father. He brought my sister and I to a ton of games, he carryed me in until I was about 6 (I was really short). I would sit on the extremely steep steps, while my sister got the other seat. Once when I was a teenager my Dad let me go wander around by myself. No one ever told me that you couldn't walk around the blue level in a complete circle. Yep...you guessed it - I GOT LOST. and I was one of those crazy Buffaloians who wanted 2 seats from the orange level. I am jealous of David's tour.

Amy said...

You may not know this, and I am embarrassed to say, that David and I were in the Madhatters. You know, those idiots that sat in the oranges for Sabres games, wore the yellow hard hats and were loud and obnoxious. Yep, that was us. But, we got a half a season of free tickets, so it was worth it.