BUFFALO MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM

'Buffalo Memorial Auditorium' (also known as 'The Aud') is an indoor arena in downtown Buffalo, New York. It hosted the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL from 1970-1996, the Buffalo Braves of the NBA from 1970-1978, the Buffalo Stallions of the MISL, the Buffalo Stampede of RHI from 1994 to 1995, the Buffalo Bandits of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League, the Buffalo Blizzard of NPSL and the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League from 1940 to 1970. It also held a number a NCAA basketball games, as well as numerous entertainment events, such as Ringling Brothers circus, Disney on Ice, and other things of that nature.

Contents

Birth of an Icon

Expansion

Death of an Icon

The Future

See also

References

External links

Birth of an Icon

Construction on the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium began on November 30, 1939 and a grand opening celebration was held on October 14, 1940. Built for $2,700,000 the Aud was a WPA project.^[1] The arena originally sat 12,280 for ice hockey, with an additional 2,000-3,000 sitting in the floor area for basketball and other events. In addition to sporting events the Aud also hosted concerts by major acts such as The Grateful Dead who performed there twice. ^[2]
Circuses, dog shows and political events all took place at the Aud. ^[3]

Expansion

An $8.7 million renovation took place for the 1970 inauguration of the Sabres and Braves franchises. The roof of the old arena was removed, an upper "orange level" was added, and a new roof was built above it. This raised the total capacity of the arena to about 18,000 for basketball and 16,433 for hockey.

Death of an Icon

The renovations preserved the arena for another two and a half decades, but the Sabres moved out after the 1995-96 season, moving across the street to the Marine Midland Arena (now HSBC Arena). Michael Peca scored the last in-game goal at the aud while Pat Lafontaine put in a ceremonial goal after the 4-1 win over the Whalers. It was the last arena in which the ice sheet fell short of the league-mandated 200 ft. by 85 ft. size (though Maple Leaf Gardens still had irregularly shaped corners).
In the years since its closing, the building has remained closed to the public although Buffalo's Studio Arena Theatre was at times allowed to use the large floor surface to paint backgrounds for its productions. During the 2001-02 season, Sabres officials and the city of Buffalo entered the building to relocate some items from the main concourse of the Aud to HSBC Arena, including a sign for the "Old Aud's Pub" which was re-incarnated by popular demand. During a Versus television broadcast from HSBC Arena during the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the inside of the Aud was shown and the video showed that the seating bowl and arena floor have remained virtually untouched. Most notably, the advertisements that were on the boards during the final Sabres home game in 1996 were still present and the scoreboard hanging above center ice remained in the rafters.

The Future

For the last few years plans were in the works to renovate the Aud and re-purpose it as a Bass Pro Shops store, however on March 29, 2007 these plans were officially abandoned. Instead it was announced that Bass Pro will build a new building on the Buffalo waterfront near the old Aud. The Aud is now planned for demolition. Although there is no scheduled date for the demolition, it is expected to cost 10 million dollars. ^[4]

See also

★ War Memorial Stadium (Buffalo)

References

1. http://www.sabresalumni.com/2001/aud.php3
2. http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=venue:%22Buffalo%20Memorial%20Auditorium%22
3. http://www.sabresalumni.com/2001/aud.php3
4. http://www.buffalonews.com/101/story/42941.html

External links

★ The Voice of the Aud: Milt Ellis with Aud Pictures, sounds, and memories by Buffalonian Steve Cichon

★ Exterior photo of Terrace Street entrance by (uncredited)

★ Exterior photo of Main Street side by Charles J. Malley