A potential new Buffalo Bills stadium would not be part of a convention center campus, as Erie County officials plan to follow a recommendation that calls for a standalone convention center.
With the Bills weighing to renovate or replace the aging New Era Field and local officials looking to improve Buffalo’s convention space offerings, there have been questions about whether the two facility issues could be resolved through a project that incorporates a new stadium and convention center in the same campus. That is not the path that local officials will take in their planning, however, as Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz revealed this week.
To this point, Bills owner Pegula Sports & Entertainment has not announced whether it will pursue a new or renovated stadium, but apparently the team and Poloncarz agree that a stadium and a convention center should not be combined into the same project. A consulting firm also did not see much value in working the stadium into a convention center plan. More from The Buffalo News:
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said he gave Kim and Terry Pegula a briefing on the convention center recommendation announced Thursday.
“They look at it just like I do – the football stadium and the convention center are two separate things,” he said.
Atlanta-based consultant Tvsdesign recommended a new Buffalo convention center on the block of Delaware Avenue block north of the Statler City building. Located in the heart of downtown, there would be no place to expand the convention center to incorporate a stadium.
Tvsdesign Principal Robert J. Svedberg said his firm took a cursory look at combining a convention center and stadium but did not see much benefit.
CAA Icon has completed a study of the Bills’ long-term stadium options, and PSE indicated late last month that it is working internally to map out its next steps. Any facility plan figures to be large in scope, regardless of whether it involves a new stadium or a major overhaul to New Era Field. The Bills’ current home will be the NFL’s fourth-oldest stadium as of the 2020 season, and the franchise will have to find a way to address the aging facility’s future.
Image courtesy Buffalo Bills.
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