[jpark]

Buffalo's Memorial Auditorium is being demolished. Demolition started in January. It was our downtown arena, where the Sabres, Bandits, Stallions, Blizzard, Wings, and even the Braves (now the LA Clippers) played until it was closed in 1996 and replaced by HSBC Arena. For a number of different reasons, demolition was delayed until this year.

My Sabres season tickets were in the Aud's upper level, one section to the left of center on the west side of the arena. And our Bandits season tickets were in the center of the lower level on the same side.

My bro-in-law and I saw the Bandits win their second championship there, and I can't even count the number of Sabres games I saw there, especially when my dad first took me to my first game there.

This is the video that sort of put me over the edge today. The west wall (with my Sabres and Bandits seats) came down.

While HSBC Arena is an incredible building, and I wouldn't trade it for any other arena, the ongoing demolition of the Aud is really tough for me to watch.

At least I got two pieces of the exterior wall on that side of the Aud last week. I took about 200 pictures and videos, but I haven't had time to look at (or upload) all of them.

OK, I'm done. Just had to vent a little... Carry on.

 

[Dasha]

Awwww........
At least you'll have memories that will last a lifetime.

 

[jonas1022]

And memories are better than the reality in some instances.

I should know, I have gone back to places of my youth. Only to be totally disappointed... :shrug:

 

[JIMMYJOHN]

As I was told by a Running buddy years ago " Nothing stays the same life moves on. He is now 79 years old. He gave up running at 68 as I had to give up running and bicycling at 54. Memories are all there are left. I through the ribbons, trophys, and so on all away.It got to where I just could not stand to be reminded of that part of my life. :shades:

 

[PollKat]

..... I have gone back to places of my youth. Only to be totally disappointed... :shrug:

I can relate, my foot prints have been erased from time. (side walk wet cement) Understand JP's feelings.. Like TIGER STADIUM. The really sad part is! Some on the Detroit City Council Didn't even know it was being demolished......

 

[Colleen]

Sorry to hear about this, JP !!

 

[futameca]

Bummer man! Neat that you were able to get pieces of it.

 

[jonas1022]

As I was told by a Running buddy years ago " Nothing stays the same life moves on. He is now 79 years old. He gave up running at 68 as I had to give up running and bicycling at 54. Memories are all there are left. I through the ribbons, trophys, and so on all away.It got to where I just could not stand to be reminded of that part of my life. :shades:

JJ, I hear you. I gave up my ten speed Raliegh Gran Prix bicycle. And more recently, I gave up my regular bicycle. But my Dr. tells me to walk more. He has to be kidding! Everything is rotting down all around us. Hmm...

Pollkat, I used to go to Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. It had to have been over a swamp, the outfield was always wet. It gone now, replaced by a new baseball only stadium. I didn't particularly care for the old stadium. But back in the day, my Dad would go there to watch a game on occassion and bring a foul ball home for me. I still have one somewhere in my dresser drawer. More the idea that he was there, and I could go there now as well. Not any more.

 

[HybridArchitect]

It was all over for Buffalo's historic fabric when they demolished Frank Lloyd Wright's wonderful Larkin Administration Building in 1950.

Only one lone brick pillar remains to mock us. As noted at Wikipedia:

"Wright's Administration building was foreclosed upon for back taxes in 1945 by the city of Buffalo. In 1949 the building was sold to the Western Trading Corporation, who announced plans to demolish it for a truck stop. It did so in 1950 despite protests from the architectural community. No truck stop ever materialized. A single brick pier along a railroad embankment is all that remains from Wright's original building. The remainder of the site is now a parking lot with a marker and an illustrated educational panel."

:wall:

 

[Ajax]

It was all over for Buffalo's historic fabric when they demolished Frank Lloyd Wright's wonderful Larkin Administration Building in 1950.

I just read about that, in Newsweek I think. Very interesting building, plain on the outside and all open on the inside, with long conference tables in the center atrium going up 5 stories and all the offices looking into it.

 

[RobtRoma]

It was all over for Buffalo's historic fabric when they demolished Frank Lloyd Wright's wonderful Larkin Administration Building in 1950... ...Only one lone brick pillar remains to mock us.

Thank God we still have F.L.W.'s Falling Water. I love that place. :yes:

Been there twice and I might be going back this year... fingers crossed…

JP… I know how you feel, albeit in a smaller capacity. There was a bowling alley a few towns over that really meant a lot to my father and I. We shared so many great memories there. I had my high score there (263). My dad bowled a 299. We were in a league together and had a great time. The place closed down but a TV studio purchased it and used it to film the TV show ED. The show was about a guy who came back to his hometown to win the heart of the high school prom queen. He purchased the local bowling alley and opened a law office inside... They called him the Bowling Alley Lawyer. This was a promotional shot of the building:

I got to see the place on TV for 4 years but after the show ended, the building was taken down. It broke my heart to see that place go. I have a couple of the triangles that they hung on the front behind the neon circles and I picked up 6 or 7 of the bricks for nostalgias sake... Now the site has senior housing

They are ripping down a bunch of stadiums around here… Giants Stadium, Shea Stadium and Yankees Stadium. The worst is Yankees Stadium. That place has so much history. I only went there once but it was for my first baseball game when I was 8. I still remember the bus trip. Back then, Thurman Munson was my hero... I'll miss Giant's Stadium too. I've seen so many great events and games there with friends and family. I saw 4 concerts there: Pink Floyd, The Who, The Rolling Stones and Billy Joel. I also saw many Giants and a couple of Jets games. The most memorable for me was the one where Joe Morris ran for a touchdown without a shoe. The last one was the game against New Orleans just after the hurricane hit. It was supposed to be a home game for the Saints but since their stadium was damaged, they played it here. I felt bad for the Saints but it was a rare opportunity to buy tickets to a game. All the seats are season tickets and it's almost impossible to get them at face value… Finally I say good riddance to Shea. It was probably the worst stadium on the planet. I hated that place. Sure I saw the Rolling Stones and a couple of great playoff games there but the place was a dump. I can't wait to see the new Stadium in August (Mets vs Phillies). It looks beautiful on TV. In this case, change is good...

 

[jonas1022]

It was all over for Buffalo's historic fabric when they demolished Frank Lloyd Wright's wonderful Larkin Administration Building in 1950.

I just read about that, in Newsweek I think. Very interesting building, plain on the outside and all open on the inside, with long conference tables in the center atrium going up 5 stories and all the offices looking into it.

The model for modern Hotels of higher quality. Try renting a room at an Embassey Suites. Big box outside, big atrium inside and all the rooms open into that main hall. Even Holiday Inn mimicks that design.

 

[jpark]

Frank Lloyd Wright's Darwin D. Martin House is a big tourist attraction here.

http://www.darwinmartinhouse.org/

It's hard to believe that something that far ahead of its time was designed and built in 1903.

Here's a better video of the west wall of the Aud:

The orange walls at the top of each section were for standing room and concessions. Here's what they looked like from inside the top of the building, and at the very section where my seats were, in Section 21:

Here's a view of the west wall before and after the wall came down, at 10:13AM and 10:23AM, from the "harbor cam" that's been showing live pictures of the demolition since it started in January. HSBC Arena is in the upper left of each of these pictures:

Here's what the Aud looked like in the fall of 1995, less than a year before it closed. If you look closely to the left of the scoreboard, the "Crossroads Club" box was a sample of what one of HSBC Arena's 88 boxes would look like.

The final public event at the Aud was Smashing Pumpkins and Garbage, on July 2, 1996. I wouldn't have missed that for anything, and I still have the ticket.

And last night, at the Buffalo Bisons/Columbus Clippers game downtown, I needed something to eat at the top of the fourth inning (shocking, right? :lol: ). Both ATMs at Coca-Cola Field were out of money ( :cuss: ), so I had to leave the stadium and go to the ATM at One HSBC Center. Since the Aud is only a block south of there, I shot these two pics with my phone:

For anyone familiar with the older NHL buildings, the Aud was a lot like Chicago Stadium and Boston Garden, except that it was much cleaner and in much better condition near the end than either of those buildings. And when you walked inside, it always smelled like food, not like an old building.

BTW, what goes on the site when the Aud is gone? A giant Bass Pro shop and a shopping center, due to be finished sometime in 2010.

 

[jpark]

The last part of the Aud's roof comes down this morning sometime between 10:30 and noon.



Can you guess who's going down there with his camera and tripod? I won't be one of the people clapping and woo-hooing when it goes down, but I'll have my own video of it.

 

[jpark]

The last part of the Aud's roof was taken down this morning. I took the video and pictures myself. It came down at 11:02AM.

Before:

After:

Before (from the Harbor Cam):

After (from the Harbor Cam):

The new behind the old:

[sigh]

 

[Jeff M]

Man I bet my old neighbor would like one of those bricks, he hailed from Buffalo, and was an avid Sabres fan. Everything he owned either had Sabres or Bills plastered all over it.

 

[jpark]

If he can get back here in the next week, there are still huge piles of exterior wall pieces, railings from the upper level, bricks, and many other things that people have been taking as souvenirs. The rest of the Aud should be gone by the end of this week, and only the basement walls on the southwestern corner will remain.

I went again yesterday morning, and only the southwestern side of the building is still standing. I was going to go back there this morning to grab a few things now that the demo crews are back and the fences are open, but I have a few things at work that came up, so I have to do that tomorrow.

Another shot of the old and the new. Until demolition began, I had no clue about the size of the Aud's basement. The main (ice) floor was actually one level up:

Direct image link: http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg10 ... G_0834.jpg

Direct image link: http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg10 ... G_0828.jpg

I used to fly down these staircases two steps at a time on the way out after a game. From the upper level to the exterior exit doors took less than a minute:

Direct image link: http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg10 ... G_0811.jpg

I may have stopped here a few times. OK, maybe more than just a few times:

Direct image link: http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg10 ... G_0810.jpg

 

[Dasha]

Mmmm....beer.

 

[jpark]

:doh:

 

[jonas1022]

I waiting patiently for the fall of Texas Stadium now that the new Cowboy Stadium has been "completed". I spent many a dollar in Texas Stadium. :bill: I drove by it daily on my way to work at Love Field for work :yes: . I think I must have passed by that stadium a couple thousand times, and went inside maybe two or three dozen times for Football, motor cross events, Monster Truck competitions, rock concerts and the like. In a way I'll miss it, that Giant toadstool in Irving. :doh: But we have the new MEGA football on the ground in Arlington to attend now...somehow, it just doesn't replace the original. :shrug: