Buffalo Rising Online

I hope they hold the auction in the Aud. I would love to get one more look at the inside.

Just knock the damn thing down already!

I'm not sure why the Buffalo News article wasn't linked, but they will be auctioning off 1700 wooden blue seats and the graffiti covered boards.

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/420963.html

The blue seats were wooden, that's why they can be auctioned off. The golds, reds, and oranges were foam upholstered, and therefore are now festering with mildew, mold, and god knows what.

The fact that people want to salvage rows of seats from this vacant eyesore shows the blue collar mentality of this city.

Its over, the Aud smells like a sewer, there is nothing to save.

Knock it down and progress. asap look forward not back.

oh gosh, just get it over with already....people have had the chance to say good bye for nearly what a decade....there is nothing to mourn.

I probably miss osserman stadium which only has semblences kept for what City Fields and the Memorial Aud will always have my childhood memories

but truth be told...I am a big supporter of our historical legacy...as anyone who has read my posts but I am more excited about extending the Commercial Slip to the intersection of the Erie Canal and the Main/Hamburg Canal.

I am more excited about the possibilities of extending the light rail to the airport and possibly getting the NFTA to move out of the DL&W so both the 1st and 2nd floor can be redeveloped...as well as open the possibility of reconstructing the Passenger Terminal so it can be integrated into the wharf district which would basically extend the wharf district from Erie Street to Michigan and as far in as Washington.

Im more excited about a rewatered Main/Hamburg Canal as part of the Wharf District creating a groundswell for a new Convention/Conference/Hotel complex to be constructed around a rewatered Ohio Basin/Canal which traditionally marked the souternmost end to the First Ward (South Buffalo) Canal and Warehouse District.

Even as a sentimental buff...of Buffalo History...there are much more possibilities for history and redevelopment now and in the nea future to moarn something should have never been built in that location to begin with.

Gaustad you're an idiot. Have you ever seen a professional sports stadium torn down and the seats and other memorabilia not sold off? They should try to get every dime possible out of that eye sore before it comes down.

phrank - good point. It would have been nice to salvage more out of the out sooner. All I hope is that there are parts of the exterior that are saved, such as the art deco eagles, the Buffalo Memorial Aud stone work, the state/city crest, and the flag poles. This by no means can replace a building, but can give us a remembrance of all the memories this building has given us. It will be a sad day when the building starts to be demolished.

**more out of the building sooner. Correction.

Andrew, put down cheese puffs, moron.

Like Phrank says, 12 years later, what is there to salvage besides the seats covered in mold.

It is people like your that stall progress in this city.

Knock down this piece is sh!t and everything in it and lets get moving.

Orange seats upholstered??? Clearly you never sat up in the Oranges! There was nothing better than stepping into the rink from the top of the oranges, overlooking the ice, the smell of the building, making that frightful walk down to your seat, the shake of the building from the crowd and the horn. Gaustad, yes the building is in bad shape now, but the memories there and the feeling that building exuded is far beyond anything the HSBC arena could ever provide. Go ahead and call people wanting to have seats from there "blue collar," but some of my best memories growing up in Buffalo are times spent in that barn. Getting dropped off to watch a game in the upper blues with my grandpa (he didn't drive). Seeing the sabres beat the flyers in OT in 1995, just as the team was coming together (Peca scored in OT). These memories may be blue collar and are foolish as its only sports, but in the end I don't really care what you have to say, I'm sad for you for not having such good memories.

Nick, take a pill.

I also have very fond memories of The Aud, going to sabres games with my father, the aud club, the smell and taste of warm peanuts. It was a much different experience than HSBC arena.

the point is to let it go, people in this town fear change or demolition of anything.

And lets be honest, The Aud was NOT Boston Garden.....no championships won, no real history other than some competitive games.

Boston won multiple championships with the Bruins and Celtics. What did Buffalo win.

PS PaulB -

I hear there is a premiere party in Hollywood tonight, you might want to go check it out....I know I would!

From what I understand, they (the City and or Sabres) are using the proceeds from the seat sales to build the memorial to The Aud.

I believe the lower blues were also plastic. The wooden blues were actually the old grey seats from the days predating the raising of the roof.

lower golds, upper golds and reds...upholestered

Upper blues...wood

lower blues and oranges...plastic.

One other thing...the reason why nothing else is going to be auctioned off is that due to the incompetence of city workers in securing the Aud, vandals have been in and out for years taking what they can and destroying what little is left behind. Many of the boards which are up for auction are filled with graffitti.

PS I also would not be surprised if over the years, the city workers who have had access to the building have helped themselves to whatever they liked.

Actually the Aud and the old Boston Garden are very similar. Both were built for boxing and both had very tight original seating, reflecting a time and era when Americans were not obese. The trajectory of the aud and the garden offered a clear, unobstructed view of the ring below.

I recall old Buffalo Bison Hockey games, pre Sabres, pre foam, pre oranges and box seats, above the visiting goal. Pre chicken wings.

I am neither a fan of HSBC or the new Boston Garden. Gustoff, maybe Boston had some championship seasons but Buffalo had something special in that old barn; Eddie Shack, Brian Spencer, Rick Dudley kicking the crap out of Dave Schultz, that bat, Tim Horton, Roger Crozier, Le Connection, Ted Darling stumbling his way to the press box after the second intermission (with 2 beers in hand, mind you), Gump Worsely vs. John Daily the two last unmasked goaltenders in the league, Korab the Arab, Buffalo Sabres vs. Tretchiak and the Soviets (all he could say in english was shaking his catching hand and repeating Martin, Martin, Martin), the beer garden (for that matter), the Earl of Bud, "ooh ah Sabres on the warpath", Norm Wullan, Don Luce's hair and his concussions ("I am not out") Taro sais signs, Punch, "Harris is a bum", that shriek from that freek ("ah, ahhhha, ahhhhh"), the dried up nasty roast beef served with 6 lbs of salty blood at the old aud club, Jim Shoenfeld vs. Wayne Cashman vs. the boards and zamboni fight. "Thank you Sabres" chant after loosing to Montreal in the 71 playoffs (2nd season), section 29, "Happy birthday Helen Edith", the sabre girl doing her dance before the games and who could forget Larry "Silver Skates" Hillman???

And let us not forget the Braves, whom, Gustoff, revitalized your beloved Celtic franchise when John Y Brown dismantled them. Sadly, the Braves were on their way to a championship that year. Danny Nevrith's "two for McAdoo" vs his "three for Gianelli" stands out as a reminder of the selling of the franchise. Randy Smith, a human highlight reel.

My first puff of pot and my first Stones concert, Bowie concert, Dead concert etc.

The aud may not have been home of championships but it certainly is the home of many memories. Memories of fun and dashed hopes but great memories just the same. Gustoff, using your logic, they should tear down Wrigley field and put it away just because the Cubbies have not won it all in 100 years?

If people want to bid on a dasher board and have a giant Wardinski's meats ad in their living room, let them bid. If they want a tight blue chair at the dining room table, more power to them.

Well said Auburner -- and BTW buffaloweiner, it was Offerman, not Osserman Stadium.

Interesting point Auburner about the Boston Garden. I was in Boston when the Boston Garden was being torn down, possibly months after the Fleet Center was built. I remember being able to look inside their arena and all the seats were yellow. I don't think, but I could be wrong, that there was anything done with the seats in Boston. I thought that people could purchase or take a piece of the Garden home though.

Also, remember to thank Paul L. Snyder Sr., owner of the Hyatt Regency, for selling The Braves also.

can I buy some of the exterior stone work to make a backyard fence for my house????