Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, colloquially known as The Aud, was a multipurpose indoor arena in downtown Buffalo, New York. Opened on October 14, 1940, it was home to the Canisius Golden Griffins (NCAA), the Buffalo Bisons (AHL), the Buffalo Bisons (NBL), the Buffalo Braves (NBA), the Buffalo Sabres (NHL), the Toronto-Buffalo Royals (WTT), the Buffalo Stallions (MISL), the Buffalo Bandits (MILL), the Buffalo Blizzard (NPSL) and the Buffalo Stampede (RHI). It also hosted events such as college basketball, concerts, professional wrestling and boxing. The venue was closed in 1996 after the construction of the venue now known as KeyBank Center, and remained vacant until being demolished in 2009.
History
Planning and construction The Buffalo Memorial Auditorium was a public works project designed by Green & James to replace the aging Broadway Auditorium and Fort Erie's recently collapsed Peace Bridge Arena. In June 1938, city officials sent a loan and grant application to the Public Works Administration for funds to build the structure. The approval of the $1.2 million grant was announced in Washington, D.C., on October 7, 1938.Vogel, Mike. "Buffalo's Town Hall". The Buffalo News (Buffalo), Magazine – page 4, August 1, 1994. Construction at the junction of the Erie Canal and Main-Hamburg Canal began on November 30, 1939..
The Auditorium's construction brought a great deal of activity to downtown Buffalo. On December 31, 1939, Buffalo Evening News reporter Nat Gorham wrote:
Opening and reception
Built for $2.7 million, Memorial Auditorium's grand opening celebration took place on October 14, 1940. The dedication event was a luncheon attended by 3,000 people, including the mayors of more than 60 local communities. The building was dedicated as a war memorial to those who had perished in World War I. The arena originally seated 12,280 for ice hockey, with an additional 2,000-3,000 seats in the floor area for basketball and other events. Memorial Auditorium's first event—a rally for Republican presidential candidate Wendell Willkie—took place on October 14, 1940. In its first seven months, events such as auto shows, roller skating, circuses and dog shows drew nearly one million spectators. All told, the Auditorium's first year attendance was 1.3 million.
Alterations
An $8.7 million renovation took place after the 1970–71 inauguration of the Sabres and Braves franchises, making it a more suitable home for the NHL and NBA. The arena's roof was raised to make room for an upper level that increased the arena's capacity from 10,449 for hockey to over 17,000 for basketball and 15,360 for hockey in 1971–72, to 15,668 for hockey in 1972–73, and to 15,858 for hockey in 1973–74.
Other changes to the Aud's original design included:
A new scoreboard, which would be the Aud's final scoreboard upgrade. A new upper level with stairways, escalators and upper exits. Repainted and replaced seats. The original gray seats at the top of the lower bowl were painted blue, and all seats in the lower sections were replaced with cushioned seats in the Red and Gold sections. The removal of exit tunnels in Red sections 6, 7, 14, 15, 22, 23, 30 and 31, and Blue sections 2, 3, 10, 11, 18, 19, 26, 27, 34 and 35. The areas the tunnels occupied were replaced with seats, and the continuous wall that separated the red and blue sections was opened at each stairway. The removed exit tunnel openings in the wall that separated the red and upper gold sections were closed into a continuous wall between the remaining red exit tunnels.
The Aud's seats were mostly made of white ash, but the gold seats were converted to padded cushion seats. From top to bottom (floor level), the seating colors went orange, blue (originally grey), red and gold.
In 1974, the city added five seats, increasing capacity for hockey in the 1974–1975 season to 15,863. After the hockey season, the city removed the walls and aisle that separated the upper gold and red seating sections. The 570 gold seats the city installed in the vacant space raised the arena's capacity to 16,433 for hockey and over 18,000 for basketball.
In the late 1980s, the Buffalo Common Council and mayor James D. Griffin scaled back plans to renovate the Aud after the Sabres' owners made it clear the franchise's long-term viability depended upon a new arena. A compromise led the city to agree to build a new venue (Marine Midland Arena) and keep the Aud functional until the new arena was complete. The 1990 renovation added designated handicap-accessible seating areas (lowering the seating capacity to 16,325 for hockey), new air conditioning and elevators. The money the city borrowed for these improvements was not repaid until 2001, five years after the Aud closed.
Closing and vacancy
The Aud closed in 1996, at which time the Sabres, Bandits and Blizzard moved to Marine Midland Arena. After 1996, the building remained vacant, although members of Studio Arena Theatre used the floor as a surface for painting backgrounds. During the 2001–02 season, Sabres officials and the city moved items from the Aud's main concourse to the new venue, by then renamed HSBC Arena, including a sign for the "Pour Man's Aud Club" which was reincarnated at the new venue.
In 2003, the Sabres filmed a 30-minute infomercial inside the Aud to promote season ticket sales. While the production showed the arena was intact, it was without utilities and the crew had to supply all light and electrical sources.
The Aud continued to deteriorate after the 2003 production visit. Water pipes ruptured, moisture began to take its toll and the city's lax monitoring led to graffiti, vandalism and theft of many artifacts. A segment aired during the CBC Television Hockey Night in Canada broadcast of the 2008 NHL Winter Classic showed the arena's seating bowl and floor were virtually untouched. Notably, the advertisements on the boards from the final Sabres game in 1996 against the Hartford Whalers and the scoreboard above center ice remained. The door to the Sabres' penalty box was gone, as it had been presented as a memento to notable Sabres enforcer Rob Ray.
Demolition
The city abandoned its plans to repurpose the Aud as a Bass Pro Shops store on March 29, 2007, when Bass Pro announced it would construct a new building on the site after the auditorium's demolition.
In December 2007, the city sold the Aud to the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation for $1 in hopes it would lead to asbestos removal and demolition. All salvageable items were to be removed and sold or stored. The sales of these artifacts, especially of seats, would help pay for a memorial to the Aud. The salvaged items include art deco flag holders, limestone eagles, a time capsule as well as a number of blue and orange level seats, which were sold at auction.
The city also salvaged ten cylindrical stainless steel "ice tanks" that helped maintain chilly conditions at ice level during hockey season and cooled spectators during warmer weather. In 2007, the city moved them to Shea's Performing Arts Center as part of a $1.5 million overhaul of the landmark theater's heating and cooling system.Linstedt, Sharon. "Shea's to get a cool Aud gift: 10 ice tanks to keep theater comfortable." The Buffalo News (Buffalo), July 12, 2007
Asbestos removal and other environmental remediation took place in late 2008 and the expected $10 million demolition of the Audhttp://www.buffalonews.com/101/story/42941.html began in January 2009. On February 9, 2009, the "Buffalo Memorial Auditorium" entablature above the main entrance fell and much of the front façade met the same fate soon afterward. The "Farewell Buffalo Memorial Auditorium Ceremony" took place on June 30, 2009, at 1:30 pm when officials opened the copper box time capsule. The structure's final pieces came down in early July 2009.
In February 2010, Bass Pro Shops announced that it was no longer pursuing a store in Buffalo, leaving the site vacant.
Legacy
After the Bass Pro Shops decision, the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation began to convert the site (known as the Aud Block) into an extension of Canalside with the junction of the old Erie Canal and Main-Hamburg Canal re-dug (although shallower than the original canals) and new bridges. The canals that opened in 2014 are frozen for skating and other winter activities by an underground refrigerant plant housed in a rebuilt sub-basement that was part of Memorial Auditorium. In addition, a marker on the canal ice denotes center ice's former location.
Across Main Street at LECOM Harborcenter is the one-of-a-kind Tim Hortons restaurant with a memorial to the Auditorium. A statue of the chain's founder and namesake, who played at the arena during his time with the Buffalo Sabres, occupies the corner of the site facing the restaurant.
Notable events
Basketball
College
Before the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League came to Buffalo, college basketball was Memorial Auditorium's most popular sporting event. On December 11, 1940, the Auditorium hosted its first college basketball game when Canisius College played the University of Oregon.Northrop, Milt. "College Basketball Breathed Life Into Newborn Aud". The Buffalo News (Buffalo), page 1D, March 27, 1996. Interest in college basketball grew after World War II, and the first college basketball sellout crowd occurred in the 1946–1947 season when 11,029 spectators saw Canisius lose to Notre Dame. Ten days later, a record 11,891 watched Canisius defeat Niagara 52–44.
While the teams were typically from Western New York, including Canisius, Niagara University, St. Bonaventure University, the University at Buffalo and Buffalo State College, other teams such as Cornell University took part. Over time, the rivalry among the "Little Three" colleges—Niagara, Canisius, and St. Bonaventure—came to dominate the Auditorium's college basketball schedule. Throughout the 1950s, the three schools were all national powers, and their games at Memorial Auditorium drew strong local and national interest.
The Aud hosted first-round games of the 1954 NCAA basketball tournament. The Auditorium hosted the mens Division I ECAC Upstate Region tournament organized by the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) in 1975.Varsity Pride: 1975 ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments In 1991, a visit from Buffalo native Christian Laettner and the national champion Duke University Blue Devils against Canisius drew an Aud collegiate-record crowd of 16,279. A 1996 Buffalo News article named Memorial Auditorium's all-time all-visitors team: Ed Macauley (Saint Louis University), Tom Gola (La Salle University), Tom Heinsohn (College of the Holy Cross), Jerry West (West Virginia University), Willie Somerset (Duquesne University), Dave Bing (Syracuse University), Sonny Dove (St. John's University) and Bob Lanier (St. Bonaventure University).Northrop, Milt. "Here's the Score From Aud". The Buffalo News (Buffalo), page 3D, March 27, 1996
National Basketball League The National Basketball League's Buffalo Bisons were the first professional basketball franchise to call Memorial Auditorium home. The team featured center Don Otten and coach Nat Hickey, but on December 27, 1946—only 13 games into their inaugural season—owner Ben Kerner moved them to Moline, Illinois.Northrop, Milt. "History of the Braves Was Short and Sweet". The Buffalo News (Buffalo), page 1D, March 28, 1996. After the 1949 merger of the National Basketball League and the Basketball Association of America and stops in Milwaukee and St. Louis, the team became the Atlanta Hawks.
National Basketball Association