Chef Jim Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 I'm a little fuzzy on the details but I'm sure someone will help correct any errors. Back in the early 90's they had two places to build the new arena: near Chippewa St. which was starting to become the nightclub and theater district, or the foot of Main St., an area surrounded by elevated highways and mud, devoid of any hotel or restaurant where people might be able to go to on game days. So obviously they built it at the foot of Main! The logic was if you build an arena the development will follow magically because it...uh...always does! Yeah, look at all the development around Ralph Wilson Stadium! . No one was going to be the first investor to drop millions into an area that was a total dump. But little by little things got better: the Naval Park, the Commercial Pier, the concerts there in the summer. Another mini-night club district is forming on Mississippi and Illinois streets. The old Donovan Building, once an asbestos trap, is now a nice Marriott. But the Harborcenter will be the centerpiece. Now when Buffalo hosts events like the Frozen Four or NCAA basketball tournament, tourists will come out of the FNC and see nice, fun things instead of urban blight. And the idea of building the ice rinks and hockey academy with an attached hotel is sheer brilliance. There will be tournaments for youth travel teams every weekend. Hockey parents drop thousands on their kids paying for these excursions. Talk about a built-in market. PTR Good stuff thanks. I really hope that Buffalo can figure it out. Sounds like they are headed in the right direction. Sure I bag on the area a lot but though I've been gone over 30 years WNY is my "hometown". Oh and WNY is one citizen shorter today. RIP to my wonderful aunt Ann.
ExiledInIllinois Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 (edited) I'm thinking the sharks in the bay is a bit of a myth. Sure they're there but you don't hear a lot of them attacking people. And that McCovey cove is more of a marina so not much an issue. One thing about summber baseball in SF it can be !@#$ing cold. We went to a game in August and froze! Hot chocolate sales were outpacing beer. So glad we move across the bay were we can sit in shorts and watch the fog eshroud the city. FWIW... I went to training one time in Rock Island and a guy from another lock (on the Mississippi) that was there said he grew up in Oakland. He was an older fella and it was many years ago that he grew up in Oakland. He said his family moved to the midwest when he was a teen. I am guessing this was the 1950/1960's? Well anyway, to make a long story short, he got to saying how when he was younger, his brothers and him would go down to the bay and spear little sharks. I said: "Really?" Edited February 25, 2014 by ExiledInIllinois
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