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Kim Pegula: Bills' Stadium Plans on Hold until after November Elections - John Wawrow AP Story


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Posted
19 hours ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

 

Looks like a friendly enough fellow alright? Was this job opening posted on Zip Recruiter? I might have liked to apply. Sounds like fun! 

Posted
On 9/12/2018 at 5:20 PM, Sanners said:

I'm not sure why everyone thinks tailgating will completely end with a downtown stadium. Buffalo has a ton of surface lots, and if they go where the Perry Projects currently sit there are a ton of businesses with lots that could open for parking as well. Tailgating would still be a thing, unless, they decide to build parking ramps, which I just don't see happening over the ones that are already in place for Key.

Bills fans will find places to tailgate. If anyone can figure that out, it's Bills fans.

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Posted
41 minutes ago, ALF said:

In today's The BN  

 

Developer and owner of the Statler , Mark Croce proposes adding an addition on top of existing convention center , bridge to Statler , and a parking ramp.

 

I like this idea so far.

 

https://buffalonews.com/2018/11/01/gallery11482/

 

 

Or build a new convention center on the parking lot Croce owns. Winner either way

Posted
48 minutes ago, ALF said:

In today's The BN  

 

Developer and owner of the Statler , Mark Croce proposes adding an addition on top of existing convention center , bridge to Statler , and a parking ramp.

 

I like this idea so far.

 

https://buffalonews.com/2018/11/01/gallery11482/

 

 

 

Is that convention center massive or something? I've never known convention centers to hold more than 15-20k people at best. How is that any help to the Bills? I guess I'm missing something

Posted
41 minutes ago, BigDingus said:

 

Is that convention center massive or something? I've never known convention centers to hold more than 15-20k people at best. How is that any help to the Bills? I guess I'm missing something

Not that it is relevant to the conversation but they say that the convention center in New Orleans can hold up to a million people. It would be a ridiculously tight squeeze and obviously a massive fire code violation. Nonetheless you can supposedly squeeze that many in there. 

Posted
14 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Not that it is relevant to the conversation but they say that the convention center in New Orleans can hold up to a million people. It would be a ridiculously tight squeeze and obviously a massive fire code violation. Nonetheless you can supposedly squeeze that many in there. 

A convention center is a waste of money and any benefits, ANY, will only trickle down to the developers who own hotels, bars, restaurants or lease space for same. Making this even more ridiculous, those same people have already had those projects helped with millions in taxpayer dollars. So Croce, a developer who likely makes out in this scheme, is just speaking for the developers, not us taxpayers who get zero (what a home, boat, and car show that few go to?) and who also get to foot the $1M+ annual loss. Yes, it will run at a loss to support hotels, bars, and restaurants. Just one of the worst ideas ever. Ask a Pittsburgher about their wasted money on a vastly underutilized convention center.

 

And any comparison to New Orleans is a joke. I've been there for a convention and that city has what conferences and attendees want.... a vibrant, walkable, 24-hour downtown. It has excellent museums, aquarium, historic tours, a real casino, historic neighborhoods..... oh and good weather so the convention center doesn't sit empty from December to April.

 

And no, we don't need a new stadium. Every time I go I laugh at the stupidity of such an idea. 

Posted

New convention centers are fantastic money pits.  This has been known for many years.  The US is saturated with underutilized convention center square footage.

Posted
9 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

New convention centers are fantastic money pits.  This has been known for many years.  The US is saturated with underutilized convention center square footage.

 

Agree

 

One option here was a new combination stadium / convention center downtown. 

 

I prefer renovating the present convention center .

 

 

Posted
5 minutes ago, ALF said:

 

Agree

 

One option here was a new combination stadium / convention center downtown. 

 

I prefer renovating the present convention center .

 

 

 

New stadium plus convention center combines two of the biggest civic wastes of money into one giant pit.

 

There simply aren't enough events to schedule in any such facility to make it worthwhile. 

 

The best option is to play football in the current stadium and if the billionaire team owner wants a new one, he can easily finance it completely with his personal wealth.   There's no real public benefit to justify the cost to the public.

 

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Posted (edited)

I was just in Nashville couple months ago.  Their CC is booked out 7 years.  Huge business for them when they all thought it was a waste too

 

That said, the huge new one in N Falls Ontario............... is there ever anything in it??

 

I have no interest in tax money supporting a CC or stadium

Edited by MarkyMannn
Posted
52 minutes ago, MarkyMannn said:

I was just in Nashville couple months ago.  Their CC is booked out 7 years.  Huge business for them when they all thought it was a waste too

 

That said, the huge new one in N Falls Ontario............... is there ever anything in it??

 

I have no interest in tax money supporting a CC or stadium

 

I'm headed there for a national meeting next week.  Nashville is unique in that it is a tourist destination city already.  Buffalo isn't.

 

The real waste is for cities that have a center that's underutilized, then decide they want another center.  Or cities that won't attract visitors otherwise, that now want to be a convention city.

 

The problem for these centers is that in most large cities, the vast majority on conventions and meetings are held at large hotels that have the space that these conventions and meetings need.  That leaves all of the massive publicly owned convention centers in the country to fight over the limited number of massive conventions that need their space.  There aren't enough of those to go around.  So you see these places scrounging for weddings and toy shows and dog breeder shows that use a tiny fraction of their square footage.

Posted
4 hours ago, ALF said:

In today's The BN  

 

Developer and owner of the Statler , Mark Croce proposes adding an addition on top of existing convention center , bridge to Statler , and a parking ramp.

 

I like this idea so far.

 

https://buffalonews.com/2018/11/01/gallery11482/

 

 

Add a bridge to the Statler, which Croce owns, and which he has sat on and down nothing with for years now.  F him.

Posted
33 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

I'm headed there for a national meeting next week.  Nashville is unique in that it is a tourist destination city already. 

That center is right at the edge of Broadway and all its old honky-tonk bars and of course the new expensive ones.  What a party spot though.  Was GREAT!!!

Posted
2 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

A convention center in Buffalo is a terrible idea. This is just a push for Croce to grow the Statler. I don’t think anyone thinks this makes sense. 

 

Bupkis.   Many mid-sized cities have active convention centers and Buffalo can compete for business in that space nine moths a year. 

 

It will never be Orlando or Nashville, but it can certainly be Pittsburgh, Louisville or Jacksonville...

 

https://www.cvent.com/en/marketing/top-50/2017-top-destinations-us.php

 

 

Posted
15 minutes ago, Lurker said:

 

Bupkis.   Many mid-sized cities have active convention centers and Buffalo can compete for business in that space nine moths a year. 

 

It will never be Orlando or Nashville, but it can certainly be Pittsburgh, Louisville or Jacksonville...

 

https://www.cvent.com/en/marketing/top-50/2017-top-destinations-us.php

 

 

It’s a losing proposition in those cities. Pittsburgh averages a $3M deficit a year. They can swear by the economic impact of said conventions but that’s debatable. I know it’s a small sample size but the few that I am involved in each year have narrowed their destinations to drive attendance. The one goes to Vegas, New Orleans, Orlando, San Juan and Chicago. They tried San Antonio, St. Louis, and Memphis but couldn’t get the attendance that they were getting in those other places. There isn’t all of a sudden going to be a steady stream of big national conventions heading to Buffalo. 

Posted

New Era looked amazing on TV Monday night... great atmosphere... great venue...

 

Why not just do a massive retrofit right where the stadium is now? All of the infrastructure is already there, as is the tradition and the brand new practice facilities and fields.

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