I was ready to hop on the Downtown Stadium bandwagon, like so many others that are passionate and visionary about our Buffalo redo, until my creative problem solving mechanism kicked in. What we are doing, as a tribe, once more is jumping to solutions before examining a few steps in the process, that lead to those best options.
Reuse of the Ralph has many, many advantages over the more-than-one-billion-dollar options.
The Ralph Re-Use Option included these ten advantages over a New Stadium Downtown option:
- A Redesigned Ralph is more sustainable than a New Stadium. It currently has enough for everyone, and with a few million dollars in modification, will last for another, say 30 years.
- The 80% of The Ralph that you cannot see, the infrastructure, is the most expensive part of any new stadium, and it already exists.
- The management of The Ralph is mature, that is to say, there is a capable system in place. A new stadium represents a learning curve and the journey from out-of-control process to eventually quite capable ones.
- There is no strategic plan, that a new stadium aligns with, in WNY, how can you achieve a goal or an objective, in the form of a new stadium, when you don’t have a strategy?
- The current location is more than a location; it is a mature destination, with history, heritage and pride. If we tear down the Ralph, or let it rot, like we did with The Rockpile and The Aud, aren’t we just a tribe who ignores its heritage places? How does “making a New Place” deliver value when we already made one, over thirty years?
- The exterior of the destination is the 20% of the cost (perhaps $300,000,000) that would have 80% of the impact and a Redesigned ralph can offer an even more spectacular look and feel than a New, more expensive entity, that would likely sacrifice exterior texture, materials, look and feel in the name of budget.
- A redesigned ralph can celebrate the old (for example the huge columns that adorned both The Aud and the Rockpile) with new materials, technologies and structural elements and processes while creating a structure that competes GLOBALLY for architectural awards.
- The project to redesign the ralph would take up to 7 months, capable of being executed over an offseason, meaning no interruption to current operations and lead to effective results, utilizing pre-fabricated components.
- If you ask the fan, where location ranks in his or her list of critical characteristics related to the Game Day experience, you will find it to be in the relatively unimportant category, where what happens to them and how much the experience satisfies their needs and wants reigns as a priority.
- The redesign of The Ralph offers the opportunity to add a roof / dome with a retractable and/or fixed opening. We can leverage the best of stadium designs now under construction all around the world and we can even retrofit The Ralph to accommodate not only Super Bowls, but FIFA World Cup Finals as well!
There is no limit to the size, shape, look and feel our next generation of sports arena will have and it does NOT have to cost $1.6B!
When you are at a Bills game, you are not aware of how old the stairs, the plumbing, electrical or any other part of the supporting structure is. All you care is that it works. All you care about is how much fun you’re having in this place of battle and whether you are free to be a part of it, express yourself and maybe even witness victory.
I never thought Merlin’s on Elmwood would lack a stench, but when I walked into Blue Monk on its grand opening, I realized with my Buffalo Brain that re-use creates entirely new destinations, experiences and beloved, useful, value-delivering places. The joists below, however, were the same. The Ralph has a much shorter path to a world class sports destination with as little as $300M in the hands of a capable engineering, artistic and construction team. But only if you demand it!
I’ve got sketches to share for anyone who wants to know what a 21st Century FIFA World Cup in Orchard Park, NY could look like. I think “Ralph” would like it too. Hell, let’s make this a competition, like the 43North effort, and inspire all kinds of new thought!
Michael R Weekes is author of “Building a New and Useful Buffalo” book. He built the Geodesic Houseboat, Pride of Buffalo in 2013. Mike co-founded the WNY STEM Hub and hopes to inspire WNY youth to design, develop and deploy our 21st Century Buffalo Solutions.
Photo: Alan Kotok – Wikipedia