TOUR THE AUD - 2007 A Forgotten Buffalo Reader Submission
Picture taken in 2007, about a year before Fall 2008 demolition, the Aud stood quietly on Buffalo’s waterfront.
Forgotten Buffalo recently was e-mailed a portfolio of truly fascinating photos. Taken during the Fall of 2007, the pictures represent an “urban exploration” of Buffalo’s Memorial Auditorium. While looking for more pictures on the web of the Aud post-Sabres, I discovered that these pictures were taken by two individuals names “Canukr” and “Zenjaphy.” Forgotten Buffalo is grateful to these two explorers who have given us an amazing look inside one of Buffalo’s favorite sites as it sat quietly on Buffalo’s waterfront for over 10 years. Until the Fall 2008 demolition, the Aud represented the City’s largest time capsule. “Canukr” and “Zenjaphy” spent nearly 7 hours inside the Aud to capture these images. Thank you! Groundbreaking for the arena occurred on November 30, 1939. The arena was a Works-Progress-Administration project; which was the use of federal money to fund numerous projects throughout the United States in an attempt to halt the Great Depression. The construction of the arena occurred to replace the aging Broadway Auditorium; which was Buffalo's only conventional hall at the time. The $2.7 million dollar, 12,280 seat stadium opened officially on October 14, 1940 to a crowd of 3000 where the arena was officially dedicated to the memory of those lost in World War combat. The stadium originally played home to the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League until 1970 when the team folded after the National Hockey League granted Buffalo the Sabres. It was at this point that the arena was expanded at a cost of $8.7 million by lifting the 2,200 ton roof and the addition of a orange level of seating which brought the arena capacity to 16,433 for hockey and 18,000 for basketball (for the Buffalo Braves of the NBA - now the Los Angeles Clippers).The Aud was closed in 1996 and sat, suspended in time until 2008 when demolition of the site was begun.
Ticket office near Terrance Street entrance.
Escalator to the “orange” level
Photo taken 2003
Same location - 2007
Stairway in the Aud Club
Image:
The Aud Club - Site of my 1990 Canisius High School Prom!
Historic Fire Engines were being stored inside.. What has happened to them?
