The House that Josh built

The new stadium flushes with pride

Sure, it looks like a big toilet bowl but it shines and leaves a sense of awe even if the bathrooms were dirty.

I don’t pretend to know a thing about architecture, but I know when I am being played and sometimes I like it.

With that in mind, I accepted an invitation from my friend Ray to visit the new Highmark Stadium on Friday. It was all that and more. I am a lifelong Bills fan and New York taxpayer. From start to finish of the tour, I was in awe.

I had been openly telling friends that, as a lifelong fan and former press pass holder, I never expected to set foot in the stadium because it was not built for the peasant class. Alas, as soon as I said “never”, it happened.

Thinking about architecture

I compare it to two experiences in public spaces over the last couple years. First, a visit to the new AKG Art Gallery my tax dollars helped pay for. From the moment you enter, the sound, the light, the floors and the space give you a sense of wonderment. In the gallery portions the art shines, just as it should.

Another experience came in touring the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. The self-guided tour manipulates every sense every step of the way, from light to scents and sounds, a carefully crafted experience that concludes with a lesson in beertasting before leaving you in a pub with about ½ the seats it would take for everyone to sit and a spectacular view of the surrounding city, which is thriving because of a tax-free zone.

With those two experiences in mind, I was skeptical in approaching Taxpayer Stadium (which is what it should be called) in Orchard Park.

About that location

First came the issue of getting there. Orchard Park was a stupid place to build a football stadium in 2025 just like it was in 1972. It cemented Buffalo’s sordid brand: “We lose Super Bowls and suffer blizzards. Come visit.”

At least they never celebrate President Millard Fillmore, a despicable commander-in-chief who signed the fugitive act back in 1850 so escaped slaves could be kidnapped and returned to their owners.

The thought of leaning in on the Wonder of the World 30 minutes from a dying city never struck a chord with the drug-addled elites in charge of the Queen City, which started its downward spiral when the Welland Canal opened and has never recovered.

If leaders were regionally minded or smart, they would lean into Niagara Falls, the Cataract Hotel and Harriet Tubman.

The well-oiled politicians are good at squeezing Albany for things like $1 billion for Elon Musk’s Solar City, or a few hundred million to trash a beautiful wildlife habitat to build the Outer Harbor.

Anyway, putting aside the resentment of how a city like Buffalo gets all the juice, the new stadium is spectacular.

About the place

Our tour was for 2:30 p.m. We planned to meet at 2 p.m. The location was the Bronze parking lot. I put “Bronze parking lot” into Google Maps. It navigated me to Abbott Road and told me to turn into a parking lot. No sign I saw said “Bronze” so I zoomed past and made a u-turn.

This time, I listened to my phone and turned in. Sure enough, I found a sign that said “Bronze” after I entered as my phone rang via Bluetooth. I was 10 minutes early, as always (early is on time, on time is late). Ray was already there. He was on the far side of the lot. I pulled into a spot one over from him. It was about 8-feet longer than a Toyota Camry and seemed off but that turned out to be a thoughtful detail added to the lots to facilitate tailgating.

I found Ray easily. We walked around the grand bison statues and read some of the plaques in the family circle. I saw a woman, with a golden lab wearing a Bills bandanna, posing him for a photo. I stopped to read about Marv Levy and Bob Kalsu but somehow Robert James was meaningful. And Joe Ferguson. I can’t say why. OJ was missing. History erased.

We sidled up to the gate 15 minutes early. The porcine guard told us politely to return in 10 minutes, which we did.

At Thursday’s game, Ray said they made him take off his hat at security. On Friday, I left my hat on and no one said a word.

Past the gate

The good news is, and there is a lot of it for the privileged elite that can afford access, the security screening process is massively improved. You walk through a scanner, without a ticket, and only if you trigger it, do you get pulled aside. The tech is massively improved from the old stadium. I still wonder – if I had a 8-ounce nonmetal flask tucked in the small of my back, under my shirt and shorts, could I slip in? I mean it’s not a 6-pack tucked in knee socks for the Thursday Night Vikings game in 1981 but hey, maybe.

The other good news is we moved through without a hassle and I didn’t take off my hat or get stopped for the small Swish Army multi-tool on my keyring.

That whole plaza area is open to the public, even those without tickets. Your ticket is scanned at the next level.

Inside

Immediately inside the gate, you are being manipulated because you are in a giant asphalt plaza where you can see, touch and smell the stadium, and you are partly inside but . . .

You are in the “fan zone”. That is like “coulda, shoulda, woulda, but.” You can spend $22 or so for a beer. There will be innumerable opportunities to enter the stadium but we are in a caste system. You will not enter the palace system without a dowry.

The cheapest ticket I could find today, for the Ravens game, was about $400 for nosebleeds.

In that plaza, you can also buy souvenirs and fantasize about the inner sanctum. There are multiple inner sanctums. Each came with an admission charge that preceded the right to purchase a season ticket. “Personal seat licenses are sold out. They began at about $2,500 per seat and go up to $50,000.

Inside

After you convene with the rabble, it is time to enter the palace. Ye must have a ticket. We went inside and moved through an atrium where our tour guides met us.

They warned us ahead of time, if you need the washroom, use it now. I didn’t really need to but went to check it out. It was cavernous. And the floors were dirty with mud. And the trash was overflowing like they didn’t empty it after the Steelers game.

Still, it beats being 18 years old, in the 300 level of Rich Stadium, peeing in a 12-foot stainless steel sink where even if you avert your eyes, a circle of 10 people are exposing themselves to you. It was uncomfortable, at least to teenage me.

Back on the tour

Our guides were Ed and Gordy. Both seemed like football coaches. Among the first things they showed us was a blue glass curtain said to be filled with the signature of every person who paid the dowry to marry a seat.

The names are arranged by the date of the PSL signature.

Ray told me he purchased a sausage sandwich and a water during the Steelers game. It was $31.56. Ray’s buddy bought a panini for $20.08. If I could curse Delaware North I would, but Legends, a competitor, is the vendor and equally usurious.

On a bright note, throughout the stadium, they have made a concerted effort to use local food vendors, and local art.

Ray said one detail that seemed to be lacking in the new stadium was a countdown clock for TV timeouts. It makes it hard for old people to read. Some of the screens were hard to read, for example the smaller scoreboards listing downs and yardage. Even the bigger ones are not great.

About that art

Ed explained as we looked at the art throughout the tour, that there are 48 different artists represented and 46 of them were born in Buffalo.

Every time you turn around in the new stadium, there is more art. Sometimes it’s designed to look different depending on the angle.

A mural by Adam Zyglis was one of my favorites. I also like the retro-collage paying homage to War Memorial Stadium.

Te even reproduced the Western Union Telegram Ralph Wilson sent to Lamar Hunt in 1959 saying “I’m in for Buffalo.”

I appreciate that insurance executive from Detroit saw potential in the AFL.

About those Bison

A trio of massive bisons, with the tallest being 29 feet, are in the ring of honor outside the stadium.

When the Bills score, the bisons snort steam and flash lights from the swooshes on their side. They are connected to the arena downtown so they will make a scene when the Sabres score as well.

In addition to plaques honoring noteworthy Bills players and contributors, there is a one honoring the heritage of the Hau-de-no-sau-nee. The entire new stadium campus is planted with more than 10,000 native plants as well.

From where the ideas came from

Populous, the architecture firm, surveyed the community and received 13,000 responses, the most ever.

Our tour guide, Ed Greenway, who you might know from his 39 years as Williamsville East football coach, said there were 5 elements incorporated in the design as a result of that survey:

1. People wanted to feel closer to the field. (That was achieved by a steeper bowl, 34 degrees rather than 28)
2. Fans wanted to feel closer to the 50 yardline. (The bowl and tighter sidelines achieved it.)
3. Fans wanted easier access to food. (Wider concourses and more stands made it happen.)
4. Fans wanted Buffalo food. (Using local vendors leaned in.)
5. Fans wanted local flavor everywhere in the design. (46 of 48 artists who designed art for the stadium are Buffalo born.)

Other details

64% of the seats in the new stadium are covered. The red and blue pattern is patterned after Real Madrid’s green and gold in Spain, which owner Terry Pegula saw and wanted to emulate. Placement is random. There is no message in the design.

Greenway said there a 36-speaker arrays inside the stadium as well as subwoofers. When the sound system was first installed, they cranked it up just to check it out. Within 10 minutes, the phones lit up with neighbors asking what all the noise was about. If the test was loud, wait for a game.

There has been some miscommunication about the new stadium. For example, some of the seats used demonstrate flawed design because they have obstructed views but will not be sold for football games, only concerts.

Also, subtle design elements, like a blue windscreen decorated with a horizontally angled slash stripe the same shape as the helmet and protecting a stairwell is not just a cool design element. It is designed to confuse the wind.

So many exclusive spaces

The M&T Bank Atrium is designed as an event space for things like corporate meetings or wedding receptions. 1,900 pieces of red and blue plastic hang from the ceiling and reflect the light like magical wind chimes. The blinds on the windows are automated and massive but purposeful.

The Founders Club has only 100 members. PSLs for those seats were $50,000 each.

Frank Cravotta is the senior vice president of design for the Bills and acted as an interface with the architects on every phase of the project.

Greenway said the initial thought was the old stadium site would be leveled for a parking lot. Demolition appears ahead of schedule. As for what the space may become, Mr. Cravotta has ideas. Populous may be involved. Mr. Cravotta has not told us yet but there is something else spectacular coming. We shall see how much the taxpayers shell out for it.

Other fun things

Another big change with the new stadium is the teams enter the stadium through separate tunnels. The old Highmark was the last facility in the NFL where both teams entered together.

The Labatt Blue Sky Deck is open to the weather and faces Lake Erie. It is at roughly the same altitude as the upper deck in the old stadium.

It was great to look out and see the bison statues as well as find Beth’s Camry in the lot resting next to Ray’s SUV. You can see out vehicles in the above photo.

About that field

The old Highmark stadium had a crown which drained water off to the sidelines. The new Highmark is flat as they are using natural grass which drains below the field. Given the scientific nature of modern tech, the new field is flat with a layer of blue grass over roots, pebbles underneath, cloth, clay and heating coils as well as irrigation and drain structure.

As we walked the field into the bowl of the stadium, you could see white devices measuring moisture as well as orange flags marking spots.

Greenway had not been briefed on the process but the study must have found something they didn’t like because by Sunday, it was reported the grass will be replaced before the first game.

Tuesday I saw photos of the sod stripped to reveal its base. I don’t understand.

In the locker room

The locker room seemed other-worldly. It had a space-age feel with lockers showing as empty but with storage space in the seats and nameplates above.

The media room had an equally sci-fi feel. One question we didn’t get a solid answer to was whether the media section will be mic’d up.

In the old stadium, if you listened to the post-game press conference, you could hear the players and coaches but it was often hard to hear the questions being asked.

In conclusion

There was so much to take in that I am sure I missed some details. In part because there is so much to take in and in part because my mind got lost in the wonderment of it all. As someone who watched sports at War Memorial, and got terrified complying with the requirement sideline photographers must kneel even as Bruce Smith charges at you through a telephoto lens, I remain in awe and doubtful I will ever be able to afford a game. Even so, even if I still don’t like where they built it, I am glad the Bills are still here and grateful for this era of our fandom. I am also thankful Ray hooked me up.