Just about six months after the official groundbreaking, work on HARBORcenter is about 25 percent complete. According to the Sabres, the aggressive timeline set for the $172 million project is on track. Since April, construction workers on the project have clocked 58,000 hours.
"So you've got about 2,080 man-hours in a year. So you're looking at pretty close to 30 man-years right now," said Project Executive Kendall Nielsen.
Ahead of the Buffalo Sabres regular season home opener Friday night against Ottawa, the media was given a tour of the site adjacent to Canalside in downtown Buffalo Wednesday.
Nielsen says in the coming weeks, HARBORenter and First Niagara Center will be connected by an eight-foot high, three-foot wide beam made of steel and concrete.
"When we get up here and place this, we'll place 1,100 cubic yards of concrete in one day. Which is about 110-111 trucks of concrete that we'll pour to place these beams," Nielsen said.
A lot more concrete will be used before the 20-story building is complete. HARBORcenter President John Koelmel says the 110 workers on site are earning meaningful wages. Koelmel says by the time they're done, the payroll is expected to be north of $100 million.
"Part of the deal upfront was that at least 75% of the workers would come [from] within a 100 mile radius. And we've also got commitments in terms of minority and women owned businesses. So we're clearly investing in ourselves, investing in ourselves as a community, not just building a building," Koelmel said.
Koelmel says by this time next year, HARBORcenter's twin ice rinks, restaurant, parking ramp and retail space will be open for business.