Everyone involved admits there are talks underway for a new football stadium, almost certainly in Orchard Park. However, the current one needs repairs, several million dollars worth this spring.
The current lease with the Buffalo Bills requires significant repairs to the stadium and the other buildings on the site, and the cost of the repairs is worked out under provisions of the lease, which runs out after the coming football season.
Erie County Public Works Commissioner Bill Geary said repairs are slated to run to just over $5 million, although the plan is to spend somewhat less because, "with an older facility," who knows what might turn up during the repairs.
"Maintenance items. That facility being exposed to the elements. Concrete repairs, painting, some plumbing, HVAC, nothing out of the ordinary," he said. "Even if we were to start building a new stadium tomorrow, it's probably a good two years in construction, so there's still general upkeep. Also, not just the stadium itself, it's the stadium complex."
There are also repairs slated for the field house and the administration building. Geary said there were supply chain problems last year and there could be potential problems if parts need to be brought in from overseas this time.
"Plumbing, the valves, the water heaters, things like that. There's always that," he said. "Paint, I feel pretty good about. The normal stuff that we would do about the concrete repairs, things of that nature. But some of the specialized pieces of equipment, like an HVAC unit, for instance, a heat pump, that could always be affected by a supply chain item."
As with every year, the work will be done between the spring thaw and training camp, so the earlier spring is the better.
