Aud Demolition May Need to be Renegotiated

On the weekend of the Aud auction at the Convention Center, The demolition of the building may have hit a snag: Ontario Specialty Contractors, the company that was selected to tear down the Aud to make was for a new Bass Pro store, is bringing up concerns about the price it can get for scrap metal that it removes from the building. President Jon Williams says the price of scrap has decreased dramatically, by about ten percent. Williams is also worried about whether dealers who would buy it could line up the credit needed to do so. There's no contract yet with the state agency in charge of the Inner Harbor project, Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation. Williams says he now wants to renegotiate. Mid-December would now be the earliest start date, compared to a late November date projected earlier, with demolition then completed by spring 2009. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown hopes the demolition will stay on track.