HTN: Goodbye, Aud

Tuesday will be the final goodbye to the Memorial Auditorium. Officials will gather next week for a formal send-off as demolition work comes to an end with the tearing-down of the South Wall. The Aud's time capsule from 1939 will be opened.

Aud Demolition Set

HTN: A new contract for the demolition of the Aud has been approved by the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. DEMCO Inc. was the third-lowest bidder, but got the job after the two-lowest pulled out because of to the shrinking of scrap steel. A approval clears the way to bulldoze the downtown Buffalo landmark. DEMCO gets one-point-64-million dollars, plus another 97-thousand to preserve Aud facade elements to be used as a memorial to the 68-year-old building. DEMCO could get up to one-point-97-million, still two-million under the previously projected demolition cost. DEMCO has handled several difficult and high-profile demolition jobs in the past, including Miami's Orange Bowl. The Aud's demise makes way for the 150-thousand-square-foot Bass Pro store which will anchor the harbour center.

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.

Farewell Old Friend

One last look around Memorial Auditorium, before they tear it down....Hometown media and dignitaries were allowed in today before the final demolition project. An auction of Aud seats and boards is set for November, and the building should be down by May.

Aud Demo to Begin

Dismantling of the Aud is slated to begin next month, with plans to have the arena completely torn down by May. The Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. has approved a nearly one-and-a-half-million-dollar contract with Ontario Specialty Contracting for the demolition. Shops, a museum and a public plaza are slated to fill the spot along the waterfront.