Buffalo Memorial Auditorium: New York
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
Buffalo War Memorial Auditorium (also known as The Aud) is an indoor arena in downtown Buffalo, New York. It hosted the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL from 1970-1996, the Buffalo Braves of the NBA from 1970-1978, the Buffalo Stallions of the MISL, the Buffalo Stampede of RHI, the Buffalo Bandits of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League, the Buffalo Blizzard of NPSL and the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League from 1940 to 1970.
Originally completed in 1940 as a WPA project, the arena originally sat 12,280 for ice hockey, with an additional 2,000-3,000 sitting in the floor area for basketball and other events. An $8.7 million renovation took place for the 1970 inauguration of the Sabres and Braves franchises. The roof of the old arena was removed, an upper “orange level” was added, and a new roof was built above it. This raised the total capacity of the arena to about 18,000 for basketball and 16,433 for hockey.
The renovations preserved the arena for another two and a half decades, but the Sabres moved out after the 1995-1996 season, moving across the street to the HSBC Arena. It was the last arena in which the ice sheet fell short of the league-mandated 200 ft. by 85 ft. size (though Maple Leaf Gardens still had irregularly shaped corners).
The venue is currently vacant, but negotiations between Bass Pro Shops and the city of Buffalo are ongoing. Tentative plans had involved remodeling the facility as a Bass Pro store, hotel, and Erie Canal Museum, but the latest rumors suggest that the arena will be razed in order to allow Bass Pro to construct a new facility at lower cost.