Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
| The Aud | |
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium (center) in October 2007 with the HSBC Arena (now KeyBank Center) in the background.
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| Location | Buffalo, New York |
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| Coordinates | 42°52′41″N 78°52′39″W / 42.87806°N 78.87750°WCoordinates: 42°52′41″N 78°52′39″W / 42.87806°N 78.87750°W |
| Owner | City of Buffalo (1940–2007) Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (2007–2009) |
| Operator | City of Buffalo |
| Capacity | 14,337 |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | November 30, 1939 |
| Opened | October 14, 1940 |
| Renovated | 1970, 1990 |
| Expanded | 1970 |
| Closed | 1996 |
| Demolished | 2009 |
| Construction cost | $2,700,000 ($46.5 million in 2017 dollars) |
| Architect | Green and James (1939) |
| Tenants | |
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Buffalo Bisons (AHL) (1940–1970) Buffalo Bisons (NBL) (1946) Buffalo Sabres (NHL) (1970–1996) Buffalo Braves (NBA) (1970–1978) Buffalo Stallions (MISL) (1979–1984) Buffalo Bandits (MILL) (1992–1996) Buffalo Blizzard (NPSL) (1992–1996) Buffalo Stampede (RHI) (1994–1995) |
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Buffalo Memorial Auditorium was an indoor arena in downtown Buffalo, New York. Opened on October 14, 1940, it hosted the AHL's Buffalo Bisons, the NHL's Buffalo Sabres, the NBA's Buffalo Braves, the MSL's Buffalo Stallions, the MILL's Buffalo Bandits, the second NPSL's Buffalo Blizzard and the RHI's Buffalo Stampede. It also hosted a number an NCAA basketball games, as well as entertainment events such as concerts, the Ringling Brothers circus and Disney on Ice. The Aud was renovated in 1970 and 1990, and it closed in 1996 after the Sabres', Bandits', and Blizzard's seasons ended. It remained vacant until the city demolished it in 2009.
The Buffalo Memorial Auditorium was a public works project to replace an aging civic auditorium (Buffalo Broadway Auditorium c. 1858, now a highway department garage known as the "Broadway Barns") and Fort Erie's recently collapsed Peace Bridge Arena. In June 1938, city officials sent a loan and grant application to the Works Progress Administration (WPA) for funds to build the structure. The approval of the $1.2 million grant was announced in Washington, D.C. on October 7, 1938. Construction at the junction of the Erie Canal and Main-Hamburg Canal began on November 30, 1939.
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