The Buffalo Aud History X

The Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, mostly known to all as - The Aud - is about to get demolished. That's right, the powers that be in the city of buffalo hockey are going to tear down this venerable and historical auditorium.

Yes, they're going to demolish the aud; they're going to crush it, they're going to take all of it's little pieces and remove them from Buffalo. Good or bad, there is a large amount of history and memories wrapped up in The Aud's life and upcoming demise.

The Aud is the common name for the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, also known as the Buffalo War Memorial Auditorium.

Construction first began on the 30th of November, 1939 with a $1.2 million dollar grant from the Works Projects Administration (WPA) as part of the President Roosevelt's New Deal; and what a good deal it was.

For many years The Buffalo Aud was the only show in town.  Events at the Aud included popular roller skating, old auto shows, political events and rallies, animals shows, a few circuses, and various war memorials.  Ultimately the Aud also saw other events to include music concerts, professional wrestling, ice shows (think Ice Capades, etc) and sporting events (to include the Harlem Globetrotters).  The following list includes a variety of sporting events and teams:  - Professional Basketball with the Buffalo Braves - Professional Hockey with the Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bisons - College Basketball with local Canisius College, Niagara University, St. Bonaventure, University of Buffalo, Buffalo State College and others. - Lacrosse with the Buffalo Bandits - Soccer with the Buffalo Stallions & Buffalo Blizzard - and others... 

 The last professional sporting event at the Aud took place on April 14th, 1996.  The Buffalo Sabres squared off for the last time and the Aud was shut down for good later that year.  Since then it has slowly but surely fallen into disrepair.  Asbestos is everywhere, and mold has taken over in many quarters.  Recently auctions were held to raise money for a future Memorial to the site.  A highlight for fans was the auctioning of the "Blue" seats.  In early 2009, the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium will be torn down to make way for something  new.   

It's time to head on over to this website - http://www.thebuffaloaud.com and check out the print there.

A local Buffalo artist has painted the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium and is using it as a fundraiser for a good cause.  As a Buffalo fan you'll surely want to hang one of these in your living room.