Buffalo, NY (WBEN) The Bills' proposed stadium footprint was unveiled Friday as the state's required environmental review gets underway. Concerns about SUNY Erie campus property have been addressed according to County executive Mark Poloncarz.
The proposed footprint covers 283 acres. "But many of these are already owned by the county in our parking facilities or parking lots already. So they they're not going to really see much change," says Poloncarz, who notes the new Bills stadium would cover about 100 acres. He adds the vast majority of the site will will remain the same or the parking will be reconfigured that exists there, so there are few concerns about impact.
Poloncarz says the site plan also shows the Bills can build a stadium without closure of SUNY Erie, South Campus.
"This would not require the taking of any educational building, and it does not, we use the parking lots that exists, as well as the grass fields that are currently there that are part of the SUNY Erie campus," says Poloncarz. He notes the only section that would be affected would be the SUNY area football stadium. "We would have to take that but beyond that, the rest of the facility would be in the parking lots in the grass," adds Poloncarz.
Regarding the SUNY Erie stadium, "that's a decision for the future. It's not something that's going to happen this year, won't have any effect on the football team this year. But as we start construction, it certainly would have an effect in 2023," says Poloncarz.
Parking at Highmark Stadium could be a temporary issue as the new Bills stadium is being built. "For the period when the new stadium is in place, and tearing down the old stadium, there will be a limitation on parking," Poloncarz explains. "There'll be less parking during that one year. In the end, it'll be approximately the same."
A scoping session will be held at the Bills Fieldhouse July 14th.