BUFFALO (WBEN - Brendan Keany) - CannonDesign is conducting a feasibility study on a potential indoor fieldhouse for the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo in partnership with the city and Buffalo Public Schools. On Tuesday, a public meeting was held to hear feedback from the community on whether Johnnie B. Wiley/Masten Park could be a good location for such a fieldhouse.
CannonDesign is holding a public meeting regarding the feasibility of a potential indoor fieldhouse within the City of Buffalo. Tonight, they’re discussing Johnnie B. Wiley/Masten Park. JFK Park, Shoshone Park and Glenny Park will be discussed at later meetings. pic.twitter.com/9uxie0nahY
— WBEN NewsRadio 930AM (@NewsRadio930)
March 12, 2019 "The Ralph C. Wilson Foundation basically set up the grant for this study, and the study is to hire CannonDesign to look at all possible sites and the outcome will be what is the best site for a new fieldhouse and an idea of what that fieldhouse may look like," said Paul McDonnell, who serves as director of facilities for Buffalo Public Schools.
McDonnell says that Buffalo is really in dire need of an indoor athletic facility, especially a place that can house high school athletics. CannonDesign and city officials want to hear from the public about what types of sports they'd like to see in a potential facility, as well as unforeseen concerns that could be brought to their attention my members of the community.
"As you know, Buffalo has some pretty harsh weather," said McDonnell. "We really don't have any good indoor sports facilities for the high school students or for the grammar school students, so we're hoping to get some really good ideas from the public."
"The greatest benefit of this project would go toward the youth of city residents, so hearing what people have to say is an important part of the process," said Rabb. "We've had one meeting before this, which was a larger, city-wide effort, where we tried to identify or narrow down some locations. Now, this is the beginning of a couple of meetings, at least, on individual sites to kind of get into more specifics and develop some programming."
Future meetings:- JFK Park - Thursday, March 14, from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM - Bennett Park Montessori School
- Shoshone Park - Tuesday, March 19, from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM - Bennett High School
- Glenny Park - Thursday, March 21, from 5:30 to 7:00 PM - Math Science Technology Preparatory School at Seneca
Dave Sardo is a physical education teacher and coach at Hutch Tech, and he's wants to make sure this is done correctly.
"I am concerned that the building that they're going to give us does what its potential is," said Sardo. "If they build something that can house everything, probably nobody wins. If they specialize it a little bit, if they give us some high end stuff, it can probably be a self-revenue kind of place that can probably make enough money to sustain it over the years."
Sardo says he's spoken with numerous other coaches in the area, and they all seem to be on the same page. Sardo provided clarity bu using a practical example.
"In this part of the state, there is no indoor track," he began. "The indoor track that's done in Western New York drives two hours away in order to compete most of the time. If you had an excellent facility to house that, you'd get all of Section 6, probably some of Section 5, you'd get sectionals, you'd get a bunch of meets, which means a lot of money coming in every day through concessions, fees, parking, the works."
