BUFFALO (WBEN) - On Tuesday, the Buffalo Common Council held a public meeting to gauge interest in bringing the Bills to a downtown location, and there appears to be considerable interest despite the vast variance in price compared to a new Orchard Park site.
Perhaps the most impassioned pitch came from Ben Siegel of the Bills in Buffalo campaign and prominent downtown developer Rocco Termini. Termini suggested they could offset some of the difference in price by implementing a $10 parking surcharge for events held at the venue, among other ideas, including the use of various credits.
"Using a lot of that to start putting together a financial proposal that could make it realistic," said Siegel Wednesday afternoon. "We know the physical is realistic, now we have to get the monetary realistic, and I think we have a lot of ways financially that we can at least bring that cost down, that even if it is more expensive than Orchard Park, the long term return on that investment would make it well worth additional money."
"We can't just assume, as Doug Jemal mentioned yesterday, that we should just say, 'Hey the Pegulas want that, let's do it,'" Siegel continued. "We have to ask the question, 'Why do they want what they want?' They've always been great to this city, and I'm sure they'll continue to be great to the city and region, but at the end of the day, there's a community that's at stake here, and it's our money that's at stake."
Siegel is certainly not of the opinion that county and state officials should simply take the cheapest route helping the Pegulas finance a new stadium, even though it would be significantly more expensive to build a downtown stadium.
"Just because something is cheaper, quicker and easier, doesn't mean that it's right," said Siegel. "I think that is what a lot of our group and other groups are trying to say...that you can get a better bang for your buck by doing something different and not just the way out and put the stadium wherever we're used to it. I think we still have a shot - it is a long shot - but we're going to keep working towards our goals."
