Orchard Park, N.Y. (WBEN) - "Ralph, we're moving across the street."
Terry Pegula's comment Monday was one humorous moment in what was, occasionally, an emotional groundbreaking ceremony for the new Buffalo Bills stadium in Orchard Park.
Along with the Bills owner, several other members from the organization, New York State and Erie County gathered at the expansive site along Abbott Road to commemorate the start of construction of the $1.54 billion state-of-the-art football stadium over the next three years.
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Taxpayer money is funding $850 million of the tab.
"What a great day for us to be here today as we celebrate a monumental event in the history of the Buffalo Bills franchise in our entire community," said Buffalo Bills Executive Vice President and COO, Ron Raccuia.
"The new stadium is not going to be only the home of our beloved Buffalo Bills, but it's going to be a place where our friends and families will come together and enjoy memories that last a lifetime. A stadium, as Terry said, built for Buffalo. This public private partnership has been a collaborative effort from day one. The many in attendance today are owed a tremendous amount of thanks and gratitude from our organization and our community."
One-by-one, the dignitaries on stage grabbed the awaiting gold-plated shovels to toss a shovel of dirt to mark the occasion that capped off years of negotiation.
"This place is not going to just represent a fantastic state of the art facility, it [will] represent dreams to be realized and memories to be made and stories to be told. And, of course, many, many victories to be celebrated. It also is going to be a battleground. It's gonna be a battleground against all those other teams that dare step into our stadium," said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The new home of the Bills will be known as Highmark Stadium, as Pegula announced the extension of the naming rights deal into the new stadium era.
"I want to thank Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. I'm proud to say we have a new long-term naming rights deal and their name will shine on our new stadium for years to come," Pegula said.
Amidst all the pomp and circumstance and political thank yous, there was a poignant and emotional moment as Pegula read the names of some heroes in the community, the victims of the Tops shooting.
Pegula also made note of his wife and co-owner Kim Pegula as his "shining star", as she continues to recover from an illness.
Both Gov. Hochul and Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz made mention of the 10,000-plus local union jobs coming as a result of this stadium deal.
"The future is now being placed in the hands of the men and women of our local building trades. Those who exemplify the blue collar Buffalo spirit like no other, you will now write the next chapter and many chapters of the story. As you construct the home for our beloved team, please take pride in your work and know that you built the home that is going to be the location of the Buffalo Bills for the next 30 years," said Poloncarz.
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The groundbreaking comes a little more than a month since an agreement between the Bills and state and county governments was approved, and some 14 months after the framework of a deal was agreed to, with taxpayer money set aside in the state budget.
The new facility will replace the Bills current home, Highmark Stadium, which opened in 1973, and was deemed by a state study as being too expensive to renovate. The new stadium will carry over the naming rights after the Bills announced a long-term deal with Highmark, a health insurance provider, and become the franchise’s third home.
Established by Wilson in 1960 as an American Football League franchise, the Bills spent their first 13 seasons playing at War Memorial Stadium in midtown Buffalo.
Hochul, who grew up a Bills fan in nearby Hamburg, New York, emphasized the benefits — both financial and psychological to one of the NFL’s smallest markets — that come with keeping the franchise in Buffalo. She said the team’s annual economic impact to the community is $385 million.
“This is one of the highlights of my time as your governor to make sure we’d deliver what I said we would do for keeping the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo for at least another generation,” said Hochul, who was dressed in Bills blue and red colors, and even wore sneakers with the team’s logo on them.
The deal has been questioned, with critics referring to it as corporate welfare in using taxpayer funds to support Pegula, who has a projected net worth of $6.7 billion, and also owns the NHL's Buffalo Sabres.
Questions were also raised as to whether it would have been better to bring the Bills back to playing in Buffalo to help revitalize the city’s core rather than remain in suburban Orchard Park.
Towards the end of Pegula's comments, he pointed to the team’s existing stadium and then to the stage on where he stood.
“We’re going to build a stadium here, right? And we’re going to tear down a stadium over there that’s full of memories,” Pegula said. “So we need to fill this stadium with more memories and continue our legacy. We should remember the past, but embrace the building of our future.”
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