Bills fans flabbergasted by progress of stadium demolition

Orchard Park, N.Y. (WBEN) - Demolition of the old Highmark Stadium continues along Abbott Road, where significant portions of the facility have been torn down by crews. Just in the last several days, crews have reduced the entire North wing of the stadium, or the visitors' sideline to rubble.

Demolition of the stadium officially commenced in early May, and is still on track to be completed in March of 2027.

Bills fans from near and far continue to flood Orchard Park on a daily basis to get a look at progress of stadium demolition, and the sentiment among many fans remains astonishment.

"I remember at first, they were going to do this after the first year of the new stadium, but faster than everybody expected, including myself," said Robert from Buffalo.

"Unbelievable! I drove by one day later, and the whole side was down. I didn't hear no noise at my house or nothing, it just went down. They're doing a good job," said Kenny from Orchard Park.

Mary has lived in the shadow of Highmark Stadium for years, and now has the new stadium even closer to her home near the Hamburg/Orchard Park border. Every day seemingly brings a new surprise for her at the old stadium site with demolition.

"I drive down this street every day, and you go one way and you got half the stadium up. You come back, and half of it's gone," Mary said in an interview with WBEN. "They're doing a good job, they're doing it quick. We'll see if it's ready by the season."

For fans like Mark from Jacksonville, Fla., he's been keeping close tabs on stadium progress - new and old - and couldn't believe what he was seeing on his trip back to Western New York with his wife and grandkids.

"It's awesome. It's not taking that long for the demo," Mark said with WBEN. "I've seen it on YouTube about a week ago, and the upper deck was still there, and now it's gone."

Even fans from other fanbases have made it a point to get down to Orchard Park to check out the demolition process. Dennis from Chicago is also keen on the developments of the new stadium with the potential of a future new facility for the Bears.

" Chicago's looking to get a new stadium, so it's weird to see a stadium that's got so much history, and then looking across the street at the new stadium is just beautiful. So it's really cool," Dennis said with WBEN.

As fans stood along the fence line at the old stadium and watched crews continue to clear away the rubble made up of steel and concrete, they couldn't help but have a flood of memories rush in when reflecting on all that took place at the stadium.

"Mostly the the playoff games, like the 51-3 game, the Comeback Game, just all the games," said Larry from Cheektowaga. "I was there when Jim Kelly was there, the good years, and now we've got Josh Allen. A lot of memories here, I feel sad, but I'm really happy we've got a new era coming. We feel secure now that the Bills are going to stay for our kids and grandchildren."

"I grew up in Blasdell, right by the McKinley Mall, so I always had the stadium around me. And now for 27 years, we've lived over here, and my kids grew up here," Marry added. "We've had Season Tickets for 30 years, so my husband would take each of the kids when they were little, and they'd walk over, and just things like that. Now my youngest [kids] are 25, and just through the years of them coming over, going to the snow games, and them coming home frozen. Just things like that."

"I've been a fan ever since I've been a little kid, and the first time I ever came to the game I was like 9-, 10-years-old. And up through the '90s, when we watched Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas, it's like part of the family. But we've got an awesome new stadium now," Mark added.