Orchard Park, N.Y. (WBEN) - We're now less than a year from the new Highmark Stadium along Abbott Road being slated to open. As we inch closer-and-closer to the state-of-the-art facility opening its doors, the stadium's exterior continues to take shape.
Depending on where you're viewing the stadium, one can see a number of elements that will make up the look of the exterior once it is completed. This includes large glass windows, a brick facade, and even some of the perforated steel that will help defuse the Western New York winds.
A couple years back, work on the stadium was in its infancy, as the site was merely just a hole in the ground, otherwise dubbed "the pit".
Now as fans get ready for the final season of Buffalo Bills football at the current Highmark Stadium, the excitement levels for the new stadium are reaching all new highs.
"I'm very excited. Can't wait to go in there and see the new stadium. It'll be great," said Bills fan Joseph from Buffalo.
Jose from Toledo, Ohio has been a Bills fan for quite some time, and decided to make a stop to Orchard Park to check out the stadium with his wife. He, too, is amazed by the progress of construction after more than two years.
"I was just telling her, 'I wish I could come here and work there.' To help build it, it would be a dream come true. But the progress from the pit to now, I can't wait for that, coming along to the games during the season, seeing the final stretch of it being put together, it's amazing. It's just beautiful," Jose said with WBEN. "You see the design, the structure, the architecture, it's going to be a sight to behold."
Meanwhile, Mike and his family are in town from Red Deer, Alberta in Canada, as they decided to take a detour before dropping off their daughter at school in Ottawa. The progress made with the new stadium already has him looking forward to actually taking in a Bills game in Orchard Park.
"I've only seen it on TV, and it's surreal seeing it. It's big," said Mike with WBEN. "It doesn't look that big on TV, many-thousand kilometers away, but when we're here, it looks good. It looks really good. I can't wait to get inside of it."
Both Joseph and Jose also feel the same surrealness with the new stadium, especially knowing that in less that a year, it will be welcoming fans through its doors.
"The structure looks great. It looks like it's going to be a nice stadium. It's well built, the architecture is nice. It looks a lot better than the old stadium, but there's a lot of history here," Joseph said.
"I couldn't really envision it [before]. I'm looking at the old stadium right now, I was just telling my wife, I said, 'We should take a picture: Out with the old and in with the new,'" Jose added. "It looks like a high school stadium compared to what is being erected next door."
What are Bills fans looking forward to with the new stadium in Orchard Park? For both Mike and Jose, it's how the facility will handle the elements, especially come wintertime.
"I'm actually looking forward to seeing if they can keep the snow out," Mike said. "Sitting back at home, we watch the 'Bills Mafia' shoveling this thing out, and if I was closer, I'd probably be part of that. But we're not close, so I'm interested to see if they can actually keep the snow out."
"The ability to melt the snow, and the how they designed it for the wind and the heat to come down. Just a lot of high-tech technology going into it, and it's going to be very interesting," Jose said. "And I can't wait to hear how it rocks when we're all in there, [yelling] 'Hey-ey-ey-ey!'"
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