Orchard Park, N.Y. (WBEN) - It's been more than three years in the making, but Thursday will be showtime for the new Highmark Stadium, as the Buffalo Bills kick off their home portion of the regular season schedule against the Detroit Lions.
While Thursday night has been one of the most highly anticipated days in some time for Bills fans, business owners around the new stadium in Orchard Park are also on the edge of their seats awaiting this day.
"I think it's going to be crazy, because everybody wants to be down here... I think the business and all around this whole area is just going to be crazy," said Mark Ebeling, owner of Danny's South at the corner of Big Tree and Abbott Roads.
As for Peggy Cerrone of O'Neill's Stadium Inn at the corner of Abbott Road and Southwestern Boulevard, she admits she's not quite sure yet what to expect come Thursday.
"With it being the new stadium and the home opener - which is typically our busiest day - and now it's on a Thursday night, we're just trying to prepare for whatever the game has to give us," Cerrone said in an interview with WBEN. "Everything's different, the preseason was so different. So we're just trying to prepare for the worst, I guess, and hope for the best."
Over the last three years of construction along Abbott Road in Orchard Park, thousands of workers flooded into the region to help erect the massive $2.2 billion stadium and replace the old Highmark Stadium across the street. It was expected over those several months for businesses around the stadium site to see a flow of workers help contribute and spend their hard-earned money for the occasional lunch or dinner.
Ebeling feels each business near the site did well from the three years of stadium construction.
"It wasn't anything really crazy. The guys only had a certain amount of time for lunching and stuff like that, but you've seen groups of guys come in once in a while, most of the time. But business-wise, for this whole area, what was happening in the last three years was just a great punch in the arm for everybody," Ebeling told WBEN.
What Cerrone liked about the three years of construction was not just the rhythm they were able to establish with the workers, but also the relationships with many.
"They knew to call ahead, we had it ready for them. And we actually just really became attached to them," Cerrone admitted. "And it was sad when the rain was over and they were going back; we just had another guy leave the other day, going back to Boston. They become like family, because we're a neighborhood bar usually, except on Bills games. So it was great."
Was the added business what Ebeling and Cerrone had hoped for or expected?
"They came in and told me, 'You're going to be very busy,' which we were here and there, nothing crazy. But not that we're not used to it, we do good as it is. Anymore is a bonus," Ebeling said.
"I'll take any business that comes my way," Cerrone added.
And the good news for businesses like Danny's South and O'Neill's is business continues to pick up, but in some, perhaps, unexpected ways.
"With the tours of the new stadium, and just people doing the walk around the stadium, the outside. That was something we didn't see coming, but we're happy to see it," Cerrone said. "We have to restaff and build our staff, especially on Saturdays, which is a really great problem to have.
"I'm seeing it every week and every month, and progressively - as more people come - our business is growing. So it's nothing but good news for me."
Ebeling has also noticed the waves of people walking through his doors before or after a stadium tour, as well as those who may be walking the 1.7-mile Highmark Trail around the new stadium. He's noticing more traffic, in particular, during the weekend hours around the stadium.
"I notice a lot of the neighbors are walking by my restaurant, and they're walking that trail. They're walking from their houses, and a lot of the neighbors are. And I do notice a lot of business down that way, it's been for weeks now, because people are stopping in the middle of the road to look at the damn thing," Ebeling said. "But people are traveling for it, and I think they will for the games. They really will."
And while the new stadium continues to get the attention from Bills fans and others across the region, do business owners feel the luster will wear off at any point, thus resulting in a drop of business? They certainly don't believe that to be the case.
"I think the only way it's going to wear off is if the Bills were losing and they start losing. But I don't see that happening," he said. "A lot of people, it's a new shiny diamond right now, and everybody is looking at it and showing it off. I don't think we're going to have any problem like that. The Bills have been playing great for the last seven, eight years; I mean, we put out 29 years here, and it was eight years since it took off. And I think it's going to keep rolling. But people - whether we're winning or losing - we have a crazy fan base. We could get beat to hell this week, and they'll be back next week to watch the game. And that's what's great about this whole area - they take the losses with the wins."
"I'm happy to hear the concerts being released now, so they're at least doing that. I'm hoping they're going to try to make the most money off of this stadium that we've all invested in, I guess time will tell," Cerrone said. "But I think just the people coming to see the stadium, that should last, at least, while the weather is is not horrible. So I'm going to say until November, I'm going to continue to see that."
So what is it that business owners are hoping to see come of the surrounding area near the stadium? What more would they like to see built around the site to make it more of a destination and, hopefully, bring more business to their establishments?
A while back, Ebeling put Danny's South up for sale, and is just waiting on the Orchard Park Town Zoning Board to give him the details as to what zoning ordinances are around the new stadium going forward.
"We've got some people in our pocket right now that are kind of looking at the property. But Orchard Park's got to come forward and say, 'Hey, you can do this here,' or, 'We want this here.' You've got to show the area you want it," Ebeling explained. "I wish they would develop across the street from the stadium. Let's do a thing out there for concerts, what a great idea! That would be like Darien Lake, put that out front there. You've got the room, the parking, you've got everything. It would be so unbelievable if they did that, and that's what I'm hoping happens. I've heard it will, but I'm hoping it will."
He adds the Orchard Park Zoning Board has to lift on its restrictions a little bit and let further development take place.
"They should have had sidewalks in, which aren't here yet. Those should have been in. We should have a hotel right now, it's not here yet. And a hotel is big, it should have been on the property by now, and they're doing whatever they got to do," Ebeling said. "I just wish that the Zoning Board would get together and say, 'Hey, let's get this going and start this stuff before it's too late.'"
As for Cerrone, her main want for the area in the immediate vicinity of the new stadium from the start has been a hotel.
"They absolutely have to have a hotel," she said. "People have to have a place to stay, and they'd prefer to not have to get in their car and drive after a concert, after an event, after a Bills game. The Uber situation, although it's great during an event, it's absolutely a nightmare. I think it's so much more attractive if people could just walk to their hotel, and not have to wait for their Uber or walk to the designated Uber pickup area. It's always mass confusion for the people who are here from out-of-town trying to figure out where to catch those Ubers."
Kickoff for Thursday's home opener at the new stadium is slated for 8:15 p.m.
