Aud fades into Buffalo's past

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Piece by piece the old Memorial Auditorium is slowly fading into Buffalo's past. Sparks from welder's torches shot out from the sides of what's left of Buffalo's Memorial Auditorium.

Workers were intentionally weakening the giant columns that hold up the first, forty ton steel truss of the roof.

Crowds began to gather, anticipating a special moment in Buffalo's history.

Aud lover Robert Gugliuzza brought a bag of peanuts, just to savor the memories of the Aud.

Gugliuzza said, "I've been here since I was a kid, going to all the games, even sneaking into some of the games, ya know. It's just been around since I can remember. Watching the Sabres, all the concerts, Harvey and Corky, it's historic to me, ya know?"

Sabres fan Sean Grady said, "This is a little bit of old Buffalo that is coming down." Children, who had no personal history of the Aud, wanted to see a spectacle.

Nine-year-old spectator Walden Grady said, "It will be fun, I think, and exciting."

Rich Newberg talking to Larry Quinn asked, "Is there a little boy in you saying, 'Wow! I can't wait to see what it looks like?'"

Harbor Development Vice Chairman Larry Quinn said, "Absolutely. I'm actually intrigued how they're taking this building down." The first steel truss is one of twelve that must come down, one by one.

Harbor Development Chairman Jordan Levy said, "We can't bring the whole roof down at once cause it would cave in the floor, and that would go and cave in the Hamburg drain, and we probably don't want to do that."

Minutes before noon, News 4 cameras caught the final tugs at the support columns, followed by a part of the Aud's roof tumbling down. No one can say the Aud went away quietly, or without stirring up some dust.

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>> View a live web cam of the Aud here

Below are two Newstracker videos sent by viewers. The video on the left was sent by Newstracker Brian Pickard a few weeks ago. On the right is cell phone video taken Friday by Newstracker Justin Sicienski.

 

As a portion of the roof separated, many spectators connected even closer to their feelings about the Aud.

Aud lover Jeff Luke said, "The more of the building they uncover, the more of the memories come back of being inside the building."

Aud lover Mike Masters said, "I was remembering the old days when my dad brought me here for midget wrestling."

Aud lover Karen Hamm said, "Just a piece of history that we can never repeat. I don't know that they'll be anything as big as the Aud back in Buffalo. I saw some good concerts here, too. Garth Brooks, Alabama, so we had some good memories here."

"Gonna miss it."

Aud lover Daniel Hamm pointed out to his young daughters where he once sat for Sabres games.

Daniel Hamm said, "I guess just coming down and seeing it look like this, it's sad, very sad seeing it look like this."

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said, "Real sign of progress in Buffalo. A sign that our waterfront project is moving forward in exciting fashion, and that the past is giving way to the future."

A Bass Pro Outdoor Store is still very much in the plans for the site.

Larry Quinn said, "We spent the day talking about elevators. People that aren't committed to a building don't talk about elevators. So they're really committed here and this looks great."