07/23/2008 12:47 PM -
You wouldn’t think a stadium that was known for most of its life as “The Rockpile” would be much beloved. War Memorial Stadium, the home of the Buffalo Bills during their heyday in the American Football League, epitomized the hardscrabble approach of this city in western New York state. By all reports, it was a rather uncomfortable place to watch a game in the best of weather. In December, when snow and wind blows through town, it could be absolutely frigid. But it was a stadium that had been built mainly by hometown residents – and that fact alone seemed to trump any discomforts fans felt there.
Originally known as Civic Stadium, it was built as WPA project personally mandated by President Franklin Roosevelt. The former New York governor came up with the idea for the place even though the city had no pro football team and the minor league baseball team was safely ensconced at nearby Offermann Stadium.
It supplied locals with jobs during the hard winters during the Depression. They took their time building the place. Work started in the winter of 1934 and didn’t end until three years later. At first, it was used for parades, civic gatherings and the occasional neutral field NFL game. In 1947, Buffalo was awarded a franchise in new All-American Football Conference. The club did well, finishing second two years in a row but the team went out of business after 1949 and many players were added to Cleveland’s roster.
Now known as Civic Stadium, it was mainly a venue for stock car racing until the New York Giants decided to open the 1958 season there with a 37-7 win over the Cardinals before 21,923 spectators.
That encouraged locals to try again for a pro football franchise. Ralph Wilson, a minority owner of the Detroit Lions, longed to run his own team. When the fledgling American Football League came along, Wilson jumped in and cast his lot with Buffalo and its stadium.
It was built like an oval and held just 35,000 seats. But the town was so crazy about its team a second layer of seats was added in the mid 1960s, increasing the capacity to more than 45,000.
The addition of seats did little to take away from the intimate feel of the place. There was the legendary “Dodge Street Tunnel”, an area where players had to pass to get to the locker room. If the locals weren’t going well, fans were known to line up and unload beer cans on players as they passed by.
It took a few seasons but the Bills were a power in the AFL in the mid 1960s, winning back-to-back titles in 1964-65 and losing to San Diego in the championship game the next season.
But the team fell on hard times immediately afterwards – and attendance fell with it. When they went 1-13 in 1971, things changed for the better. The club used its top draft pick to draft a running back named O.J. Simpson. At the same time, Wilson, realizing War Memorial Stadium was in dire shape, began negotiating with the state of New York for a new home. He made a deal with Erie County that, if they built the stadium, they could also have the naming rights. It was an unusual deal at the time but it paid off handsomely. Rich Products, a food product firm, signed up for 25 years at the cost of $ 1.5 million. Wilson was happy to simply take the ticket revenue from an 80,000 seat stadium.
War Memorial bade farewell to football on December 10, 1972 when the Bills and Detroit played to a 21-21 tie before 41,583 spectators.
After the Bills moved to Rich Stadium, War Memorial was used for minor league baseball and a few wrestling extravaganzas organized by local promoter Pedro Martinez. It got its most attention in 1984 when it was used for all but one of the baseball scenes in the movie “The Natural.” After it was knocked down, a high school athletic field was constructed on the site. To this day, the northeast and southeast entrances of the stadium are still standing.
WAR MEMORIAL STADIUM, BUFFALO, NY
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Year Opened:
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1937
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Year Closed:
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1987
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Owner:
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State of New York
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Address:
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285 Dodge Street
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Construction Cost:
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Unknown
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Still Standing?
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No
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Professional Tenants:
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Buffalo Indians/Chiefs (AFL, 1940-41); Buffalo Bills (AAFC, 1946-49); Buffalo Bills (AFL/NFL, 1960-72)
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Capacity:
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46,500
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