The Triple-A Int'l League Buffalo Bisons on Friday announced that they are "embarking on a multiyear, multimillion-dollar renovation plan" of their downtown ballpark, with Phase I "consisting of the installation of 3,700 new seats in the special reserved sections from dugout to dugout," according to Mike Harrington of the BUFFALO NEWS. The project "will begin the day after" the team's season ends and "will take two to three months." The city of Buffalo is "footing the $758,000 bill." Bisons President Jonathan Dandes said that the team "hopes to unveil a master plan of changes for the ballpark in the next couple of months." Populous "is currently finalizing its recommendations" for the renovations. Dandes said that the team’s timetable "is for the entire project to last two to four years." He confirmed that the team will "be replacing all of the roughly 17,000-plus seats in the ballpark, which has a capacity of 18,025 when party areas are included." Harrington noted replacing the seats alone "could approach" $4M. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said that the city "plans to make continued contributions to help fund future phases" of the renovations. The Bisons have already invested $23M in the ballpark since it opened in '88 and "did not specify how much they expect this project to cost." But they "will be looking for assistance" from New York state (BUFFALO NEWS, 8/23).
