BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Buffalo Common Council is now calling for city, county and state officials to seriously consider building a new Bills stadium downtown.
During Tuesday's Common Council meeting, council members Rasheed Wyatt, Chris Scanlon, Joel Feroleto, Bryan Bollman, David Rivera and Council President Darius Pridgen submitted a resolution to move the home of the Bills back into the City of Buffalo, saying that it would "greatly strengthen Buffalo's food, retail, hotel, and tourism industries."
They said they feel that moving the Bills to Orchard Park was an "error" and that bringing the team back into the city limits would help Buffalo continue to grow.
"We should be fighting tooth and nail for a team that we all love we also want to see it back where it originated," said Councilmember Rasheed Wyatt.
Earlier this month, the state and engineering firm AECOM proposed building the downtown facility at South Park Avenue and Louisiana Street.
The resolution acknowledged the speculation that the cost to build the new stadium in Buffalo would cost much more than the proposed $1.4 billion price tag to build a new one in Orchard Park due to major infrastructure changes. But they said the changes would stimulate further economic growth.
The Bills organization has said it does not want to leave Orchard Park. The Bills did not provide a comment Wednesday.
All six council members who submitted the resolution requested the NFL, Buffalo's mayor, county and state legislatures, and the governor all consider moving the stadium to the city.
The resolution was moved to the city's Community Development department.
Bill Metzger, who owns Gene McCarthy's in the Old First Ward says putting a stadium downtown could have a negative impact to traffic and green space.
"I’m in favor of more greenspace, and would not like to see a stadium take up that space," he said.
