ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — It's been called a "once-in-a-generation" project.
Wednesday, June 5, marks exactly one year since construction crews broke ground on the new home of the Buffalo Bills. On Tuesday, 7 News Anchor Jeff Russo went on an exclusive tour of the site to see the progress that's been made over the past 12 months.
You can watch a full tour of the stadium below.
"It's really surprising to see how much has been done," said Steven Ranalli, president of the Erie County Stadium Corporation.
Ranalli says the bowl has been cleaned out, the concrete is poured and all of the foundations were finished last week. That included 2,000 trucks full of concrete and 19,000 pieces of steel.
450 people are working on the stadium each day, Ranalli told Russo. He says that's expected to balloon up to close to 1,500 in the coming months.
COST OF THE STADIUM
Reports estimate the cost of the stadium to now be at $1.7 billion. Ranalli says he suspects that the price will be slightly higher but the Bills are still working on that number with their construction manager.
The public investment for the new stadium is capped at $850 million. That means the owners of the Buffalo Bills, the Pegulas, will be responsible for any overruns.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM YEAR TWO OF CONSTRUCTION?
With the first year of construction on the new Highmark Stadium in the books, what can fans expect to see in year two?
"A whole lot more steel," said Ranalli. "We are going to continue with steel all the way through this year, probably into January of next year. All of the concrete floors on the various decks will be poured, and then we are going to see a lot of the mechanical systems, all of your plumbing, all your electrical, all your heating and air conditioning. Then we will probably be moving into a lot of the interior walls."
WATCH BELOW: With a new stadium coming to Orchard Park, the Buffalo Bills are planning to submit a bid to host the 2028 NFL Draft.