Buffalo Rising Online

I like this idea but why stop at just weather and not do a weather and environment museum. This can educate us on weather and environmental issues such as renewable energy, which Buffalo pioneered, recycling, bio fuel alternatives, tidal energy, hydro, wind, etc...

A great place for this museum would be the Aud...

We could probably model it after the Newseum in Virginia and have it funded by Discovery Chnl and Weather Chnl and other local orgs and businesses

...about the title of this story. Check it out...change it: "...whose come.."

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The project will be funded by 'a private investor'? Does that mean one investor is lined up and ready to fund the project? Sorry, I can't conceive that.

Newseum, if anyone is not familiar is in McClean VA, right across the bridge to DC and is a history of News funded entirely by Gannett, publishers of USA Today and other papers and TV stations...

Say, how about we get the Weather Channel to move its headquarters here as well. Then they'll be perfectly positioned to provide even more coverage of its favorite lake-effect storm city whenever the inevitable arrives.

Buffalo had first Dibbs on the Rock and Rolll Museum. Didn't get any traction so it went to Cleveland. Now they want something dorkey like a weather museum. Go figure. Ps. The Newseum is in Arlington and is moving to new quarters in downtown DC.

You are correct sir, my mistake regarding Arlington... I have been there too...

regarding the Weather Channel moving to Buffalo, probably not... But it is not a bad idea to float for a Midwest, Lake Front bureau, no?

Perhaps this idea of a museum is a pipe dream... Perhaps we should have more subsidies handed out to mall type retailers like Bass Pro... Why not a giant Gap, Starbucks, bring back Sears Robuck... Put a Target in and give them 3 million to suffer the losses in retail...

Johnny Walker, do you understand the biggest issue facing our global environment right now? Do you listen to the BBC and understand what is going on in the rest of the world? Do you know how important Buffalo and the Niagara River is in terms of history? Sustainable Energy is part of the area's history and heritage. It is also the same for DC and News...

I personally think a museum dedicated to the environment and weather is topical, important and certainly more appropriate for a "rust belt" city than a museum of rock and roll.

the Rock and Roll Museum gets a million visitors per year .Buffalo wan't interested The weather museum will get about 5.

Potentially, the weather museum can have some really cool exhibits. Ok, imagine an interactive room for every type of weather, not just a blizzard, with explainations and things for kids/families. Literally, every single human being can relate to this type of museum. It could have a huge draw, dare I say more than the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Think big Buffalo and not so cynical.

Weather Museum = Good Idea

Well lets actually give it some serious thought and think bigger picture....and I mean much bigger picture!

Right now we have a proposal for a Great Lakes Museum which is being led by the Science Museum and the Historial Museum centering alot about Buffalo inventions, Buffalo role as a Navy port defending the western frontier in the War of 1812, industry and transportation....which is really wonderful.....but perhaps then they should call it the Museum of Buffalo.

I REALLY LIKE THE IDEA OF A GREAT LAKES MUSEUM....BUT LETS BUILD ON IT FOR A MINUTE! 1) WE HAVE THE LOCAL METERIOLOGICAL INSTITUTE IN BUFFALO 2) WE HAVE THE BOTANICAL GARDENS 3) WE HAVE THE ZOO THEREFORE, WHY NOT HAVE A GREAT LAKES MUSEUM DEDICATED TO THE FLORA, FAUNA AND WEATHER OF THE GREAT LAKES REGION.

YES, THE SCIENCE AND HISTORICAL MUSEUMS CAN STILL HAVE THEIR TRANSPORTATION, INVENTIONS AND INDUSTRY MUSEUM BECAUSE...LETS FACE IT...FROM MILWAUKE TO CHICAGO, DETROIT, CLEVELAND AND BUFFALO....ALL THE PEOPLE AND INDUSTRY THERE....CAME THRU OR FROM BUFFALO!

WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO REALLY CLAIM THE TITLE AS THE FIRST CITY OF THE GREAT LAKES AND USE THAT TO GIVE US A WORLD WIDE BRAND NAME....AND GIVE US SOMETHING THAT OUR CITY, BUFFALO, CAN WORK JOINTLY WITH OTHER GREAT LAKES CITIES NOT JUST FOR THE BENEFIT OF BUFFALO BUT FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE GREAT LAKES REGION.

ISNT IT TIME THAT BUFFALO DIDNT JUST EMBRACE THE SUBURBS BUT THE LAKE ERIE CITIES AND THE OTHE GREAT LAKES CITIES.TOO!

ps it looks like their dancing to "Shiny happy people" by REM

Museums are fine, as long as they attract an audience. WNY weather might make a decent exhibit at a Great Lakes museum, but probably not on its own. Why not work it into a Lake Erie/ Erie Canal / Bicycle / Etc attraction?

Alright, seriously now... we are much, much, much better than this! We are perpetuating the most negative image and perception that people from the rest of the world have about our area. Many people, even from places like NYC and Chicago, believe that it is still snowing in Buffalo, they are actually surprised to see sun and grass when they travel here, no joke.

A bike museum, weather museum, 200 yards of re-watered canal next to a misplaced brick building and what looks like a public works shed, and what could be a park or bass pro. I can't see this being the family destination of choice for the rest of America.

Let's take our time and concentrate here for a minute on what Buffalo could be, both positive and negative. Imagine your "blue sky" version of the waterfront, with thousands of people flocking there every weekend, with bustling restaurants and new shops along several busy streets. Imagine people looking at the vacant storefronts along main street as viable businesses with residential and commercial on the upper floors instead of for sale and for lease signs. This isn't going to happen with a curiosity museum, it might fit into the picture somewhere, but it is not a catalyst for change.

Look to the future for growth and development instead of staying mired in our past. Heavy industry, shipping, the canal, etc.. they are all behind us now and they are not coming back in the near future, let's focus on a 2020 plan, instead of recreating the 1920s. Maybe then we will have a chance of making a true change for the better.

Let's put a renewable energy museum in Niagara Falls, after all they have the Hydro projects. We are 30+ years too late to make any claims relating to the wind farm or alternative fuel solutions. These things already exist in many other places throughout the country.

Let's not be the scary desperate chick, as someone so eloquently (and appropriately) labeled us. We deserve better!

Psychic is exactly right , Buffalo would be perpetuating a negative image of itself.After all there are sevral upstate cities which get more snow than Buffalo, and many cities thruout the US which experience more severe weather phenomenon. In winter celebrate buffalo as a winter city. Fudgeworth's idea of a Sapporo type Snow Festival would be a much better and cheaper idea. It would draw more visitorsand provide more bang for the buck.. Tie it to better transit connections between the downtown hotels and the ski slopes like ellicottville and you would have a big draw. In summer celebrate Buffalo's almost perfect summers with activities suited for that time of year. But do not mix the two up.

I like the idea of a weather/environment museum......it doesn't have to be all about snow either.....look out your window....we do get other types of weather.....it can serve to educate people about our lake......our wilderness.....see tift nature perserve.......renewable energy.....windmills.....biofuels......???

i think we are all stuck thinking that every idea needs to be a big silver bullet that will save the entire region or be the best possible idea in the entire world.

a weather museum next to a great lakes museum next to a naval museum next to a skate park next to a whatever else......is what will bring our waterfront and buffalo back from the dead.

a weather museum can serve as one simple piece of the puzzle and help educated outsiders about who we are.

Hmmm, let's take the arguably most miserable aspect of life in Buff and make a museum out of it?? sounds like more of a regional draw than Bass Pro could ever be. Some hillbilly in West Virginia will say "Looky here, screw Bass Pro thy've got them there a Weather Museum in Buffalo. Fire up the mobile home Earl." This sounds like it could pass better as a room at the Museum of Science, not an entire museum. Of course a Chicken Wing Museum should come before a Weather Museum, isn't the first chicken wing still preserved somewhere in formaldehyde?

There's no such thing as bad ink. It's what you do with it that matters. Our weather and especially our snow gets us National and sometimes International recognition. Just like where else would you go for a Chicken Wing Festival than Buffalo, where else would you go for an attraction about weather and snow than Buffalo. How cool, no pun intended, would it be to visit this area during our glorious summer and go to an attraction where you can come in from the heat, don a parka, and subject yourself to a wintry blast. Attractions like that coupled with the science behind them and all the other oddities of WNY weather would be wonderfully educational and entertaining.

zen......most miserable aspect of life in buffalo???

have you noticed the business that our ski resorts do?

have you noticed the amount of ice fishing that goes on in the winter?

sledding? very popular.

snowmobiling?

ice skating in key center?

remember how popular the festival of lights were in nia falls?

we should capatilize on our winter season.......instead of continueing to hide from it!!!

I think that this is a great idea for a unique attraction. The Weather Channel is a perfect example of America's fascination with the weather. Further, as I have traveled to other countries, I have noticed that they too have adopted Weather Channel type programming as well. When my Australian friends first visited me 15 years ago they thought The Weather Channel was bizzare. Now they have their own version. A destination type weather museum that would draw a portion of the 8 million annual NF visitors as well as stand alone visitors is great. A focus on snow is good but it shouldn't be all the museum showcase. Tornados, lightning, wind, and hurricanes are all fascinating possibilities. This needs to get done before some other more visionary and deeper pocketed city steals the idea. I don't want to see this in Atlanta. I don't think that this needs to be pie in the sky either. A museum jointly sponsored between the National Weather Service (founded in Buffalo after all) and The Weather channel or some other corporate partner could get this done.

First - I would LOVE to go to a blizzard simulation room in July (or any warm/humid day). I also think we should look at putting one of those VERY VERY popular indoor water parks/hotels connected to it, for the wintertime visitors. These hotel/waterpark destinations are hugely popular and would do very nicely on the waterfront. You could even have an outdoor part to the waterpark during the summer.

zen,

food for thought...my wife and I went to Hawaii for our anniversary in January. Two of the attractions we visited were a Tsunami museum and a Volcanoe museum. Given the destructive nature of both, neither are things that would highlight as part of the Hawaiian lifestyle. However, both attractions were well put together, educational, informative and well worth the time we spent there. All of the other people, and there were a lot there, would probably agree.

I don’t think we would be perpetuating a negative image about Buffalo Weather; rather this would be a great opportunity to help dispel the negative myths about the region’s climatology. We already get people’s attention thinking its frozen tundra; open a museum which will publicize the fact that what they say about us just ain’t so. It also lends credence to the region becoming a tech center. The global climate change we’re experiencing has made climatology a very popular topic…and what better place for a museum than where the National Weather Service was born.

Many of you are being far too close minded on this idea. I'll agree, if the museum was solely based on snow I would say trash the idea. However, if it can be based on all types of weather, especially extreme events, I'm all for this one. Hook up the National Weather Service with the Weather Channel and UB's earthquake center and we've got a winner. Combine science with state of the art technology and I high degree of interactive exhibits and this could be huge. I especially think some simulations would be really cool, ie. experience hurricane force winds and rain in one room, experience an earthquake in another, blizzard. The key is to make this a very modern museum, not just a museum where people watch a couple little tv clips and view pictures and read descriptions.

georgethomasapfel-people are not going to flock here en masse, go to the museum then spread the word throughout the country "Now we get it, so that's why it's so cold & snows in Bflo."

bflorox-to each his own, but if I went to Hawaii I'm pretty sure I wouldn't spend time in a museum, i.e. it wouldn't be any sort of intellectual retreat.

scooter- all of those things are w/o doubt fun activities (except snowmobiling), but I'd reckon that the majority of people here do not partake in any of them-whether they should or not is not the issue. For most people it's car-work-home in the winter. This is a ridiculous analogy but I would bet that if a poll was taken an overwhelming number of people would choose a more temperate winter over outdoor activities.

Zen... ppl don't flock en masse to any tourist attraction anywhere in the country...... its not how they work, they're parts of the puzzle and I think a national weather museum would be an interesting idea for the waterfront. Embrace the inner buffalonain and realize that the snow is here and will be back next year... if we're every gonna try and go somewhere tourism wise we need to embrace our image and improve it not deny it and try to be some place else??

Granted our winters aren't the greatest but they are world famous.. thanks in part to Cnn and New York Times. People rave about the winters they have and how those " poor ppl".. live like that... I say live like and have a chance to experience it.. take that in with Niagara Falls.. Toronto... and Casino gambling and you've got some bones to start with.

Ooo my god and what about 5-6 months that it freezing here and no one would come to this muesum and it would be a drain and taxes and it would be empty.... let's talk about Hurricane season down south... or when the snow does melt and the ski slopes are bare?? Tourist attractions don't close.. they have a thing called a SLOW SEASON... everybody has it folks..

last thing, made it nation wide... buffalo snow fun.. but I think we'd be onto something if you could experience a tornado room, hurricane room, and buffalo blizzard room. It'd be a blast and a total draw to the waterfront if it happened.

Zen, I realize people aren't going to flock here en masses and spread the word... my point is the museum would be a credible source of information which in turn could be disseminated to the masses via the internet and other mediums. Our city needs positive PR which comes from a trusted source.

georgethomasapfel-you also must remember that for most of the country Bflo has become the "whipping boy", people always need something or someone to look down upon to brighten up their own circumstances. So regardless of the source or whatever we do here, we'll always be-deservedly or not-mocked in one way or another. Now this isn't to say that we become apathetic, we still have to live here, but a weather museum? I don't see it.

I love the idea. It definitely takes something that is normally viewed as a negative regarding buffalo and turns it into a positive. The weather channel and discovery channel will definitely feature it. Lets get it done.

WholeLottaJibba.....

A tourist is typically someone from outside the region.

They bring money from outside the region.

?

zen, we might have squeaked in a little time to enjoy drinks on the beach, too ; ) You go to other locations because they offer things different than what's in your backyard. Or you go to your backyard because it offers something that no place else does. But answer this for me please, we spent our honeymoon in Spain, Italy and France. On that trip we went to, amongst other things, the Colisseum, the Picaso Museum and a vineyard in between relaxing and enjoying the scenery. It's not the only thing you do but it definitely is part of it. If all we wanted was sun and sand, I'm pretty sure we could've found that without leaving the country. Someone else coined the term "edutainment", and it factors in to a lot more people's vacation plans than you might think.

Colosseum, Picasso Museum, Tuscan vineyards... Buffalo Weather Museum. One of these things does not belong here. Just kidding, I'm a prick.

This is all a moot discussion. When was the last tourist attraction built in Buffalo? It is more conceivable that a bigger, better version of this project is under construction somewhere else, anyway.

Sounds to me like an annual subsidy... just like the rest of the museums across the country and their subsidies and tax reinforced budgets.... I'm sure there were numerous ppl who were up at arms about taxes when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame came to Cleveland.. you wanna call a weather museum dorky.. let's talk about how exciting the rock and roll hall of fame is... please!! It's how cities worldwide do business when it comes to tourists... its time to jump on the bandwagon.

Subsidy... where were most of you when the 3% permenant culture subsidy was proposed? If this is a money pit then so is Sheas, so is the Historical Society, and so is the Albright!! Subsidies are investments

Right and architectural tourism... granted there are a small number of travelers worldwide that would come to Buffalo specifically just to see our decaying architecturally significant buildings, its true there are architecture students all over the world. But of all places, and if you had the choice I would not come to Buffalo just to see the buildings... I'd go to Chicago, New York or Boston..hell even cleveland.. quite simply due to the larger variety of activities and architecture. Think of the intelligence level of and architecture officianto.. not someone who's going to be doing keg stands on South Beach...(every vacation).

Things need to get moving if we ever want to change our image and bring in these type of tourists... find me another city in the world that is an architectural museum that offers nothing but buildings... b/c you can't... the large majority of tourists don't travel with arch. in mind.. sorry Bini... its a secondary motive... if this museum is done right.. combined with a handful of other important things..( not getting into it).. then we'll have more arch. tourists.. architecture isn't that big of a draw by itself.. sorry hate to break it to you

He was wants bass pro, she wants architectural tourism, they want the stadium downtown, and I want a weather museum on the water... its all in how we market the destination. Its not what arch. tourism or a weather museum can do by itself, its what it can do together.

(Art Museum, bass pro, summer festivals, weather museum, burchfield penny, architectural tourism, niagara falls, casino gambling, industrial tourism, great freakin food, bills/bisons/sabres game, great shopping region wide... etc)

You'd like more money in the area from arch. tourists, then you've simply got to give them more of a reason to come here.

... take a moment and think of your last vacation

why would anyone fly to Buffalo to see an underfunded weather museum when you could as easiliy go to Washington DC to spend a week , if not weeks, going to the Smithsonian Institutions and learn about the weather, or earthquakes, or tsunamies, or space flight, or prehistory, or American history, or art, or native americans , or the holocost, or internatioal spies, etc. etc. etc, Be real, that is what Buffalo would be competing against.

Texpat, Thank you and I agree... I think a Weather and Environmental Museum is quite an idea... Think of all of the Corporate Sponsors that would gladly line up for a Museum that teaches people about our environment and sustainable energy! This is a no brainer, Buffalo has the Auditorium that it was about to give away for free (essentially). Think about this for a second...

Level 1: Weather Museum including interesting exhibits on climate, weather, impact of the weather Level 2: Alternative energy and Green living Level 3" Eco friendly retail shopping (the Lunie vs the dollar is growing everyday and with US debt growing does not look like it will let up any time soon) Level 4: or Roof Level: Studios for Discovery and Weather Channel (how many times are the Great Lakes mentioned each day? A lot)

If you look at what is going on in the bigger cities, greening of buildings is huge! This is the issue that Bloomberg is basing his legacy on. The Clinton Climate Initiative is creating worldwide coalitions in some of the most amazing cities. There will be a huge backlash on Bush's Kyoto argument. America and the World is now accepting the Greening of our cities.

Buttalo has a chance to show off with an idea like an "Environmental and Weather" education Museum. When I grew up in Buffalo it was polluted, the Great Lakes were, shall we say, dead. Lakawanna was transformed from a restricted area to a wind farm, Niagara River was the home of hydro electric power. Buffalo can now put itself on the map of an issue that will only grow in the next five decades...

The money is there to fund this (not only from Weather Channel or Discovery but from companies that want an environmental association and will promote such a project in image advertising nationally and internationally).

What else are you going to do with the Aud? Give it away to "Carp Pro"? "Sheephead is Us"? A "Baseball Cap Museum"?

Weather, Energy and Environment Museum makes sense, I stand by it!

To those that think a Weather and Environmental Museum reeks of subsidies,,, I have this to say!

1) Businesses across the world are trying to go zero carbon and wanting to brag about it! A museum such as this is the perfect source for them to do so! I will bank my future on this!

2) Education outlets will be strongly encouraged to teach kids about the Environment and I will bank on school busses from Chicago to DC coming to such a museum.

3) Governments, Municipal and State and Federal are going "green". What a better opportunity for Buffalo who used to be a "rust belt" city to take the lead in this.

4) History! Name one city with a more rich history in sustainable energy than Buffalo (please read "City of Light")

5) School busses may not bring in gambling money but it will prove to be a healthy stream of revenue (I believe the Smithsonian does that in DC).

6) Weather and Environmental issues will be of concern for the next 50-100 years. If Buffalo can work with Niagara Falls and Niagara Mohawk and pull international tourism to the city for such an exhibit/museum, even for just one night, I am sure it would provide to be a great feeder...

I know you all are thinking of "crickets in the gallows" but I think with cooperation with corporate sponsors this is a very viable idea. It does need to be marketed correctly and it sure beats using the Aud as a Mall...

Will people go specifically to Buffalo for a weather museum, no. Will people go to see Niagara Falls, yes, will they possibly spend an extra day or two in Buffalo to visit a weather museum and other downtown attractions YES. We already have the huge draw we need to get people in the general vicinity, now we have to capitalize on that and get some great attractions in Buffalo. Auburner and Texpat are on to it.

Exactly Outside The Box Where are all the tourists going from Niagara? Toronto, I would assume... If Buffalo could just get one day/one night it would bring in millions. That is our competition and we need to capture them while they are here. Will someone come to Buffalo from Tokyo, probably not, Will someone come to Buffalo from London, maybe, but probably not.

If someone is coming to Niagara Falls, perhaps Albright Knox, Delaware Park, and a museum of Weather and Environment might entice at least one night of non gambling fun...

Stupd idea

Vavoom....well said. Once you are able to spell three consecutive words correctly you will be allowed to make more comments.

I have to agree with those of you who suggest that the weather museum can be one piece of a greater plan that will draw tourists to the falls down here to Buffalo. If it becomes a subsidy then so be it. If people visit the museum then maybe they will have lunch on the waterfront, (assuming development continues) then maybe shop at bass pro and visit the naval museum. when they are done they can go get some ice cream at the Hatch....etc. We need to look at the big picture. The big picture needs to be full of small components that make the waterfront worth going to and I think we are on our way if ideas like this can come to fruition.

Actually, those of us serving on this exploratory committee are eschewing the word "museum." We're striving toward creating a dramatic architectural gem unlike anything on the Great Lakes, on a suitable site in or adjacent to the harbor area. The hope is we can design a world class Weather Discovery Center, highly interactive, unlike anything else which currently exists elsewhere. Ideas being discussed include storm chasing simulations, Hurricane Hunter flight simulations (preceded by introductory expert lectures so participants learn what to look for), all with audience participation in their seats, w/keyboards, etc. Largescale flight simulators are a possibility--the idea list is too lengthy to go into in this forum, and it's premature to go into detail, but I can tell you this. If this project which has already received widescale municipal and county support comes to fruition, it will go FAR beyond the scope many posters on this thread envision, and it will be unique--not a pale copy of something already done elsewhere. Public interest in weather is almost inexhaustable, and other scientific disciplines, including astronomy and earthquake research are likely to be included.

The fundamental goal: to create a world class tourist and research center, in a unique, green architectural building which will assuredly draw interest from near and far. At this very early point, please take my word for it: we are thinking BIG, and have hopeful signs of political support. We are moving toward feasibility studies and, once we get rolling, gaining private funding to as great an extent as possible. There is already a core group of politicians, scientists, engineers, and architects working toward making this a project unlike anything ever attempted in our region. Although Buffalo weather will be included, this will NOT be "just a museum of Buffalo's weather."

Well said Vavoom, it is a Stupid Idea .

Buffalo is barely able to keep Albright-Knox funded, the Science Museum needs a big injection of Cash, and now ... Build another museum. So long as tax dollars are not involved, Knock yourself out. Does anyone have a concept of how much this will probably cost. Try funding some weather exhibits at the science museum first. See if you can get that far. But if you are thinking of public support, you better plan on putting it to a public referendum.

who thinks wtith me that we need a baseball team before a dum musuem. they should be selling the trees that were cutting down all over and buy a baseball team with the treasure chest of moneys. anyways if you going to go and build it put other things in it for the children like diniosaurs and space stuff and science stuff. but what about a baseball museum.

Here's an idea: close ECMC and use those millions to build and operate this museum.

I'd make a lot of sense to add on to the science museum.. Buffalo Museum of Science and Snow...but this is Buffalo and the science museum is on the East Side..

Baseball team??? anyone know who's moving or capable, Moving to a small market, declining city like Buffalo... I never considered this a baseball town but who knows? Give Golisano a call.. he's the only one who can afford it. Sell the trees we're cutting down.. should have enough money next millenia.

Ya.. those ECMC dollars can be put to a much better use..

you are all crazy with this, you need to sleep on this. baseball will present us with national attention no snow musuem or this global warning junks can do this. you talking about a chickwen wing musuem and a bike musuem. what you going to do with these.

you are all crazy with this, you need to sleep on this. baseball will present us with national attention no snow musuem or this global warning junks can do this. you talking about a chickwen wing musuem and a bike musuem. what you going to do with these.

Great national attention.. just like the sabres and how they lose when they get close to the cup... and the Bills 4 AMAZING YEARS ..oooooohhh ya, exactly waht we need, another losing sports team. YOu think a musueum is expensive to subsidize... I'm all for the bills and sabres but has anyone looked at what they cost us yearly...ALOT!! By all means worth it though..

Are you kidding me with baseball? How is another major league team going to do anything for us. We already have national attention with the Bills and Sabres, how is baseball somehow going to improve anything around here??

baseball is our pastimes. we alll ove this game people from new york city will be jealosu and say we hate that buffalo city because they beat our yankees so this way everbody from new york city is talking about buffalo and thats allot of people to be talking abiout buffalo and people will want to come here to see what its like.

Priez Baseball, like every other sport is a cartell contrilled by the current members, The reason Bob Rich was never able to get a MLB team and settled on the current Bisons was because Buffalo was opposed by The Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays. These three teams think that anyone in Buffallo who would like to see a MLB team will come to them. Buffalo is also not a very large (measurable) television market (although Nielson does not count the significan Canada audience). Major League Baseball will probably never see the light of day in Buffalo.

That being said... Does anyone have any suggestions as to what the Aud could be?

LaBomba,

"We're striving toward creating a dramatic architectural gem unlike anything on the Great Lakes . . ."

Recruit Frank Gehry (sp?)!

Your description of a weather discovery center sounds great to me. Get it done :-)

Gehry is a bit overdone these days. Santiago Calatrava would be a far better choice IMHO. I can imagine a building of his that would evoke a snowy whiteout.

In any event is should be an internationally renowned architect. Then you get the architectural tourists as well.

You've got to love the optimism here, we have this thing that's nothing more than an "idea" (and a bad one at that) now being designed by Frank Gehry. Too funny. Btw, the former dean of UB's arch school tried hard to recruit Gehry to design a new convention center, and he had no desire for the project, whether it was because it was Buffalo or the fact that he was too busy I don't know.