If you haven’t heard, the Buffalo Bills will be playing their home games in a new stadium this season. Along with the new stadium, there’ll be plenty of new things to check out.
The Bills commissioned numerous art installations to put around the stadium for instance. The large, broken folding table for instance. Cool new seat colors. There was some controversy on the design of a trio of giant bison statues, that will be the centerpiece of an area called the “Family Circle.” That’s where our journey
begins…
Highmark Trail
The bison statues are installed, but as you can see from the exposed panels, there’s a little work to be done. Which is why I took this picture through a chain link fence.
In the family circle area, you can see what is essentially a smaller and walkable version of the ring of honor from the old stadium. Unless something changes, as far as I can tell this area will be permanently available to the public.
You’re reading that right, this area can be visited by anyone at any time. Incidentally, not to reignite the O.J. dialogue, but having his name up here would be a surefire vandalism target I’d imagine (perhaps another reason to not include him).
I wasn’t paying a ton of attention to the sign markers at this stage of the trail walk, as we were only there for this…
This is a snippet of the Musical Rush section on the trail. This has been publicized by the team, but I don’t think it’s possible to do this justice unless you’re there. Here’s the on-site description, with some Skare notes to follow.
That’s not a bad way to describe it. For my attempt to do it right, the major yard markers have speakers. But all the yard markers have motion sensors. The major line and the several to either side of it all play from the same speaker. If you have multiple people, or quickly move between lines, you can mix the sounds to your liking. Iconic sounds are captured, including something that’s not exactly Mr. Brightside, but well… you’ll recognize it for sure. The Musical Rush area kept four of us entertained for quite some time.
So far the bisons and the Musical Rush area are the only installations on the 1.4 mile walk, but there’s evidence of more to come. And did you notice that the signs have little cutouts in the shape of the charge stripe?
As you can see from the signs, there’s plenty of evidence that this will be used to encourage wellness activities. Three of the signs suggest there will be fitness related installations. The 40-yard dash is intriguing. Will they just have start and stop lines? Or are they dreaming bigger. The powerlifting section surely won’t be a weight bench just hanging out waiting for someone to forget their spotter and remember their lawyer. The blank sign could be, well… anything.
You could argue that there’s not a ton of reason to visit just yet, but I’d disagree. Some of the views of the new stadium are stunning.
Wrapping up, I was a little surprised to see how much landscaping went into the design as well. You might notice small ponds in the background in a couple pictures. These were prominent on the back end of the stadium and are already attracting wildlife. I firmly scolded some geese for leaving some droppings on the trail.
Grasswork is still coming in, but a robust sprinkler system suggests the Bills want it green and attractive. The family circle and area near the permanent fencing for the stadium all had attractive plants and greenery as well.
The purpose seems to be clear: Get fans around the stadium grounds as much as possible. After taking a stroll along Highmark Trail, I think they’re onto something.
