The Daily Bulletin Archive

Clough Harbor & Associates LLP, a top engineering, planning, and design firm, has been selected to study the location, features, and budget for the new outdoor athletics stadium for Buffalo State. The facility will serve as home to Buffalo State College and Buffalo Public Schools athletics.

The stadium will host Buffalo State’s football, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s outdoor track and field, and women’s lacrosse teams, as well as Buffalo Public Schools athletic events.

Buffalo State College and the State University Construction Fund selected CHA with input from a representative of the Buffalo Board of Education. CHA will work with Foit-Albert Associates, a leading architecture, engineering, and surveying firm with offices in Buffalo.

“We are enthusiastic about taking this project forward and the team we have in place to study our options,” said Stan Medinac, associate vice president for facilities planning.

The feasibility study is scheduled to begin this fall and be completed by this time next year, when decisions will be made about proceeding, including the process for selecting a design and construction firm. Completion of the proposed stadium is envisioned for 2011.

Coyer Field, Buffalo State’s existing outdoor athletics facility, has been home to Buffalo State’s outdoor teams since the 1960s, but it lacks amenities such as locker rooms, concessions stands, and restrooms. The current grandstand and press box are also antiquated. Moreover, Coyer Field presents scheduling conflicts because it lacks lights and its natural grass surface is overused.

In the meantime, steps have been taken to install an artificial surface at the existing Coyer Field site in the spring. Although the project will be a short-term fix for Coyer Field’s overuse issue, the installation of an artificial surface will provide a long-term benefit for the Buffalo State student body and the surrounding community.

The durability of artificial turf will permit use of Coyer Field for a wide array of intramural and community athletic activities. Upon completion of the new stadium, Coyer Field will still host Buffalo State practices and select contests. An announcement on the firm selected to install the artificial surface will come this fall.

Clough Harbour & Associates LLP is a highly diversified, full-service engineering firm providing planning and design services to clients throughout the United States. The firm is ranked among the top 100 U.S. design firms by industry analyst Engineering News-Record (ENR). CHA has assisted numerous colleges, universities, and high schools with planning and designing cutting-edge athletic facilities.

Foit-Albert Associates is a 105-person firm located in Buffalo, Albany, New York City, and Watertown. The firm has worked throughout the state on numerous educational campuses providing professional design services for new facilities, additions, and alterations, as well as surveying, civil and environmental engineering services. Projects on the Buffalo State College campus include the Campus Capital Plan and Space Utilization Plan, renovations to the Houston Gym Fitness Center, and construction administration services for the Buffalo State Field House.