Renovations to KeyBank Center are coming. What was initially reported in the fall has been further confirmed with the recent publication of the Sabres’ plans for a new videoboard and repairs to the building’s roof. 

As was detailed in the fall, the team is eyeing additional work throughout the 28-year old arena with one of the biggest pain points for fans, the seats, high on the to-do list. As upgrading the arena has moved back to the front burner, it seemed like a good time to revisit some of the areas of the arena I’ve hoped to see the team address when it comes time to bust out the hard hats. 

Making improvements to the seating bowl is obvious to just about anyone who walks in the building. The seats have been there since the building opened and they are showing their age. But there are other sections of KeyBank Center that are underutilized and could bring a better overall customer experience should they be reimagined and depending on the amount of investment the Sabres, county and state care to make. 

Some (many?) of the ideas floated in this post may be too ambitious or unrealistic to ever be adopted, but my hope is to offer a healthy mix of feasible and necessary improvements with a few pipe dreams sprinkled in. The building needs quite a bit of TLC and even if the bulk of the attention is paid to the most necessary repair work, there will still be a marked difference down on Perry St.  

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Rumors and expectations of renovations at KeyBank Center have been rumored going back as far as 2017. Work will finally get underway on updating the 28 year old building this summer as the Sabres officially announced a new scoreboard and roof on Monday. 

It should be noted this work was previously confirmed and discussed ahead of the season, so it’s not new news, but the confirmation is a positive sign. Especially for anyone who has been eager to see work begin in the aging building. 

The roof work is a necessary evil that is going to take precedence over sexier, fan-facing upgrades still expected in the years to come. It’s also possible that in addition to making any repairs to a roof that’s nearly three decades old, additional support structures could be needed to hold the new scoreboard. Given the history of the building, that’s a step worth taking. I understand the sour reaction to the roof being one of the two projects announced considering the many, many areas of need around the arena and although I’m not a structural engineer, it certainly doesn’t look good when you drive by on the Skyway and I’ve heard of people getting dripped on in the 100 level on rainy days, so it certainly seems like a pertinent project to tackle. 

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