The Buffalo Bills' new stadium project is experiencing an unexpected delay at a critical time in its construction.聽
And that may be due to one or more workers on the project vandalizing the site.
The project site has been shut down temporarily due to graffiti being discovered at the stadium in several secured areas.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said Tuesday the graffiti is pornographic and anti-LGBTQ in nature.
Officials聽believe it was someone working on the site who created the graffiti because to get to the locations the person would have needed a pass and security clearance, Poloncarz said.
Erie County Sheriff John Garcia said in a statement that the Sheriff鈥檚 Office Investigative Services Division is investigating the graffiti, but it will not comment further.
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Authorities will be reviewing on-site security cameras as part of the investigation, Poloncarz said.聽The person or parties responsible will be charged with a crime because of the "substantial financial damage" it has caused, he added.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 gone on there is not funny and it is costing more money to do work at the stadium because they have to redo a lot of work that had previously been done," Poloncarz said.
Work has been suspended at the new Buffalo Bills stadium in Orchard Park due to graffiti and vandalism in several secured areas.
General contractor Gilbane Turner said Monday that work is being suspended to investigate incidents of graffiti and other vandalism that occurred, despite the site being highly secure, both in and around it.
鈥淲e suspended work and launched a full investigation in partnership with the trade contractors and unions to send a clear message about how seriously we take this matter,鈥 Gilbane Turner said in a statement.
鈥淕ilbane Turner maintains zero tolerance for graffiti, vandalism, or defacement of property on our projects. Such actions damage property, violate the law, and undermine the respectful, professional environment we are committed to maintaining."
Work has been going on nearly around the clock, with three shifts, seven days a week, during most weeks, as part of the push to complete the stadium in time to host its first events this summer.
The graffiti was discovered over the weekend in several locations in both finished and unfinished areas of the stadium.
But Poloncarz said the vandalism appears to have taken place聽over the past few weeks. And, because of that, Gilbane Turner had to stop operations to focus on apprehending the individual or parties doing this to get it under control, he added.
With only five months until substantial completion of the stadium is expected to occur, the project already had little wiggle room after weather and other delays put it behind in some areas as of last year, according to records released by the state.
Since then, the team has been doing all it could to catch up to make sure the stadium could be far enough along by July. The county then would turn the keys over to the state, which will become the new stadium leaseholder.
Having the stadium substantially completed by July will allow the Bills to hold an event or two prior to the NFL season getting underway. Further delays may not make that possible and could even push the Bills' first home event off until after the start of the preseason in August.
Construction was also temporarily paused in 2024 after聽a report of a potential hate symbol discovered onsite.
This comes just a week after Pete Guelli, president of business operations for the Buffalo Bills and Sabres, said , specifically finishes inside the building.
As of Dec. 31, the stadium project is 85% complete, according to a third-party forensic analysis.聽
鈥淚t really looks like a stadium now. We鈥檙e in a great place,鈥 said Guelli, about five months before the over $2 billion stadium is slated to be substantially completed.
An analysis of the stadium schedule from August showed certain areas behind schedule 鈥 enough to put the project behind by almost 12%.
At that time, more than 100 "critical items" still needed addressing but most were taken care of as of the new year, a county official previously said.
The project had fallen weeks behind schedule because of last winter鈥檚 harsh weather, a crane incident that took out an area of precast concrete and another incident where a natural gas line was struck.
Despite that, Guelli said last week that the stadium will get done on time, no matter what it takes.
Erie County Public Works Commissioner William Geary also said last week that progress to meet construction deadlines was moving along well. He remained optimistic that the stadium would be substantially completed on time and maybe even a month ahead of schedule.
Additionally, Gilbane Turner also has said it will do whatever it takes to keep the project on schedule.
鈥淚f there鈥檚 anything we need to pick up, we will throw the resources at it to make it happen,鈥 Guelli said before the graffiti incident. 鈥淚 have no concerns about that building opening on time. If there鈥檚 anything that happens that needs to be addressed, we鈥檒l address it.鈥
The team actually has until March 2027 to finish the stadium, but it planned to only have punch-list items to complete after July.
News reporter Sandra Tan contributed to this story.
