Construction Services Honored by CMAA for Buffalo Sabres First Niagara Arena Renovation

Cannon Construction Services received an Honorable Mention award for its effort on the Buffalo Sabres, First Niagara Arena from the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA), New York / New Jersey Chapter.

The scope of the Buffalo Sabres project involved the reorganization and enhancement of the player, coach and staff spaces and the improvements of dedicated arena and event facilities – all of which had not been upgraded since the opening of the hockey arena in 1996. The project sough to set a new standard for NHL team spaces and further help the Sabres recruit and retain talent.

Cannon Construction Services stood out in its ability to deliver the project on a very tight schedule. The 30,000 sf, $8 million project required Cannon to oversee 13 prime and specialty contractors and coordinate all construction work in a four month period to ensure the Sabres could utilize the space for their first home game of the 2011-12 season. The progress of work advanced at a staggering amount of approximately $500,000 per week to accommodate a project that completed in 1/3 the time usually alloted for projects of similar scale.

“The Sabres project created exciting challenges for us from both a construction and design perspective and we were able to deliver thanks to our strong teamwork and collaboration,” said Cannon Construction Services Associate Principal Eric Sweet. “Having the project’s design  and construction teams both within the same organization created synergies and enabled us to work at such a high level.”

The Sabres project is one of only 11 honored by the CMAA New York / New Jersey chapter this year. The project will move on to compete in the CMAA national competition.