DEPEW, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills are getting ready to break ground on their new stadium, right across the street from their current home at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park. It's slated to open in 2026. 

We’ve seen several rendering images of what the new facility will look like on the outside, as well as the seats and concourses.

What You Need To Know

  • The Buffalo Bills are planning to build a new stadium to open in 2026

  • Inspired by renderings of the project, a group of students at Depew Middle School designed their own version, using the video game Minecraft

  • The project has created interest among the students in a technology class 

Inspired by what they saw, a dozen or so middle schoolers from nearby Depew decided to create their own renderings of the stadium using a video game to make it happen.

"You get to play video games. It’s like two periods just of fun," said eighth-grade student Lucas Spruch.

This group of middle schoolers has discovered learning can be fun.

"I feel like that’s always been a dream of mine just to play just game in school in not get in trouble," seventh-grader Josh Refermat said.

In fact, their technology teacher, Mr. Aaron Nolan, actually encourages it.

"And it just spiraled out of control, in a good way," Nolan said.

For months, these kids have been playing the video game Minecraft during their free periods. But it’s more than just killing time. They’ve been designing a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills, taking a cue from the team’s plans for building its new home. 

"I came up with this idea with Mr. Nolan saying we should build a Bills stadium," Spruch said.

Spruch kicked off the project and several of his friends joined in.

The game basically allows the students to create anything they can imagine with building blocks, using their own skills and creativity.

"Really we’re learning a lot. We can code in this game, so we’ve learned a lot of coding from this," eighth-grader Anthony Lanzetta said. 

Their designs go beyond the basics, from the exterior of the stadium and the playing field, to the locker room, offices for the coaches and executives — even the concession stands.

"Literally one person can come up with an idea and literally like a popcorn effect. This idea would inspire something else, that would inspire something else," Nolan said. 

Food for thought — it's making the kids hungry to expand their knowledge.

"I used to think technology was just a boring class, but now that we can do this and designing and stuff and 3D printing, maybe I will seek a career in technology," Refermat said. 

As word around the school gets out about what they’ve been up to, 

Mr. Nolan is already looking at ways to implement the game into future lessons.

"There’s also some other STEM topics that we can incorporate like volume and surface area. So maybe I’ll have them design a house and we can figure out the square footage of the house or how much wall space or cubic feet the house has," Nolan said.

While they’re learning about architecture, design and computer modeling, they’re also learning what it means to be part of a successful team.

"Nobody’s worked harder than somebody else. Everybody’s contributed to this the same amount," Spruch said. 

Several students have approached Mr. Nolan about doing other projects, such as a design rendering of their school building to help new students with orientation. 

"I feel very inspired by my teammates around me too," Lanzetta said.