background reports

Restoration, Redevelopment and New Architecture in Buffalo

Projects Underway

Henry Hobson Richardson Complex
Restoration Architects: ?
Budget: $76 million
Project Completion: ?
Original Construction Date: 1870-1896
The city’s landmark Henry Hobson Richardson building, one of the nation’s most historically significant structures, will receive $76 million from the state for the first step in a major restoration plan leading to the complex’s ultimate reuse.

Erie Canal Harbor
Project Architects: Parsons Brinckerhoff for waterside elements, and Flynn Battaglia Architects, Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects, John Milner Associates, and C&G Partners for landside and interpretive elements
Budget: $49 million
Project Completion: 2008 (Phase 1)
Buffalo’s position at the western end of the Erie Canal made it the Gateway to the West -- the departure point for millions of immigrants on their way to the American heartland and the catalyst for the city’s rise to prominence in the mid-19th century. Completed in 1825, the Erie Canal linked Buffalo with Albany, creating a waterway between the Great Lakes and New York City and dramatically transforming United States commerce, industry and immigration. The Erie Canal Harbor project will redevelop approximately 12.5 waterfront acres into a contemporary tourism destination that celebrates the site’s historic significance as well as establishes the area as a new maritime and entertainment center.

Darwin D. Martin House Complex
Restoration Architects: Hamilton, Houston & Lownie Architects
Budget: $40 million
Project Completion: 2007
Original Construction Date: 1903-1905
Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Martin House for his long time friend and loyal patron Darwin D. Martin. The house is located on Jewett Parkway and adjacent to Buffalo’s Olmsted-designed Delaware Park. After Martin’s death the house was abandoned and suffered significant damage until 1992, when the Martin House Restoration Corporation (MHRC) was formed to lead and oversee the landmark’s restoration. Also part of the Martin House complex is the Wright-designed Gardener’s Cottage, which MHRC acquired in 2006 to reunite the complete Martin estate.

Burchfield-Penney Art Center
Project Architects: Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects
Budget: $30 million
Project Completion: Fall 2007
BPAC’s new 75,000-square-foot museum, located on the Buffalo State Campus, will provide additional space for the museum’s exhibition galleries and education and public programs. Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects’ design for the new BPAC is an elegant structure of interlocking geometric forms and an innovative combination of materials. Surrounded by gardens and walkways, the building will also serve as an academic resource for the Buffalo State College community.

Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens
Architect: Lord and Burnham
Budget: $20 million
Original Construction Date: 1898
Restoration: 1998-Present
Originally called the South Park Conservatory, the Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens is one of two remaining “Crystal Palaces” built by Lord & Burnham sited in a park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted (the other is in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park). South Park was created from 162 acres of farm land. The South Park Conservatory was included to showcase tropical plant species while the rest of the park was designed to feature more hardy temperate species, including an Arboretum, Pinetum, a Shrub Garden and a Bog Garden. The Gardens are currently undergoing a $20 million restoration based on the theme of “the Buffalo Meridian.” This theme presents Buffalo as the terminus of an around-the-world tour that showcases the myriad of climates and plant communities that share this longitudinal location

Louis Sullivan’s Guaranty Building
Project Architects: Sullivan and Adler
Budget: $12 million
Original Construction Date: 1895
Restoration Completion: 2008
One of the masterpieces of Louis Sullivan, the Guaranty Building was the one of the first skyscrapers in America. After a fire in 1974, the building suffered significant damage, but with the help of local civic leaders and preservationists around the country the building was saved. In 2002 local law firm Hodgson Russ Inc., purchased the building to ensure its continued preservation and to use as its principal Buffalo office.

Toshiko Mori’s Visitors’ Center at the Darwin D. Martin House
Project Architect: Toshiko Mori
Budget: $6 million
Project Completion: 2008
The visitors’ center will provide gallery spaces, a shop, and a choreographed tour of Wright’s Darwin D. Martin House. The new building will have tree-lined courts, flowerbeds, a garden pavilion and low brick walls gracefully complementing the Wright landmark.

Roycroft Campus
Architect: Not on record
Restoration: 2005-Present
Budget: $4.75 million ($2 million Copper Shop; $2.75 million Power House)
Vast expansion and restoration projects are currently underway for the Roycroft Campus. Ten years after the $9 million dollar completion of the Roycroft Inn, which attracts over 150,000 visitors per year, the Roycroft Campus Corporation purchased the Copper Shop. The Copper Shop is the focal point of the Campus activities, showcasing works from over fifty artisans. The Copper Shop features a restored finishing room circa 1918 complete with interior cathedral ceiling and exterior masonry block walls. The Power House, originally built in 1910 and acquired by the Campus in 2005 will be rebuilt according to its original design including the 20’ base of the original chimney. The completed Power House will serve as the visitor center, gift shop, classroom and special event center.

Graycliff
Restoration Architects: Hamilton, Houston & Lownie Architects
Budget: $3.2 million
Project Completion: Late 2007
Original Construction Date: 1926-27
Graycliff was the last built Wright commission in the Buffalo area and the summer home for Darwin D. Martin, located on the shores of Lake Erie in Derby, NY. Over the last several decades, the house suffered damage, much like the Martin House. In 1999, the Graycliff Conservancy, Inc. acquired the home and is now responsible for the restoration of the site, which is on New York State’s National Register of Historic Places.

Michigan Avenue Heritage Corridor
Project Architects: Frank T. Brzezinski
Budget: $1 million
Project Completion: Summer 2006
The Michigan Avenue Heritage Corridor is being created to commemorate the African American experience in Buffalo and the role the Underground Railroad, the Civil Rights Movement and America’s Classical Music, Jazz, played in shaping that experience. The Corridor links the Michigan Street Baptist Church, one of the oldest properties in Buffalo continuously operated by African Americans, and a sanctuary for hundreds of freedom seekers on their way to Canada in the mid-1800s; the Colored Musicians Club, the heart and soul of Buffalo’s jazz community for more than 70 years; and the Nash House, the one time home of the Reverend Jesse Edward Nash, longtime leader of Buffalo’s Civil Rights movement. The house will include a public museum and research and office space.

Olmsted’s Delaware Park
Project Architects: Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux
Construction Date: 1868-1898
Restoration: Ongoing
Three hundred and fifty acres in size, Buffalo’s Delaware Park is one of the most significant parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted – one of America’s greatest landscape architects. The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy was formed to maintain, preserve and enhance Frederick Law Olmsted-designed parks and parkways in Buffalo. The Park’s restoration continues today.

Upcoming Projects

Frank Lloyd Wright Filling Station
Project Architect: Patrick Mahoney & Anthony Puttnam (FLW apprentice)
Budget: $3 million
Project Completion: 2007
Original Design Date: 1927
Originally intended for the corner of Michigan and Cherry Streets in downtown Buffalo, this Wright-designed winged Tydol station will be constructed at the Buffalo Transportation/Pierce-Arrow Museum and will be readily accessible to visitors of the museum, serving as a permanent installation.

Recently Completed Projects

New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, University at Buffalo
Architect: Francis Cauffman Foley Hoffmann Architects
Budget: $52 million
Grand Opening: June 2, 2006
The four-story, 130,000-square-foot building located on Virginia Street is the location of state-of-the-art laboratories where scientists are exploring new treatment options and medical devices for cancer, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease. The building exterior includes areas of red brick, zinc, glass, and white aluminum and a profusion of windows, enabling abundant sunlight to pass throughout the interior of the building. The Center of Excellence is interconnected with the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute and Roswell Park’s Center for Genetics and Pharmacology, producing over 400,000 square feet of state-of-the-art research facilities which is known as the Buffalo Life Sciences Complex.

Shea’s Performing Arts Center
Architect: C.W. and George L. Rapp
Budget: $22.5 million
Original Construction Date: 1926
Restoration and Expansion: 1997 - Present. Ongoing expansion: new marquee erected in 1995; major stage-house expansion completed in 1999; new blade sign erected in 2004.
One of only four Tiffany-designed theatres still in existence, Shea’s began life in 1926 as a grand movie palace and served for a time as a Vaudeville house before returning to its original use as a movie theater. In the 1980s, it found new life as a home for touring Broadway productions. Shea’s is a member of the National Register of Historic Places and the League of Historic American Theatres. The exterior restoration of this architectural landmark was completed in 2004. The interior renovation is ongoing and is made possible by volunteers and docents from the Buffalo region.

Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute
Project Architect: Mehrdad Yazdani
Budget: $21 million
Project Completion: 2005
The new Medical Research Institute is located in the heart of downtown Buffalo’s medical campus and provides new molecular biology facilities and laboratory space for the Institute, an independent non-profit biomedical research facility headed by Nobel-Laureate Herbert Hauptman.

Righteous Babe Records and Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center
Renovation Architect: Architectural Resources
Budget: $10 million
Project Completion: 2006
Original Architect: John H. Selkirk
Original Construction Date: 1876
In 2006, singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco’s successful independent music company ­ Righteous Babe Records opened its new headquarters in the renovated Asbury Delaware church.  In addition to RBR’s business offices, the former church will house a 1,200-capacity concert hall and smaller underground club for live music performances.  The complex will also include office and exhibition spaces for Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, which is renowned for its exhibitions of contemporary art, film and video screenings, and presentations of live jazz, new music, and performance.

Roycroft Inn
Architect: Not on record
Budget: $8 million
Original Construction Date: 1905
Restoration Completion: 1995
After an eight-year restoration process, the Roycroft Inn has returned to its original state and is once again considered one of the most beautiful buildings and interiors of the American Arts & Crafts movement. Situated in the heart of the historic Roycroft community in East Aurora, NY, the Inn celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2005.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Rowing Boathouse
Project Architect: Anthony Puttnam (FLW apprentice)
Budget: $5.4 million
Projection Completion: 2007
The Frank Lloyd Wright Rowing Boathouse Corporation is constructing Wright’s 1905 un-built design that will serve as a functioning boathouse for the West Side Rowing Club (WSRC), the nation’s largest rowing club.

Blue Sky Mausoleum
Project Architect: Anthony Puttnam (FLW apprentice)
Budget: $1.2 million
Project Completion: October 2004
Blue Sky Mausoleum was originally designed for Darwin D. Martin’s family. Following Wright’s plans, stone and concrete terraces and a monolithic headstone have been constructed on a hillside overlooking two ponds at Forest Lawn cemetery in Buffalo.

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