Electric Tower: Celebrating 100 Years Lighting Up Our City.

       "And all this started with one bright idea"                       

It’s been 100-years since the Buffalo Electric Tower first turned on its lights in 1912, but now it has become as much a part of Buffalo’s history as it has Buffalo’s skyline.  

     Each night for almost 100 years its 300-foot tower has lit up the sky, making it one of the most recognized buildings in the city.  Similar to the Empire State building in New York City, Buffalo’s Electric Tower celebrates holidays and special events along with the city by lighting up in colors. It even lit up in blue and gold during the NHL playoffs.  The building also hosts Buffalo’s New Year’s Eve “Ball Drop” READ MORE...

Buffalo Architecture Foundation

Buffalo Architecture Foundation, Inc. (BAF), a non-profit, 501(c)(3) public charity, announces the anticipated celebration of the organization’s first event and fundraiser, Fall for Architecture, on October 8, 2011. 

The event will be held at the Tri-Main Center (2495 Main Street) from 7:00-10:00 pm with live music, great food, and drinks.  The evening will also highlight submissions to their Building Stories program featuring personal WNY architecture stories.  All proceeds from the event will go directly to the Buffalo Architecture Foundation. READ MORE...

UB Thinking Green

Sustainable, Plyboo walls. Floor tiling made from recycled soda bottles. Man-made ponds designed to capture rainwater before it enters an overloaded sewer system. Electrical outlets high enough to be easily accessible to wheelchair users. Classrooms and lounges suitable for educational programs and social gatherings. READ MORE...

The Master Plan: Buffalo Central Terminal’s New Life

By Sarah Kuziomko

Sometimes moving forward begins with preserving the past.  That’s the delicate balance the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation (CTRC) is trying to strike as it races to preserve the old Buffalo landmark, while creating a space for generations to come.

     This spring the CTRC unveiled its master plan for the “preservation, restoration and rehabilitation” of the terminal.  It includes keeping the main concourse open for public space, while bringing businesses and entertainment into the remainder of the area.  In turn that will allow the complex to retain its history while giving the community a place to come together.

But before the CTRC can start updating, it has to stabilize the structure and maintain its historical features.  Years of harsh Buffalo weather and neglect have taken a toll on both the interior and exterior. While the structure is rebuilt it will continually be checked for stability and any future threats to its condition. For the CTRC this is equivalent to laying down tracks before driving the train down them. READ MORE...



New Use for Vacant Lots

As Rust Belt cities transform vacant lots into green space for growing vegetables, University at Buffalo researchers are using modeling to help assess the City of Buffalo's capacity for sustainable agriculture.

Specifically, UB geographer Sara Metcalf has developed a conceptual model in the form of a "causal map" that shows, visually, how different elements within Buffalo's urban food movement relate to one another. READ MORE... 

Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site

     The all new Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site re-opened in August of 2009 after extensive renovations to the Wilcox Mansion and construction of a new addition on the site of the original Wilcox Carriage House.  The Site has essentially re-invented itself and now offers a visitor experience that is a far cry from the typical guided tour long associated with historic homes.  To set the stage for the guided portion of the tour, visitors will be welcomed by the sights and sounds of Buffalo’s Pan-American Exposition.  Using a compelling “storytelling” approach, a guide will then transport visitors back to the drama-filled days of September, 1901.  Visitors will feel as though they are following in Theodore Roosevelt’s footsteps on the day that he became president. READ MORE...

"Grand stories, incredible architecture, and a secret passage."

The Red Cross Sits on a Wealth of Western New York History.

By Lisa Littlewood

I’m a sucker for old houses. I’m not sure that I would want to live in one—the upkeep, the draftiness, the ghost stories— but I love a good house tour.

     Perhaps that is what drew me to Massachusetts for almost ten years—the history, the architecture, the old houses. Houses that belonged to notable historical figures such as Paul Revere, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, and for a time, on my running route, I used to jog right by the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow house, also known as General George Washington’s headquarters for his wartime use of the house. READ MORE...

Congressman Higgins Meets with U.S. Secretary of Transportation to Discuss Peace Bridge

On Wednesday, March 30 Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-27), a member of the House Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security Committees, met with United States Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood to discuss the Peace Bridge project in Western New York. 

Congressman Higgins released the following statement detailing the meeting:

“Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit with Transportation Secretary LaHood and share with him directly how critically important the Peace Bridge is to integrating Western New York’s economy with booming Southern Ontario, relaying the essential link this project provides to jobs and growth at our educational, cultural, sports, airports, medical and retail destinations. READ MORE...

SOLD!

Buffalo businessman Mark Croce closed yesterday on the historic Statler Towers after months of back and forth with the bankruptcy courts. The Buffalo News quotes Croce as saying, '"This property will have a life, and 20 years from now, everybody is going to look back and say, 'Thank God we saved the old historic Statler building."

Community Feedback on Waterfront Development

While not everyone in Buffalo agrees on what we should do with our waterfront now that Bass Pro pulled the plug on their plans, I think it is safe to say we all agree that the waterfront is one of our regions greatest assets. With that in mind, the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp, will be sponsoring a series of open houses over the next two weeks to solicit more input from members of the Western New York community, READ MORE...

Paladino Speaks Out on Bass Pro

Written By Carl Paladino

RE: The Bass Pro Debacle

After decades of frustration, our waterfront was finally set to come to life. Instead, once again, Buffalo's obstructionists piped up at the last minute and buried Canal Place. READ MORE...

Pioneering a new Buffalo

Article originally appeared in THRiVE! DEC09/JAN10 issue

What started as an $83 million gamble on success in Buffalo, Avant, now finished, is a symbol of hope for what is to come. “If this was a project I was doing in a city that wasn’t my hometown, we probably wouldn’t have done it,’’  READ MORE...