This unassuming east side building (see below) at 662 Fillmore holds an amazing treasure. It was once the home of Schreiber Brewing and is an important and increasingly rare relic of Buffalo's brewing heyday. Polish immigrant Anthony Schreiber opened the brewery in1899 and quickly built a reputation for crafting fine beer. Their most famous brew, named Manru Lager (after a famous Polish Opera), was sold from 1933 to 1950 when the company ceased production.
The building has been empty for many years and is warn but still in decent condition. It could easily be converted for a variety of uses. The interior includes high-bay skylit industrial spaces as well as warehouse and office space. Most of the building is designed for straight up utility but there is one room in the office portion of the plant often referred to as the tasting room that holds a wonderful surprise.
This room, also known as the mural room for obvious reasons, holds a beautiful series of murals set within arched openings. The murals, painted by Copenhagen Artist Johannes Nielsen, depict the history of brewing from ancient Egypt to the more recent scientific period showing images of Louis Pasteur and Emil Christian Hansen.
They are gorgeous paintings crafted in a drawing-like style with simple but elegant line work and rich color. For the most part the murals are beautifully preserved. Imagine this as your office. Amazing!! How many buildings in Buffalo hold treasures like this? Not enough is the answer. Check out this forgotten buffalo.com video for a closer look at the murals and more parts of the old brewery.
I stumbled on this hidden treasure via the Forgotten Buffalo.com, a web site which has a deep collection of Buffalo nostalgia, historic ephemera and images of Buffalo. They also do a great job of promoting the incredible assets and opportunities which still exist on the city's devastated east side. If you are interested in this building and think you might be able to bring it back to life you can learn more by contacting ForgottenBuffalo.com, or at their email ForgottenBuffalo@aol.com.
All images ForgottenBuffalo.com
Instead of focussing efforts on things like the remnants of the Erie Frieght House PBN ought to be foucing on heritage opportunities such as this before it detriorates any further.
Agreed. If Fillmore/Broadway can be preserved and revitalized ala Elmwood, the East Side suddenly becomes a very potent economic opportunity.
I know Flying Bison needs a new, larger location. Would this suffice?
That's a great idea. That tasting room is a great place to start and end a tour. One issue they may face is reduced walk-in traffic. I'm not sure if it's even significant now, but I know their current location pulls in lots of people from North Buffalo and Ken-Ton, where the East Side location probably wouldn't.
That's not how it works. You wait until the building is hanging on by a thread, then you throw a hissy fit. PBN isn't going to waste its time being proactive.
Really? The way I see it there are thousands of buildings in the city that are well cared for and others restored and lovingly tended. There are others for which the opposite is true. In those cases the people who see the value in keeping them who sometimes arrive at the last minute becasue they are leading their normal life. The idea that people who see the value in saving irreplaceable historic heritage should either shut up or just drop everything in their normal lives and somehow force people to take care of their buildings before they allow giant holes to develope in teh roof is silly. Should I start listing all the buildings saved at the very last minute because they did show up just in time?