Buffalo Rising Online

that top picture could quite possibly be the most depressing picture of downtown buffalo ever. looks like something from a soviet satellite nation.

Wow i never knew. I´m glad i wasnt alive to see that! I guess tons of progress has been made.

Very interesting article. I had to do a double take on that first picture, I thought it was the Donovan building at first glance. I am shocked that was the heart of downtown less than 30 years ago. Its amazing that the columns along the entrance could even be saved. Very nice article, although I don't think many people understand the magnitude and devastation that Urban Renewal policies had on our city over the past fifty years.

wow what a change.. I never realized that it was actually a renovated structure. Always assumed they demolished and started fresh. Great article. I did notice the strange capitals on the building but just thought it was the architect try to be relate to the historic...

Street car rails in the pic of the theratre front.... neat

Very cool, also did not know it was "reclad". I love stories like this one. I also agree, the first photo is very depressing looking. It may not be an "award" winner as you mention, but I have to say it is far more than just an improvement. Considering it's age already, it is a pretty nice looking building.

Interesting story! Since I work right across the street from City Centre, you've added a whole new perspective to my work neighborhood.

very cool article. thanks for the pics. are there anymore showing the main st. area around the time of the first picture?

Just insane looking at the mid 80's picture. We need more of these types of articles to show the progress that has been made around here. These individual pieces over time are hard to notice when you see them everyday, or maybe never even have seen them at all.

We have along way to go but a good amount has also been done over the past 20 years.

It almost seems like a vast wasteland around the old theatre. Now to get cars back on Main st.

If I recall correctly the steel frame of the original building was saved and used in City Centre because of some historic status. It was kind of a joke. The project was supposed to be a completely new structure but thay had to incorporate the frame into the new building. It nearly scrapped the project. I find it hillarious that the steel frame of this mess had to be saved while truly important structures are torn or fall down every day. It took quite a while for this project to sell out and become successful so I am glad that, by and large, it is now.

I would'nt want to walk around Main Street back then either after looking at this image. What a difference for the better.

I worked downtown at a law firm around the corner when I was back from college and can rememeber that building and the transformation. It happened pretty fast too. They knocked down the brick and there was a steel skeleton and then they added maybe 5 more floors? By the time I was back for the holidays, it was pretty much done. The condo building was a risk at the time, I recall, as it was kind of the first project like it and they weren't sure if it would fly. Having people live in the downtown core like that was a novel idea. These days there are many projects so we don't think twice about it. I think it took a while for them to sell all of them, but now I hear it is really hard to get ahold of one of those units these days. I bet another building located there as oppossed to the waterfront would be a success. Also, the Key Center was going up right across the street so that was kind of a mini boom for Buffalo. The Calumet was re-developed around that time. That area turned the corner quickly. It is the prime example of what happens when private developers have a vision and take a chance. It boggles my mind that a building like that was once downtown. That was allowed to stand yet, the Larkin was taken down. It's no wonder that outsiders came to Buffalo in the 60's and 70's and came away with a bad impression. That was our entertainment district? Albania was prettier and funner.

I second what sbrof wrote... I was gonna write basically the same thing, but he beat me to it!

These units were very hard to sell initially and I think some were even rented out. Within the last 10 years or so the building became popular and values rose as demand was strong. I understand that now, though, values have fallen. A high floor two bedroom unit that sold two years ago for $320,000 re-sold recently for $270,000. The association fees on that unit are $1,000 per month. I don't know if it is the association fees, the market overall or some other factor that has contributed to the decline.

To those looking for more stories like this you can look back through BRO's archive. I have done several of them. I will do my best to find some and post them here.

The Great Lakes Paramount was considered in its day one of the best of all the Great Lakes Cities beating out Detroit and Cleveland is not something to take lightly. It may not have had as much adornment as the Sheas but it had a huge reputation.....to which frankly is Buffalos loss because today the Great Lakes Paramount would have been the perfect home for a downtown center for UBs Performing Arts.

it may not be a an architectural wonder but its beautiful in its own way and any city should be thrilled to have it. not every building needs to be a masterpiece even though it is nice when a building can get a new life. a spattering of this style of buildings all over downtown would do it no harm at all.(as long as thers demand)

here is a link to another story about this block

http://www.buffalorising.com/story/remember_this#sca

Texpat10 - You're correct in stating that these units were hard to sell initially and some were rented out. The City of Buffalo bailed out the developer by buying several units through BURA, then re-sold them at a substantial discount (something like $50,000 on a $135,000 unit) to the politically-connected of the time.

That being said, there was a dramatic improvement in the streetscape here. Great article on the history of the building also.

I have a follow-up piece coming on City Centre's rocky history.

Love these before & after pieces -- reminds us that some things, while not all at the point we'd want them, have significantly improved. I remember the Paramount and its later demise as the Nemmer Bldg. So many decrepit and abandoned bldgs on this block that the City put up plywood on all the facades and had local artists paint murals to give the street some visual interest pending moves to renovate the structures. Back then, the first "curtain up" party was held across Chippewa Street from the Nemmer -- hosting a whopping 500 people in a tent on the dirt lot of the then-recently demolished Grants Store -- now Key Center, Bank of America, and Fountain Plaza. How things have truly changed...

An amazing Main St. picture in 1957: < a href="http://s18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/GuanoReturns/Out%20of%20State%20Theaters/Buffalo%20NY%20Paramount%20aka%20Great%20Lakes%20Theater/?action=view¤t=Paramount1957.jpg"> Paramont 1957

Great find Joshua,  I cleaned up the link and this should take you there:  Paramount Theatre 1957

george - thanks, I posted it without looking at my syntax closer. You have to agree that it is an absolutely amazing picture of Main St.