It was back in June of 2016 that the parking ramp at 93 Pearl Street was sold (see here). Over the years, a number of Buffalo Rising articles have pointed out the ragtag condition of the ramp, which has been an eyesore in downtown Buffalo for years. Since the building sold, some work has gone into painting the structure, which has certainly helped to improve the aesthetic state of affairs for the formerly forlorn parking ramp. Not only has the building been painted, a new “Downtown Garage Parking” sign has been erected on the Pearl Street facade. The sign was constructed by the crew at Santoro Signs – a sign company that has been around since the ’50’s (learn more).
Although we are certainly not talking about a significant historic building in Downtown Buffalo, these improvements go a long way towards cleaning up the appearance of the parking structure. In the past, writers at Buffalo Rising have repeatedly commented that this particular building dragging the street down, due to its appearance. While this is still certainly not the Taj Mahal, the blade sign does harken back to its post-1925 appearance, as we can see in this image by PreservationReady.com (inset).
Here’s the history of the site per PreservationReady:
- 1846 – Cicero Jabez Hamlin located in Buffalo, where he engaged in various dry goods businesses until 1871.
- Six-story commercial building on site had a sign for Hamlin’s Department Store. This location is also directly behind the Hamlin Block, which housed Barnes, Hengerer, and Sweeney Companies over the years.
- 1925 – 4 story parking ramp replaced the 6 story building
We’re not trying to bring anyone down, but we figured that we would provide an image of what this corner formerly beheld:
And here’s what eventually befell the corner.
At least we’re finally moving forward, and not backwards when it comes to the parking structure thanks to the work that has been performed on the facade, along with the sharp new illuminated blade sign that has been installed.