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Buffalo City Hall is the seat for municipal government in the City of Buffalo,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...
. Located at 65 Niagara Square, the 32-story
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
building was completed in 1931 by Dietel, Wade & Jones. The building is one of the largest and tallest municipal buildings in the United States and is also one of the tallest buildings in Western New York. It was designed by chief architect John Wade with the assistance of George Dietel. The friezes were sculpted by Albert Stewart and the sculpture executed by Rene Paul Chambellan. ''Note:'' This includes an
''Accompanying six photographs''
/ref> The foyer features a bronze tablet honoring Mayor Roesch, created in 1937 by regional sculptor, William Ehrich. Buffalo City Hall was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1999. It is located within the Joseph Ellicott Historic District.


History


Previous buildings

In 1851, the city bought the property at the northwest corner of Church and Franklin streets in Buffalo to be used for the Mayor's office and other city offices. On this site, and constructed between 1871 and 1875, the city built a monumental granite structure designed by Rochester architect Andrew Jackson Warner (1833–1910). The building, now known as the Old County Hall, has four floors and a large, seven-story
clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another build ...
. It held offices for both the City of Buffalo and Erie County. ''Note:'' This includes an
''Accompanying five photographs''
/ref> In 1920, the Buffalo Common Council decided, in light of the fact that the population of the city had quadrupled since the construction of County and City Hall forty-five years earlier, that a new building was needed to house the city government of Buffalo. Niagara Square was chosen as it is one of the central components of
Joseph Ellicott Joseph Ellicott (November 1, 1760 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania – August 19, 1826 in New York City) was an American surveyor, city planner, land office agent, lawyer and politician of the Quaker faith. Life Ellicott was born in Bucks ...
's original plan of 1804, laid out for the City of Buffalo. From this location, one can see the waterways of
Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...
and the shores of
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world ...
as well as the rest of downtown Buffalo. On September 16, 1929, construction of the new City Hall began and the building was ultimately completed on November 10, 1931 with the dedication taking place the following summer, on July 1, 1932, commemorating the city's Centennial celebration. When the new City Hall opened and the city offices moved to the present building, the former 1875 County and City Hall became Erie County court offices. It is also the home of the Erie County Clerk's office, where important county records are kept. The former county and city hall was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1976.


Construction

City Hall was built by the John W. Cowper Company, the same firm who built the
Statler Hotel The Statler Hotel company was one of the United States, United States' early chains of hotels catering to traveling businessmen and tourists. It was founded by Ellsworth Milton Statler, Ellsworth Milton (E. M.) Statler in Buffalo, New York. Earl ...
and the Buffalo Athletic Club, also on Niagara Square. The cost of building City Hall was $6,851,546.85 ($ in dollars) including the architect's fees, making it one of the costliest city halls in the country. City Hall has 32 stories, 26 of which offer usable office space. The total floor area is and the footprint of the site on Niagara Square is . There are 1,520 windows from the first to the 25th floor. A practical design feature is that all of them open inward, making window washers unnecessary. There are eight elevators to the 13th floor and four to the 25th floor. Curtis Elevator Company furnished the first elevators, with additional elevators supplied later by
Otis Elevator Company Otis Worldwide Corporation ( branded as the Otis Elevator Company, its former legal name) is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets elevators, escalators, moving walkways, and related equipment. Based in Farmington, Connec ...
. There are 5,000 electrical outlets, 5,400 electrical switches and 21 motor driven ventilation fans. Approximately of copper wire weighing 43 tons, and or 180 tons of conduit pipe, serve the building, as well as or five car loads of underfoot conduit. There are either 138 or 143 clocks (counts vary) regulated by a master clock in the basement and 37 fire alarm stations distributed throughout the building. It was originally equipped with 375 telephones and a master switchboard. External illumination was provided from dusk to midnight by 369 flood lights with an average candlepower of 350. City Hall was designed and built with a non-powered air-conditioning system, taking advantage of strong prevailing winds from Lake Erie. Large vents were placed on the west side of the building to catch wind, which would then travel down ducts to beneath the basement, to be cooled by the ground. This cooled air was then vented throughout the building. Winds off the lake were usually strong enough to power air through this system. In the summer of 2006, Buffalo City Hall started undergoing renovations from the 13th floor all the way to the top as the flood lights were replaced; three years later, it was the south wing that started undergoing renovations of its own. Renovations were completed by 2009.


In popular culture

In the American television series '' Avenue 5'', Buffalo City Hall is the new
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 180 ...
.


Folklore

In 2018, an urban legend emerged, claiming that a fire broke out at City Hall at an unspecified time in the 19th or 20th centuries and all of the records that were housed in there at the time had been destroyed. Local historians later debunked the claim as false.


Gallery

Image:BuffaloCityHallfrom streeetlevel.jpg, City Hall viewed from downtown Image:Buffalo City Hall, Buffalo, NY - IMG 3740.JPG, View of upper floors Art Deco details. File:Buffalo City Hall - Council Chambers 2.jpg, Detail of council chambers stained glass Image:Buffalocityhall-reliefs.jpg, Relief sculptures over front entrance. Image:Buffalocityhall-reliefsdetail.jpg, Detail of entrance relief sculptures. Image:Buffalo City Hall steps.jpg, Pillars at entrance with relief sculpture. Image:Buffalocityhall-dodgemural.jpg, William de Leftwich Dodge mural in east side of main entrance hall. Image:DSCN4468 buffaloclevelandstatue e.jpg, Statue of the former Mayor of Buffalo and later 22nd and 24th
President President most commonly refers to: * President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...
,
Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
on northeast corner of the building. Image:DSCN4470 buffalofillmorestatue e.jpg, Statue of former U.S. Representative (congressman) and New York Governor, then 13th
President President most commonly refers to: * President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...
Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853; he was the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Represe ...
on southeast corner of the building. Image:McKinley Monument, Buffalo, NY - IMG 3702.JPG, 25th President
William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...
Monument, assassinated in Buffalo, September 1901, nearby City Hall. Image:Buffalo City Hall - aerial view taken in 1971.jpg, Aerial view of Buffalo City Hall and surrounding grounds taken in 1971.


See also

* List of tallest buildings in Buffalo


References


External links


City of Buffalo
*

{{Authority control Architecture of Buffalo, New York Buildings and structures in Buffalo, New York Skyscraper office buildings in Buffalo, New York Government buildings completed in 1931 City and town halls on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Government of Buffalo, New York Historic American Buildings Survey in New York (state) Tourist attractions in Buffalo, New York 1930s architecture in the United States Art Deco architecture in New York (state) National Register of Historic Places in Buffalo, New York