The Main Place Tower is located at 350 Main Street, in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. The skyscraper is the fourth-tallest building in the city, and home to many technology and communication firms. The tower, built in 1969, rises . The shopping center within the complex is referred to as the Main Place Mall.

History

The current location of the Main Place Tower was originally Shelton Square, a city block of considerable traffic in the city. Shelton Square was the site of a notorious

publicity stunt In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utiliz ...

in 1955, when disc jockey

Tom Clay Tom Clay (born Thomas Clague; August 20, 1929 – November 22, 1995) was an American radio personality and disc jockey. Clay was born in New York, and in the 1950s he was popular in the Detroit area on WJBK-AM both as a DJ, and for his on ...

climbed to the top of a billboard in the square and disrupted traffic by repeatedly playing "

Rock Around the Clock "Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter being under the pseudonym "Jimmy De Knight") in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was reco ...

" by

Bill Haley & His Comets Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band formed in 1947 and continuing until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group record ...

on a loudspeaker; the incident led to Clay's firing and arrest. Originally the headquarters for the Erie County Savings Bank, it became known as One Empire Tower when the Erie County Savings Bank became Empire of America, the building was then renamed "Main Place Tower" in the 1980s with the demise of Empire of America. The Main Place Tower was constructed as part of an

urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

project. The land site of the building was previously home to the Richardsonian Romanesque castle-like Erie County Savings Bank Building (1890-1968). The Erie County Savings Bank was both the anchor tenant and financial backer for the Main Place tower construction and leased the first three floors upon its completion.

Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers o ...

owned and operated Sport City Grill

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

with the attached Network

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

on the ground floor of the complex from 1993 to 1996. New ownership tried to relaunch the restaurant as Banana Joe's Sports Bar & Grill in late 1996, but it went out of business in 1997. As of 2020, the concourse at the base of the complex has several tenants, two restaurants and a food court. That year, the city announced plans to collaborate with Main Place's owner to make room for office and parking space.

Gallery

Image:Main Place Tower2.JPG, View from Niagara Square File:Main Place Tower.JPG

External links

Official website

Skyscraperpage building page
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References

Office buildings completed in 1969 Skyscraper office buildings in Buffalo, New York Harrison & Abramovitz buildings {{BuffaloNY-struct-stub

History

Gallery

See also

External links

References