History Unbuilt Buffalo / Niagara

[Dan]

Let's talk about Buffalo's never-builts!

Reflecting on Audubon Village and the Amherst that could have been, I wondered about other unbuilt large-scale projects that could have changed the face of the region.

Here's a tally of what I've found so far (as of 10-2020). These tables include unrealized projects in Erie and Niagara counties (New York, USA), and the Regional Municipality of Niagara (Ontario, Canada), proposed or under consideration by legitimate developers, and/or government agencies. They also include some losing design competition entries, "plan B" alternatives to proposals or completed projects, earlier proposals for projects that were ultimately built in a reduced or much different form, and notable proposals from those with "a dollar and a dream", that local officials and the media treated as legitimate, viable projects. They do not include "armchair planner" or thesis proposals.

Any others that you can think of? Know any of stories about them?

Update 7 February 2021: working on an interactive map to accompany this thread.

Master list of unrealized projects
(updated 2020-12-27)

Ub: unbuilt, cancelled
Ab: abandoned after preliminary work started (site acquisition, site clearance, grading, foundation, some construction, etc.)
Pb: partly built or underbuilt
Ba: built, but in a much different or altered form than originally planned
Pr: proposed within the past 3-5 years or so, supposedly still "live", but no construction or recent news
Ru: proposal with little documentation or evidence, or a rumor but still reported in local news media
BS: urban legend, but included for the sake of comic relief

d: developer
a: architect / landscape architect / planner / designer
●: Ontario side of the US/Canada border

Buildings​	Location​	Height​	Year​	Status​
Adelphia Tower: Webster Block site 1st proposal - mixed use, Adelphia Cable operations center	Buffalo: Downtown	40 stories	1999	Ub
Adelphia Tower: Webster Block site 2nd proposal - mixed use	Buffalo: Downtown	15 stories 200'/61m	2002	Ub
Amazon "Project Olive": warehouse/distribution	Grand Island		2020	Ub
Ambassador Hotel: 1st proposal	Buffalo: Theatre District	17 stories	1921	Ub
Ambassador Hotel: 2nd proposal	Buffalo: Theatre District	28 stories	1924	Ru
American Center for Trade: office, customs inspection.processing, residential (d: Peter and Robert Elia)	Buffalo: West Side	20 stories 15 stories (x2)	1988	Ub
Arbor Reverie: commercial, residential (d: Ciminelli)	Buffalo: Elmwood Village	5 stories	2017	Ub
Buffalo City Tower: mixed use (d: Bashar Issa, a: Cannon)	Buffalo: Downtown	40 stories 600'/180m	2006	Ub
Buffalo Commercial Building: hotel, office	Buffalo: Downtown	22 stories 232'/71m	1919	Ub
Buffalo Exchange: office, civic (d: Benjamin Rathbun)	Buffalo: Downtown	5 stories + dome	1836	Ab
Buffalo Gateway: mixed use (a: Fillat Architecture)	Buffalo: Delaware District (?)	10 stories	2018	Ru
Buffalo Savings Bank at Fountain Plaza: original office building proposal	Buffalo: Downtown	16 stories 222'/68m	1980	Ba
Campus Square: mixed use (d: McGuire Development)	Buffalo: Medical Campus	6 stories	2016	Ub
The Carlo: mixed use, residential (d: Ellicott Development)	Buffalo: Erie Basin	14 stories	2014	Ub
Central Park Plaza: office building	Buffalo: Highland Park	5 stories	1956	Ub
Commonwealth Holiday Inn of Canada: 700 room hotel (a: Raymond Moriyama)	Grand Island; River Oaks		1972	Pb
32 Court Street: office (d/a: Court-Pearl Associates / Clement Chen III)	Buffalo: Downtown	18 stories	1987	Ub
50 Court Street: office (d: Ellicott Development)	Buffalo: Downtown	11 stories	200x	Ub
50 Court Street / Court Street Tower: office, hotel (d: Ellicott Development, McGuire Development, a: Kideney Architects)	Buffalo: Downtown	7 stories 98'/30m	2006	Ub
Crowne Plaza Hotel ●	Niagara Falls ON	30 stories 300'/91m	2002	Ab
Crystal Beach Condominium	Fort Erie: Crystal Beach	12 stories 133'/41m	2010	Ub
Cutler-Rink Building / 91 Franklin Street (a: George Cary, office)	Buffalo: Downtown	10 stories	189x	Ub
Dorothy Martin Foster House (a: Frank Lloyd Wright, house)	Buffalo: Elmwood Village	2 stories	1921	Ub
Element Hotel (?) (d: Ellicott Development, a: Kideney Architects)	Buffalo: Cold Spring	9 stories	2019	Ub
Element Hotel (d: Ellicott Development, a: Kideney Architects)	Buffalo: Cold Spring	8 stories 99'/30m	2020	Pr
Elks Home: residential	Buffalo: Downtown	6 stories	1924	Ub
Ellicott Center: 4 liner office buildings (d: North Coast Holding Corporation)	Buffalo: Downtown	6 stories (x4)	1990	Ub
Ellicott Club: private club	Buffalo: Downtown	9 stories	1921	Ub
Ellicott Place: office building (d: Oliver, Tyrone & Pulver,)	Buffalo: Downtown	17 stories	1989	Ub
201 Ellicott Street: residential, mixed use (d: Ellicott Development)	Buffalo: Downtown			Ub
33 Gates Circle: residential (d: Uniland Development)	Buffalo: Delaware District	23 stories 270'/ 82m
Enquirer Building: office building (d: William J. Conners)	Buffalo: Downtown	30 stories 400'/121m	1919	Ub
Fairhaven Village: 11 building complex of residential towers	Buffalo: Erie Basin	10 stories	1940	Ub
Fedders Lofts: adaptive reuse residential, self storage (d: Eran Epstein / Element Properties)	Buffalo: Black Rock	4 stories	2019	Pr
The Gardens: residential	Buffalo: Delaware District	11 stories	1920	Ub
Genesee Hotel addition (a: George Cary)	Buffalo: Downtown	10 stories	190x	Ub
Genghis Khan Hotel (d: Tsogt Batbayar)	Niagara Falls NY: Downtown		2006	Ub
Graphic Arts Center: office, light industrial	Buffalo: Downtown		1960	Ub
Heritage Point: mixed use, residential	Buffalo: Inner Harbor	5 stories (x 2)	201x	Ub
33 High Street: medical office, mixed use (d: Ciminelli Perkins, a: Will Architects)	Buffalo: Medical Campus	11 stories	2016	Ub
Hotel Worth	Buffalo: Downtown	9 stories	1965	Ub
Hyatt Regency at Fountain Plaza: original proposal (d: Paul Snyder, a: RTKL Architects)	Buffalo: Downtown	13 stories	1979	Ub
Inn on the Plaza Hotel: original proposal for waterfront Hilton (d/a: Clement Chen)	Buffalo: Downtown	30 stories	1976	Ub
Liberty Bank at Fountain Plaza: originally planned office building	Buffalo: Downtown	21 stories	1979	Ba
273 Main: office (d: Citicom)	Buffalo: Downtown	26 stories	198x	Ub
377 Main / AM&A's demolition-replacement: office (d: Uniland)	Buffalo: Downtown	8 stories 107'/33'	2014	Ub
377 Main / AM&A's bulding: Windham Suites adaptive reuse (d: Landco H&L)	Buffalo: Downtown		2016	Ab
478 Main / City Center: office building (d: Corporex)	Buffalo: Downtown	20 stories	198x	Ub
1185 Main: mixed use (d: Cedarland Development Group)	Buffalo: Masten Park	4 stories	2016	Ub
Main-Seneca Tower: office building (d: Ciminelli)	Buffalo: Downtown		198x	Ub
Main-Seneca-Washington hotel (a: Green & Wicks Architects)	Buffalo: Downtown	11 stories	1898	Ub
Marine Midland Bank headquarters: Main / Pearl	Buffalo: Downtown	6 stories	1962	Ab
Marine Midland Center: alternative proposal - mixed use (d: Galesi Brothers)	Buffalo: Downtown	40 stories	1968	Ub
Marine Midland Center: hotel (d: Cabot Cabot & Forbes, a: SOM, hotel)	Buffalo: Downtown	15 stories	1967	Ub
Marine Midland Center: 2nd office tower (d: Cabot Cabot & Forbes, a: SOM, office)	Buffalo: Downtown	20 stories	1967	Ub
Marine Midland Center: office building in plaza area (d: S. Jon Kreedman)	Buffalo: Downtown	9 stories	198x	Ub
Marine Midland Center: twin office towers in plaza area (d: S. Jon Kreedman)	Buffalo: Downtown	12 stories (x 2)	199x	Ub
Niagara Falls Rotel: rotating hotel (seriously)	Niagara Falls NY: Downtown	25 stories	1973	Ub
Port Dalhousie Tower" residential ●	St. Catharines: Port Dalhousie	25 stories 328'/100m	2005	Ub
Queen City Landing (Freezer Queen): residential, 1st proposal	Buffalo: Outer Harbor
Queen City Landing: residential, 2nd proposal (d: Gerry Buchheit)	Buffalo: Outer Harbor	23 stories 324'/99m	2016	Ab
Queen City Landing: residential, 3rd proposal (d: Gerry Buchheit)	Buffalo: Outer Harbor	20 stories	2019	Ab
Rand Building: matching 2nd office tower (d: George F. Rand Jr., a: James W. Kideney and Associates)	Buffalo: Downtown	29 stories 351'/107m	1929	Ru
Realtor's Exchange: office	Buffalo: Downtown	15 stories	1922	Ub
Scott Street / Market Street tower: mixed use (d: Ellicott Development / Seneca Nation)	Buffalo: Cobblestone District	20 stories	2017	Ru
Seaport Plaza: office (Webster Block, d: S. Jon Kreedman)	Buffalo: Downtown	11 stories	198x	Ub
Seaway Tower	Buffalo: Downtown	n/a	199x	Ub
Seneca Gaming Corporate Headquarters: office building	Buffalo: First Ward	8 stories 107'/33m	2006	Ub
Seneca Niagara Buffalo Creek Casino: hotel	Buffalo: First Ward	22 stories 294'/90m	2006	Ab
Sheraton Hotel	Buffalo: Downtown	15 stories	1957	Ub
Statler Theater (d: Statler Hotels, a: Warren & Wetmore Architects)	Buffalo: Downtown		1926	Ub
Stratford Theater	Buffalo: Downtown		1914	Ub
Telephone Building: existing office building reskin	Buffalo: Downtown	16 stories	1982	Ub
Townsend Hall at Niagara Square: office building (a: James, Meadows, & Howard Architects)	Buffalo: Downtown	8 stories	1959	Ub
Twin Fair headquarters: office	Buffalo: Downtown	16 stories	1977	Ub
Unity Tower: mixed use (d: Darryl Carr, a: LOH Architects)	Buffalo: Downtown	55 stories 656'/200m	2016	Ub
Unnamed condominium tower: Crawdaddy's site (d: Joseph Sole)	Buffalo: Erie Basin	50 stories	2002	Ub
Unnamed condominium/mixed use tower: Crawdaddy's site (d: Randall Cedrick)	Buffalo: Erie Basin	28 stories	2002	Ub
Unnamed hotel: Elmwood-Forest (d: Sam Savarino)	Buffalo: Elmwood Village	5 stories	2006	Ub
Unnamed hotel: Niagara Falls ON Aviary site ●	Niagara Falls ON	61 story 751'/229 m	2012	Ub
Unnamed hotel: Niagara Falls ON Kodak Tower site (d: Canadian Niagara Hotels, a: Michael Kirkland) ●	Niagara Falls ON	59 story 751'/229 m	2005	Ub
Unnamed hotel: Niagara Falls ON Michael's Inn site ●	Niagara Falls ON	60 story 728'/220 m	2012	Ub
Unnamed hotel: Washington Market site	Buffalo: Downtown	n/a	199x	Ub
Willoughby Exchange: commercial, residential (d: Willoughby Insurance, a: Silvestri Architects)	Buffalo: Cold Spring	10 stories	2016	Ub
(more)

Shopping centers and large retail buildings​	Location​	Size​	Year​	Status​
Amherst Mall (d: Maret Corporation, a: Victor Gruen Associates)	Amherst	150 stores	1966	Ub
Bass Pro Outlet: adaptive reuse of Memorial Auditorium	Buffalo: Inner Harbor	150,000²	2005	Ub
Camptown Mall (d: Walnor Realty)	Hamburg	130,000'² 28 stores	1966	Ub
Depew Mall (d: International Business & Realty Corporation)	Depew	800,000'²	1968	Ub
Falls Street Mall (d: Jack Gellman, others)	Niagara Falls NY: Downtown	3 anchor stores	1963	Ub
Fantasyland / Mall of America (d: Ghermezian Brothers / 555 Group)	Niagara Falls NY: Downtown	5,000,000'²	1987	Ub
Kensington Mall (d: Twin Fair / Hens & Kelly)	Buffalo: Kensington	250,000'² 25 stores	1978	Ab
Macy's: department store	Buffalo: Theater District		1966	Ru
Main Place Mall: original plans (a: Victor Gruen Associates	Buffalo: Downtown		1964	Ba
Main Street roof (d: City of Buffalo, NFTA, a: Wallace, McHarg, Roberts & Todd)	Buffalo: Downtown		1971	Ub
Main-Youngs Plaza (d: Delamain Corporation)	Amherst		195x	Ub
Marine Midland Center shopping mall (d: Cabot Cabot & Forbes, a: SOM)	Buffalo: Downtown		1968	Ub
McKinley Mall: 2nd level	Hamburg		199x	Ub
W.A. Morgan: large department store @ Delaware / Chippewa	Buffalo: Downtown	6 stories	1922	Ab
Niagara Falls Manufacturers Megamall (Niagara Factory Outlet Mall), outparels, 150 room hotel (d: Benderson Development)	Niagara Falls NY: Downtown	1,370,000'²	1991	Ub
Orchard Park Mall (d: Forest City Properties)	Orchard Park: Big Tree	750,000'²	1980	Ub
Sattler's / Market Square: mall, town square/plaza (d: Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency, United Department Stores)	Buffalo / Polonia		1978	Ub
Seaway Center: plaza	Hamburg (village)	250,000'²	1957	Ub
Tonawanda Mall: urban renewal scheme	Tonawanda (city): Downtown		196x	Ub
Unnamed mall (d: Forest City Development)	Amherst: Getzville	500,000'²	1970	Ub
Unnamed mall (d: Forest City Development)	Niagara Falls: downtown		1962	Ub
Unnamed mall (d: Leon Sidell)	Buffalo: Theater District		1967	Ru
Unnamed mall: urban renewal scheme	Buffalo: Theater District	2,000,000'²	1966	Ub
Wonderland Plaza (d: Charles A. Fadale)	Amherst: Swormville	400,000'²	1958	Ub
(more)

Civic and institutional structures and sites​	Location​	Year​	Status​
Arch of Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and International Shrine Of the Holy Innocents: shrine and 700' tall golden arch	Buffalo: Outer Harbor	2001	Ub
Black American Museum and Cultural Center (a: Robert T. Coles)	Niagara Falls NY: Downtown	1972	Ub
Buffalo City Hall: 26 stories, phallic style (a: John J. Wade)	Buffalo: Downtown	1928	Ub
Buffalo City Hall: 13 stories, Main Street Association proposal (a: J. J. W. Bradley)	Buffalo: Downtown	1928	Ub
Buffalo Public Library (d; Young Men's Association, a: H. H. Richardson)	Buffalo: Downtown	1884	Ub
Buffalo Jewish Hospital	Amherst: Eggertsville	1925	Ab
Civil War Memorial Arch (a: H. H. Richardson)	Buffalo: Downtown	1874	Ab
Christ Episcopal Church (a: H. H. Richardson)	Buffalo: Delaware District	1869	Ab
Erie County Technical Institute (Erie Community College): Grover Cleveland Park campus	Buffalo: Kensington	1956	Ub
Kleinhans Music Hall: Delaware Park Rose Garden site (Buffalo Philharmonic)	Buffalo: Elmwood Village	1938	Ub
Kleinhans Music Hall: Grover Cleveland Park site (Buffalo Philharmonic)	Buffalo: Kensington	1938	Ub
Kleinhans Music Hall: Humboldt Park site (Buffalo Philharmonic, Chauncey Hamlin)	Buffalo: Masten Park	1938	Ub
Oscar Hammerstein Opera House	Buffalo: Downtown	1012	Ub
Pan-American Exposition: alternative sites	(many)	189x	Ub
General Philip Henry Sheridan monument / statue	Tonawanda: Sheridan-Parkside	1925	Pb
St. James Roman Catholic Church	Buffalo: Kensington	1925	Pb
Trinity Church (a: H. H. Richardson)	Buffalo: Delaware District	1871	Ub
United Nations headquarters	Grand Island, Niagara Falls ON: Navy Island	1946	Ub
University at Buffalo: North Campus (d: State University of New York, a: Sasaki Dawson Demay Associates)	Amherst: UB North Campus	1968	Pb
University at Buffalo: North Campus megastructure (d: State University of New York, a: Gordon Bunschaft / SOM)	Amherst: UB North Campus	1967	Ub
University at Buffalo: waterfront campus (a: Robert Coles / Committee for an Urban University)	Buffalo: Erie Basin, Lower West Side	1955	Ub
University of Buffalo: expansion into Grover Cleveland Park	Buffalo: Kensington	1958	Ub
University of Western New York (d: First Presbyterian Church)	Buffalo: Allentown	1836	Ab
(more)

Redevelopment, urban renewal, and City Beautiful projects​	Location​	Year​	Status​
Buffalo Civic Center: City Beautiful (d: City of Buffalo)	Buffalo: Downtown	1922	Pb
Buffalo Civic Center alternative uptown site: City Beautiful (d: City of Buffalo)	Buffalo: Allentown, Medical Campus	191x	Ub
Crossroads Center: urban renewal (d: City of Buffalo)	Buffalo: Downtown	1957	Pb
Rainbow Center: urban renewal (d: City of Niagara Falls, a: DeLeuw, Cather and Associates)	Niagara Falls NY: Downtown	1962	Ub
Rainbow Center: urban renewal (d: City of Niagara Falls, a: Moshe Safdie)	Niagara Falls NY: Downtown	1968	Ub
Rainbow Center: revised urban renewal plan (d: City of Niagara Falls, NYSUDC New York State Urban Development Corporation, others, a: Gruen Associates)	Niagara Falls NY: Downtown	1971	Pb
Waterfront Village: urban renewal, redevelopment (d: NYSUDC New York State Urban Development Corporation, a: Paul Rudolph)	Buffalo: Erie Basin, Lower West Side	1969	Pb
(more)

Parks​	Location​	Year​	Status​
Beacon Beach	Buffalo: Outer Harbor	190x	Ub
Sawyer Farm Park	Buffalo: Kensington	1913	Ub
Stony Point Park / Lakefront Park / original South Park (a: Frederick Law Olmsted)	Buffalo: South Buffalo	188x	Ab
Times Beach	Buffalo: Outer Harbor	1931	Ab
(more)

Planned neighborhoods, communities, and new towns​	Location​	Year​	Status​
Audubon New Community: pod-and-cluster style "new town" (d: NYSUDC New York State Urban Development Corporation, a: Llewelyn-Davies Associates)	Amherst: Getzville	1969	Pb
Audubon Village: Radburn-style development (d: Charles S Burkhardt)	Amherst: North Forest	1929	Pb
Depew: FLO Riverside-style development (d: Depew Improvement Company, a: Frederick Law Olmsted)	Cheektowaga, Lancaster, Depew	188x	Pb
Parkside: Riverside-style development (a: Frederick Law Olmsted)	Buffalo: Parkside	188x	Ba
Pleasant Meadows: original TND proposal (d: Marrano/Marc Equity)	Lancaster	2008	Ub
Ransom Oaks: pod-and-cluster style development (d: New Smith Development, a: Victor Gruen Associates)	Amherst: Swormville	1968	Pb
Renaissance Village: TND / new urbanism (d: GPI)	Cheektowaga: Cedargrove Heights	200x	Ub
River Oaks: pod-and-cluster style development (d: William F Caldwell Associates, a: Victor Gruen Associates)	Grand Island	196x	Pb
Spaulding Green: original TND proposal (d: Dominic Piestrak)	Clarence	2004	Ub
Summit Park: planned community with industrial park (d: Forest City)	Wheatfield	1968	Pb
Unnamed Shaker Heights sequel: legacy TOD (d: Mantis and Otto Van Sweringen)	Tonawanda: Lincoln Park, Belmont (?)	1927	Ub
Villa Park: Riverside-style development (d: Bronson Rumsey, a: Frederick Law Olmsted)	Buffalo: North Buffalo	188x	Ab

Large subdivisions and land speculation schemes​	Location​	Year​	Status​
Ararat: utopian community, Jewish homeland in North America (d: Mordecai Manuel Noah)	Grand Island	1825	Ub
Athol Springs	Hamburg	189x	Pb
Bellevue	Cheektowaga, Lancaster	188x	Pb
Buffalo Heights	Fort Erie	192x	Pb
Fairmont / Pullman / Military Heights	Tonawanda: southwest	188x	Pb
Gatling: industrial town / land scam?	Farnham	18xx	Ab
Grover Cleveland Park: subdivision for upscale housing (Mayor Steven Pankow)	Buffalo: Kensington	1956	Ub
Laing's Park	Tonawanda	1896	Pb
Lake Erie Beach (d: Buffalo Courier / Buffalo Express subscription promotion)	Evans: Angola	1922	Pb
Model City: utopian community, grid (d: William T. Love)	Lewiston, Niagara Falls NY	1890	Ab
Monahinga Park	Grand Island	18xx	Ab
Ridgewood-By-The-Lake	Fort Erie	19xx	Pb
Rose Hill Estates	Fort Erie	1926	Pb
Tuxedo Park	Grand Island	18xx	Ab
Winchester	West Seneca	18xx	Pb
(more)

Surface streets and parkways​	Location​	Year​	Status​
Bellevue Boulevard	Sloan, Cheektowaga, Depew	190x	Pb
Buffalo-Depew Boulevard	Buffalo, Cheektowga, Depew	190x	Pb
Buffalo - Washington - New Orleans National Road	Buffalo to New Orleans via Washington DC	1827	Ub
Colvin Avenue: as Colvin Boulevard / Niagara Falls Boulevard	Tonawanda (city), North Tonawanda, Wheatfield, Niagara Falls NY	189x	Pb
The Concourse	Buffalo: Downtown	1922	Ub
Ellicott Square - Niagara Square tunnel	Buffalo: Downtown	1945	Ub
Fillmore Parkway	Buffalo: Polonia	187x	Ba
George Alt Boulevard	Grand Island	19xx	Pb
Grider Street extension	Buffalo: Highland Park / Leroy Avenue to Main Street	1913	Ba
Lackawanna Bypass Boulevard	Lackawanna	1911	Ub
McKinley Parkway extension	Lackawanna, Hamburg	192x	Pb
Parkside Avenue: extension through Forest Lawn Cemetery	Buffalo	1896	Ub
Roosevelt National Highway	Buffalo to Washington DC	1909	Ub

Expressways and limited access highways​	Location​	Year​	Status​
Aurora Expressway: Olean extension	Aurora to Olean	196x	Ub
Belt Expressway (I-890?)	Erie / Niagara counties, Niagara Falls NY: Downtown / Rainbow Bridge (ON-420) to Blasdell: NY-5 via Wheatfield, North Tonawanda, Amherst, Clarence, Lancaster, Elma, Orchard Park, Hamburg	195x	Pb
Boston Hills Expressway / Southern Tier Expressway (US 219 / I-67?)	Lackawanna: I-90 to Cumberland, Maryland	195x	Pb
Broadway-Fillmore Expressway	Buffalo: East Side Expressway (Ub) to Niagara Thruway (I-190)	195x	Ub
Crosstown Expressway (I-990?)	West Seneca : Aurora Expressway I-90 / NY-400 interchange to Amherst: Lockport Expressway I-290 / I-990 interchange	195x	Ub
East Side Expressway	Buffalo: Masten Park NY-33 to Cheektowaga	195x	Ub
Fort Erie-Windsor toll road: private highway ●	Fort Erie to Windsor	1939	Ub
Fort Erie-Windsor toll road: provincial highway ●	Fort Erie to Windsor	1955	Ub
Gowanda Expressway	Hamburg: I-90 to Gowanda, Jamestown	195x	Ub
Kenmore Expressway: West Side route	Buffalo: Downtown to Tonawanda via Allentown, Elmwood Village, North Buffalo	195x	Ub
Kenmore Expressway: Kensington route	Buffalo: Kensington NY-33 to City of Tonawanda: NY-425 via DL&WRR / IRC High Speed Line corridor	195x	Ub
Kensington Expressway (NY 33): Elm-Oak Arterial	Buffalo: Downtown	195x	Ub
Kensington Expressway (NY 33): Lancaster extension	Cheektowaga to Lancaster: Bowmansville	195x	Ub
King's Highway 406 (ON-406) ●	St. Catharines to Port Colborne	1959	Pb
Lake Ontario State Parkway (NY 957A) (Robert Moses)	Youngstown to Rochester	195x	Ub
Lancaster Expressway	Cheektowaga: I-90 to Lancaster	196x	Ub
Lockport Expressway (I-990)	Amherst: I-290 to Lockport	195x	Pb
Midcity Thruway: alternative to 90/190 Mainline/Niagara Thruway	Buffalo / South Buffalo, Cold Spring, Delaware District, Black Rock	1945	Ub
Mid-Peninsula Highway (ON-4xx) ●	Fort Erie: QEW to Burlington: ON-407	195x	Ub
New York State Thruway (I-90): originally planned alignment around Buffalo	Hamburg, Orchard Park, Elma, Lancaster, Newstead	1943	Ba
North Park Expressway	Buffalo: Kensington, North Buffalo	195x	Ub
Ontario Turnpike ●	Fort Erie: QEW to London ON: ON-401	1994	Ub
Orleans Expressway (I-990)	Lockport to Rochester	196x	Pb
Springville - Dansville Interstate highway	Springville: US-219 to Dansville: I-390	196x	Ub
West Side Arterial	Buffalo: Fruit Belt, West Village (NY-33 to I-190)	196x	Ub
(more)

Railroads​	Location​	Year​	Status​
Boston, Hoosic Tunnel, and Western Railroad	Buffalo, Tonawanda, Amherst, Clarence, Newstead to Albany roughly following Kenmore Avenue / Main Street	1882	Ub
Buffalo, Lackawanna, and Pacific Railroad (Canadian Pacific Railway)	Buffalo: Riverside, Black Rock; Tonawanda, North Tonawanda, Wheatfield, Niagara Falls, along the Niagara River	1889	Ub
Buffalo, Lake Erie, and Niagara Railroad		1905	Ub
Buffalo, Rochester, and Eastern Railroad	Buffalo to Troy	1907	Ub
Buffalo, Thousand Islands, and Portland Railroad		1890	Ab
Frontier and Western Railroad	Buffalo: Riverside, Black Rock; Tonawanda	1910	Ub
Frontier Terminal Railroad		19xx	Ub
New York Central: Buffalo bypass	Batavia, Akron, Newstead, Clarence, Amherst, Tonawanda, Grand Island, Niagara Falls ON, Welland	191x	Ab
New York Central: Water Level Route electrification	Upstate New York: Hudson River Valley, Erie Canal / Thruway corridor	192x-194x	Ub
New York Central: Water Level Route "six-tracking" - expansion to 6 tracks	Upstate New York: Hudson River Valley, Erie Canal / Thruway corridor	1910	Ub
Niagara Transfer Railway	Buffalo: Riverside, Black Rock; Tonawanda	1901	Ub
North Tonawanda Belt Line Railriad	North Tonawanda, roughly following Wurlitzer Dr, Woodward Av	1891	Ub
Rome, Watertown, and Ogdensburg Railroad	Niagara Falls NY, Tonawanda, Buffalo, Cheektowaga, Lancaster	18xx	Ub
Toronto Hamilton and Buffalo Railroad: Grand Island line	Buffalo, Tonawanda, Grand Island, Niagara Falls ON, Welland	1918	Ub
(more)

Railroad stations​	Location​	Year​	Status​
(various Union Station proposals)
(various NYCRR proposals - Exchange Street, Terrace)
(West Shore terminal)
Grand Union Depot (George Cary City Beautiful-style proposal)	Buffalo / Downtown-Erie Basin	1904	Ub
New York Central Railroad: Union Station at Clinton St / Emslie St	Buffalo / Lower East Side	1916	Ub
New York Central Railroad: fowntown station and office building at Washington St / Exchange St	Buffalo / Downtown-Lower Main	1916	Ub
New York Central Railroad: Grand Island Baseline-Staley terminal (unbuilt NYCRR Buffalo cutoff)	Grand Island	1919	Ub
New York Central Railroad: Union Station at William St / Fillmore Av	Buffalo / East Side	1906	Ub
New York Central Railroad: Terrace Street station	Buffalo / Downtown	1910	Ub
(more

Rail / fixed guideway transit lines and systems​	Location​	Year​	Status​
Interurban: Buffalo, Batavia, and Rochester	Erie, Genesee, Monroe counties	190x	Pb
Interurban: Buffalo - East Aurora line (d: Buffalo Southern)	West Seneca, Elma, Aurora, East Aurora	190x	Ub
Interurban: Buffalo - Williamsville in dedicated ROW (d: Buffalo and Williamsville)	Buffalo, Cheektowaga, Amherst, Williamsville	189x	Ub
Monorail: Niagara Falls Monorail (Goodell Monorail)	Niagara Falls NY, Niagara Falls ON	1963-1971	Ub
Rapid transit: Belt Line electrification (d: NYCRR New York Central Railroad)	Buffalo	1900s-1920s	Ub
Rapid transit: Buffalo-Amherst Corridor heavy rail (d: NFTA)	Buffalo, Amherst	1970	Ub
Rapid transit: Buffalo-Amherst Corridor light rail (LRRT, d: NFTA)	Buffalo, Amherst	1976	Pb
Rapid transit: Buffalo Chamber of Commerce subway study/proposal	Buffalo	1918	Ub
Rapid transit: Michigan Avenue elevated	Buffalo: Downtown, Fruit Belt, Cold Spring	1917	Ub
Rapid transit: William Street - West Side subway (d: Buffalo Subway Company)	Buffalo, Cheektowaga	1906	Ub
Streetcar: Bailey Avenue line (d: IRC International Railway Company)	Buffalo: South Buffalo to Kensington	190x	Ub
Streetcar: Central Terminal line (d: IRC International Railway Company)	Buffalo: Polonia	1926	Ab
Streetcar: Delavan Avenue line (d: IRC International Railway Company)	Buffalo	190x	Ub
Streetcar: Shelton Square streetcar subway	Buffalo: Downtown	191x	Ub
Trolley bus: streetcar replacement plan (d: Niagara Frontier Transit Commission)	Buffalo	194x	Ub
(more)

Marine, harbor, and canal projects​	Location​	Year​	Status​
All Amercan Canal (Niagara Ship Canal)	Niagara County	1924	Ub
All Amercan Canal (Niagara Ship Canal) (Army Corps of Engineers)	Erie / Niagara counties	1956	Ub
Amherst Marine Parkway	Amherst	1965	Ub
Buffalo River straightening	Buffalo: First Ward, Hydraulics, Kaisertown	189x	Pb
Erie and Niagara Sanitary Canal	Erie / Niagara counties	1908	Ub
Love Canal (William T. Love)	Niagara Falls NY: Lasalle	1894	Ab
Niagara Falls: clearing talus at the American Falls base	Niagara Falls NY: Downtown	1969	Ab
(need to trim back the ship canal proposals)
Niagara Ship Canal (James Geddes)	Niagara County	1808	Ub
Niagara Ship Canal (Albert Gallatin)	Niagara County	1808	Ub
Niagara Ship Canal (John Pope)	Niagara County	1810	Ub
Niagara Ship Canal (NYS Canal Commission)	Niagara County	1811	Ub
Niagara Ship Canal (Nathan Roberts)	Niagara County	1826	Ub
Niagara Ship Canal (NYS Utica Convention)	Niagara County	1834	Ub
Niagara Ship Canal (William G. Williams)	Niagara County	1835	Ub
Niagara Ship Canal (private corporation)	Niagara County	1853	Ub
Niagara Ship Canal (US House of Representatives bill)	Niagara County	1858	Ub
Niagara Ship Canal (National Canal Convention)	Niagara County	1863	Ub
Niagara Ship Canal (private corporation)	Niagara County	1864	Ub
Niagara Ship Canal (Niagara Ship Canal Company)	Niagara County	1866	Ub
Niagara Ship Canal (Army Corps of Engineers)	Niagara County	1867	Ub
Niagara Ship Canal (Detroit Canal Commission)	Niagara County	1871	Ub
Niagara Ship Canal (John M. Wilson)	Niagara County	1883	Ub
Niagara Ship Canal (Elnathan Sweet)	Niagara County	1884	Ub
Niagara Ship Canal (Carl Palfrey)	Niagara County	1888	Ub
Niagara Ship Canal (William Pierson Judson)	Niagara County	1890	Ub
(more)

Airports​	Location​	Year​	Status​
BUF spoke-and-wheel terminal reconstruction (d: NFTA)	Cheektowaga	1967	Ub
BUF jetport: Newstead site (d: NFTA)	Newstead	197x	Ub
BUF jetport: Pendleton-Wheatfield site (d: NFTA)	Pendleton, Wheatfield	1969	Ub
BUF / ROC shared jetport: Batavia site (d: NFTA)	Bethany	1971	Ub
Grand Island regional airport	Grand Island	194x	Ub
NIA expansion: added runways, 78+ gates	Niagara Falls NY	196x	Ub
(more)

Bridges and tunnels​	Location​	Year​	Status​
Ambassador Bridge East (d: Detroit International Bridge Company / Manuel Moroun) ●●	Buffalo: Black Rock to Fort Erie	1999	Ub
Buffalo River tunnel: 1st proposal	Buffalo: Downtown, Inner Harbor, Outer Harbor	191x	Ub
Buffalo River tunnel: Athol Springs-Niagara Falls expressway	Buffalo: Downtown, Inner Harbor, Outer Harbor	1940	Ub
Grand Island south bridge: rail bridge (d: Grand Island Bridge Company)	Buffalo to Grand Island via Strawberry Island	1898	Ab
Grand Island south and west bridges: double deck road/rail/transit (d: New York Central Railroad, Canadian Pacific Railroad) ●●	Tonawanda to Grand Island, Grand Island: Sheenwater to Niagara Falls ON: Willoughby / Black Creek	1918	Ab
High Level Bridge: Buffalo River crossing	Buffalo: Downtown, Inner Harbor, Outer Harbor	192x	Ba
Niagara River tunnel to Fort Erie (William Wallace) ●●	Buffalo / Downtown-Erie Basin to Fort Erie / Old Fort Erie	1852	Ub
Peace Bridge: Niagara Falls alternative ●●	Niagara Falls, NY: Downtown to Niagara Falls ON: Clifton Hill	191x	Ba
Peace Bridge: original stone arch proposal ●●	Buffalo: West Side to Fort Erie	191x	Ub
Peace Bridge: 2nd span ●●	Buffalo: West Side to Fort Erie	2000	Ub
Unnamed Buffalo-Fort Erie Niagara River crossing ●●	Buffalo: West Side to Fort Erie	181x	Ub
(other)

Recreation, sports, and gaming facilities​	Location​	Year​	Status​
Buffalo Forum: 12,000 seat hockey arena (a: H. E. Plumer)	Buffalo: Masten Park	1927	Ub
Canadian Motor Speedway: NASCAR track ●	Fort Erie	2005	Ub
Crossroads Stadium (d: City of Buffalo)	Buffalo: Downtown	1958	Ub
Erie County Dome Stadium (Buffalo Bills, future MLB team, d: Erie County, Kenford Co. / Edward Cottrell)	Lancaster	1969	Ab
Erie County Stadium: Amherst (Buffalo Bills, future MLB team, d: Erie County)	Amherst	196x	Ub
Erie County Stadium: Cheektowaga (Buffalo Bills, future MLB team, d: Erie County)	Cheektowaga / Airport area	196x	Ub
Erie County Stadium: Crossroads dome (Buffalo Bills, future MLB team, d: Erie County)	Buffalo: Downtown	196x	Ub
Erie County Stadium: Hamburg (Buffalo Bills, future MLB team, d: Erie County)	Hamburg: Windom	196x	Ub
Erie County Stadium complex: baseball stadium (future MLB team, d: Erie County)	Orchard Park	1972	Ub
E-Zone: indoor amusement park (d: Syata Group)	Buffalo: Outer Harbor	2002	Ub
Frank Sinatra Casino	Niagara Falls NY: Downtown	197x	BS
Mongolian Cultural Village: cultural center / museum, Buddhist park, 164'/50m statue of Genghis Khan with laser eyes on horseback (d: Tsogt Batbayar)	Niagara Falls NY: Downtown	2007	Ub
International Club: fly-in resort with 4 golf courses, hotel tower ●	Fort Erie	1928	Pb
Magical Land of Oz: theme park	Wheatfield	2005	Ub
Old MacDonald's Farm: theme park ●	Niagara Falls ON: Chippawa	1972	Ub
OnCore: golf-themed mixed use development	Buffalo: First Ward	2019	Pr
Rainbow Gardens: theme park	Niagara Falls NY: Downtown	1964	Ub
Sahlen Field (Pilot Field): expansion for future MLB team (d: City of Buffalo, a: HOK)	Buffalo: Downtown	1988	Pb
Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino: originally planned casino building	Buffalo: Cobblestone District	2007	Pb
Seneca Cheektowaga Casino ("Cheektovegas")	Cheektowaga: Airport	2003	Ub
Tivoli Gardens: 150 ac/60 ha theme park in River Oaks PUD (d Loeb Rhodes & Company, Caldwell Development)	Grand Island: River Oaks	1970	Ub
unnamed Chinese cultural theme park (d: Ancient Chinese City Development Corp. of Scarborough) ●	Niagara Falls ON: Chippawa	1989	Ub
unnamed "international flavor" park (d: Nat Winecoff)	Niagara Falls NY: Downtown	1972	Ub
Veda Land: 700 acre theme park (d: Doug Henning / Maharishi Heaven on Earth Development) ●	Niagara Falls ON: Chippawa	1992	Ub
Walt Disney World Niagara: theme park ●	Niagara Falls ON	1963	Ub
(stadiums)
(more)

 

[The One]

Well.....

Looks like Rumpy will have his hands full in Buffalo:-c I'm waiting for his response to this laundry list of issues......:-o

 

[bflo_la]

Dan,

A few others...

* Seaway Tower(s) (was to be located next to HSBC) mid 80's

* New convention center and hotel tower (M&T's Washington street sea of parking) late 90's

*50 story waterfront condo (Rendering sooo not believable) - early 2000's

* The Save Your Unborn Baby Watefront Arch

* World Trade Center (plans 1 and 2) was to have been located within the vicinity of the Peace Bridge --- one or two towers, one possibly 50-60 stories

*35-45 story tower proposed for an empty lot next to Pilot Field - late 80's

*The original UB Amherst plan - conceptually considered at one time to be constructed as one building.

 

[jsk1983]

I'm sure some of you have seen this before, but this is a map from a 1954 Erie County Planning Report.

This image is from 1966-67 Biennial Report for the Town of Amherst. Pretty sure it was never built.

 

[JK2K21]

The indoor amusement park on the waterfront. circa 2004.

 

[jsk1983]

I was at the Walden Super Flea a few weeks ago and came across a booklet on the proposed Humboldt Park Music Hall from I'd assume the 1930s. I believe this was an E.B. Green work but was obviously never built. The booklet includes renderings, floor plans, sight plans, etc. I just moved so I'm not sure where it is but I'll scan it and post it when I do.

 

[Dan]

Bumping the thread with the Buffalo City Tower. Its death is old news, but still ...

http://www.buffalo-city-tower.com/

 

[Shellac And Vinyl VelocitY]

Bumping the thread with the Buffalo City Tower. Its death is old news, but still ...

http://www.buffalo-city-tower.com/

Are you inclined to believe that Issa had seriously intended to see the project through--or rather that he was a flamboyant flipper from the start?:-|

 

[jsk1983]

Are you inclined to believe that Issa had seriously intended to see the project through--or rather that he was a flamboyant flipper from the start?:-|

Being from Buffalo I was a bit cynical from the start. Of course not everything proposed here in Chicago (i.e. Chicago Spire) gets built, but still it seems like its worse in Buffalo.

 

[Dan]

A few more to add to the list:

* Villa Park - Frederick Law Olmsted-designed development in North Buffalo (late 1800s)

* Magical Land of Oz amusement park - Wheatfield (1990s)

* Renaissance Village - TND in Cheektowaga (2000s)

• Stony Point Park - now the former site of Bethlehem Steel in Lackawanna (late 1800s)
• E-Zone - planned indoor amusement park on the waterfront (1990s)
• Ransom Oaks - only a very small portion of the planned community in Amherst was built (1970s)
• Riverhaven - large planned community in Grand Island (1970s)
• Largest golf resort in the world, Fort Erie (1920s)

A correction: plans for the All-American Canal, also called the Niagara Ship Canal, began in the 1790s, making it the longest-term unbuilt project in Buffalo's history.

 

[Dan]

Add a couple of dead lifestyle center proposals to the list.

* Seneca Place (West Seneca)

* Amherst Town Center (Amherst)

 

[Doohickie]

Add a couple of dead lifestyle center proposals to the list.

* Seneca Place (West Seneca)

[youtube]Wmv0U3-Gbyk[/youtube]

That kind of looks like something they built in Fort Worth, although without the big event venues. It was an old block of industrial buildings, some torn down and built with new buildings (like the 3-4 story apartment buildings in Seneca Place), and remodeling some of the old industrial stuff into nouveau restaurants, shops and apartments.

It was actually done by several developers, at least 3, and the centerpiece is Montgomery Plaza, an old Montgomery Ward warehouse converted to shops & lofts. Some of the outlying former industrial buildings are still being redeveloped.

This whole thread is kind of interesting, seeing what might have been. The Renaissance Village in Cheektwaga is interesting too.... sprucing up the old Tiorunda public housing tract. I grew up near there (across the Thruway and Genesee).

 

[Buffaboy]

I've seen this list a couple times over the years. A 23-story apartment tower will be built on the Outer Harbor, so it (fortunately) won't make this list.

There was a project called 33 Gates Circle that is in the shelves for now. It's a proposed 23-story tower south that I haven't heard about in 6 or 7 years.

Perhaps the most beneficial of these dead projects IMO would be the Outer Beltway. I'm a Hamburger, so access to the eastern suburbs and I-90 past Clarence would be great.

 

[Dan]

Unbuilt Buffalo airports: first, the big jetport that was going to occupy thousands of acres north of Buffalo, in the Niagara County towns of Wheatfield and Pendleton.

Earlier plans to expand the Niagara Falls International Airport. 78 gates -- they were optimistic then.

Plan B: placing the airport in the Town of Newstead, about 20-25 miles (30-40 km) east of Buffalo.

A couple more planned communities where construction started, but they were never built to their originally planned scale.

Ransom Oaks in Amherst.

Original proposal River Oaks in Grand Island, 1970.

The roots of Buffalo's expressway system goes back to the 1930s, with proposals for a limited access highwy running from Athol Springs (a neighborhood in Hamburg) to downtown Niagara Falls. The route would have folllowed what is today's Hamburg Turnpike and Skyway to downtown, Niagara Thruway/190 along the Niagara River and across Grand Island, and Robert Moses Parkway along the north shore of the Niagara River.

When Buffalo's original expressway system was first proposed in 1946, many area planners backed an alternative "Midcity Thruway" routing. Their justification -- it would take New York State Thruway traffic through the center of the city, rather than pass aaround its outskirts, better serving cty residents and those commuting downtown. The alternative plan would have been far more destructive than the original 1946 plan (which ultimately was built, with some modifications), have dealt a huge blow to Buffalo's property tax base, and would have destroyed one of Buffalo's wealthiest neighborhoods, along with many working class East Side neighborhoods, and the city's then-small African-American neighborhood along Michigan Avenue. (Contrary to armchair urbanist belief, when the route of the Kensington Expressway (NY 33) was planned in 1946, all the neighborhoods it passed through were predominantly white ethnic at the time.)

Here's the Erie County Planning Board's crazy expressway-all-the-roads proposal from 1958. Not only does it include an early version of the unbuilt Outer Belt Expressway, but also an Outer Outer Belt Expressway beyond that, effectively giving Buffalo four beltways. It would have run through the Cattaragus Indian lands to the south, and likely through the Tuscarora Nation lands to the north. Very Houston. Also, it proposes the Gowanda Expressway (unbuilt), Niagara Expressway, East Side Expressway, the Grand Island bridge to Canada (an unrealized dream dating abck to the late 1800s), and conversion of many arterial streets to expressways (Niagara Falls Boulevard, Transit Road, Sheridan Drive, Walden Avenue Broadway, Harlem Road, Union Road, Southwestern Boulevard, Mile Strip Road), and a parkway along the south side of Tonawanda Creek.

Finally, Concept 5. Expressways, the Wheatfield-Pendleton Jetport, expressways, a domed stadium, more expressways, and an All American Canal providing an alternative to the Welland Canal. This includes the Outer Belt, completed Lake Ontario Parkway to Niagara Falls, the Orleans Expressway from Lockport to Rochester, the Lancaster Expressway (which still gets thrown around today), an ABC (Amherst Buffalo Corridor) expressway (!), the West Side and Elm-Oak arterials connecting the 33 (Kensington Expressway) to the 190 (Niagara Thruway), some kind of highway connecting the Lockport Expressway and Outer Belt to the (never built) Wheatfield-Pendleton Jetport, and an expressway along the never-built All American Canal, crossing Grand Island into Ontario, likely connecting with the Mid-Peninsula Highway and the 407 north of Burlington. (The Mid-Pen is a project that refuses to die. Studies recommend the road, a few years later another study will say it isn't economically or environmentally feasible, a few years later another study resurrects the idea, a few years later it dies, ad nauseaum.)

EDIT: the adopted version of Concept 5. October 1, 1970.

There’s a very popular urban legend that Robert Moses laid out and built Buffalo’s expressway system. In reality, he very little to do with it. Blame Ladislas Segoe (the father of Buffalo’s expressway plan), Bertram Tallamy (who originally conceived of the idea of the Niagara Thruway in the 1920s), Elmer Youngmann (the engineer that coordinates the building of it all), and other locally influential transportation engineers and planners of the era.

So, what did Moses do in Buffalo? As chairman of the New York State Council of Parks:

* In the late 1930s, he has some influence over the siting of the parks and parkway systems in Niagara Falls and Grand Island -- which were in the works since the 1920s, and made part of the first Grand Island comprehensive plan by Thomas Adams and George Diehl.

* He helped get the funding for the first South and North Grand Island Bridge spans from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. Moses also took credit for the idea of building both Grand Island bridges, but they were in the works long before he got involved; first as part of early bridge schemes from the late 1800s and early 1900s, and in the 1920s, part of the Erie County Motorways plan, and a combined vehicle/railroad bridge that the New York Central Railroad almost built.

* Moses tried to take credit for the idea of the Niagara Thruway (I-190), claiming it was a former state parkway proposal that would be rolled into the Thruway project. However, the concept of a waterfront parkway or expressway from Hamburg (Athol Springs) or Lackawanna to Niagara Falls dates back to the 1930s, long before Moses got involved in any local projects. During the mid-1940s, when Buffalo area planners were debating the merits of a waterfront vs inland route for what would become the Niagara Thruway, Moses threw in his support for a waterfront route. Supposedly, his intent was to prolong the debate about the route, so state highway funding intended for Buffalo would be redirected to his projects Downstate.

With the New York State Power Authority:

* Got the Robert Moses Parkway along the Niagara River built. The stretch from the Niagara Thruway/190 to downtown Niagara Falls was built on fill from the then-new Lewiston Reservoir.

* Originally, the Niagara Thruway /190was supposed to take a hard turn to the west after crossing the North Grand Island Bridge into Niagara Falls proper, follow the old IRC High Speed Line corridor to downtown Niagara Falls, and cross the Niagara River using the Rainbow Bridge, connecting to the 420 in Ontario. Moses applied a lot of pressure to reroute the path of the Niagara Thruway to a bypass around the city, over the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant, to the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge. In a way, Moses' actions to move the 190 "saved" downtown Niagara Falls, or at least delayed its decline. The original route to the Rainbow Bridge would have been far more destructive to downtown NFNY (and the Clifton Hill area in NFON), even though it's what city leaders preferred..

In my opinion, if Moses has anything to do with Buffalo’s expressways, folks would have been driving on the Outer Belt, Kenmore Expressway, Crosstown Expressway, Orleans Expressway, and Lancaster Arterial — in 1970. The Kensington Expressway/33 and Niagara Thruway/190 would probably be in more parklike settings.

Anyhow ...

The late 1960s/early 1970s was a time when there was a brief flash of intense optimism, and local leaders believed Buffalo was on the cusp of a boom. There was still natural population growth from natural births (big Catholic families were still the rule), and in-migration at the tail end of the Northern Cities Migration. The suburbs were experiencing a building boom, and city neighborhoods were still crowded, despite being kind of run down. There were BIG plans on the drawing board -- All-American Canal, Wheatfield-Pendleton Jetport, Lancaster domed stadium -- and a lot of state and federal dollars to make them happen. Also, during that time:

• Buffalo straddled the boundary between second and third tier cities. Its peers among American cities were the likes of Dallas, Atlanta, Seattle, Denver, and Miami. Today, it's more like a fourth tier city -- its peers are places like Louisville, Memphis, Omaha, and ... Rochester.
• SUNY Buffalo was fairly new, and state officials intended it to be the flagship SUNY center -- like Ohio State, Penn State, University of Michigan, etc -- with an peak enrollment of 40K-80K students.
• Buffalo was a serious contender for a MLB expansion team. A few years later, it landed the Sabres and Braves. It was one of the smallest metros with three of the "big four" pro sports, and it almost had all four.
• Buffalo's banking industry had a very high profile for a city its size -- headquarters for Marine Midland (HSBC), and big regional banks like M&T, Liberty, and Erie.
• The Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant replaced the (destroyed) Schoellkopf power station. Construction brought thousands of new workers into Niagara Falls, reversing that city's slow decline for a short while.
• The real estate section of the Sunday Courier-Express and Saturday Buffalo Evening News was packed with advertising for new houses and subdivisions; almost like you'd see in a booming Sunbelt city.
• After decades of post-Depression malaise, there was a sudden and intense burst of major construction projects downtown -- Marine Midland Center, M&T, Main Place Mall, various county/state/federal office buildings, Statler Hilton renovation, and many others on the drawing board. For a couple of decades, those "evil" urban renewal projects returned a LOT of life back into what was a slowly dying downtown. Most people of that era saw urban "grit" as seedy, dangerous, and an indicator of decay and decline -- not something that's "authentic", "real", or desirable.
• Buffalo's factories were still expanding, or at least humming along. Mass layoffs, closures, and relocation to Southern states and Mexico were years off.
• Buffalo still had some Fortune 500 companies -- American Gypsum, Houdaille Industries, and a few others -- and its old money families still had a lot of money and pull. The families who names are on streets, museums, and buildings at UB, were still prominent.

TL/DR: Buffalo's spirit of optimism today is nothing compared to the zeitgeist of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The difference - in the 1960s, there was the money and power to turn Buffalo's big plans into reality, even though it didn't always happen. The megaprojects and civic optimism weren't enough to overcome an even stronger "convergence of suck". Same thing for Cleveland, and even more so for Detroit.

 

[Doohickie]

first, the big jetport that was going to occupy thousands of acres north of Buffalo, in the Niagara County towns of Wheatfield and Pendleton.

The concept drawing at the top looks like half of DFW Airport, complete with the semicircular terminals.

TL/DR: Buffalo's spirit of optimism today is nothing compared to the zeitgeist of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The difference - in the 1960s, there was the money and power to turn Buffalo's big plans into reality, even though it didn't always happen. The megaprojects and civic optimism weren't enough to overcome an even stronger "convergence of suck". Same thing for Cleveland, and even more so for Detroit.

I grew up in the middle of that. I remember the old AFL Buffalo Bills, and when Buffalo first got the Sabres. The franchise got off to a good start and made the Stanley Cup Finals in 1975, but they never advanced beyond that. I think 1970-ish was a high water mark for the city, because it wasn't too long after that the steep decline started. My mom's entire family (5 brothers) were all laid off from Bethlehem Steel when Japanese steel came in. Until the recent uptick, most of my life has witnessed nothing but decline for Buffalo.

Most people of that era saw urban "grit" as seedy, dangerous, and an indicator of decay and decline

Also consider that the civil rights movement was happening during this time. I can remember lots of news coverage about busing to achieve integration. We lived in a suburb (Cheektowaga) and were not involved with the busing thing but I can remember my mom being concerned that they might try to pull the suburbs into it.

 

[Dan]

There's several versions of the 1920s-era Greater Buffalo Motorways system plan, but this is the most ambitious. The inspiration for the Greater Buffalo Motorways system was the Detroit "super-highway" system that gave Southeast Michigan its wide divided mile roads. In the Buffalo area, only Sheridan Drive and parts of McKinley Parkway were built as divided parkways. Many proposed roads in this plan were built, but as two- and four-lane un-divided streets, not divided parkways.

This plan also includes the original Niagara Falls Boulevard concept -- not today's NY 62, but what became Colvin Avenue. The disconnected section of "Colvin Boulevard" in Niagara Falls was going to be the nothern end of the original NFB. DiMatteo Drive in North Tonawanda is also a segment of what was going to be Colvin Boulevard. The original Colvin Boulevard alignment of NFB had been a dream of civic leaders since the late 1800s, but it died with a whimper in the 1950s and 1960s. Some of the right-of-way for the project still exists through North Tonawanda and Wheatfield, and there's a few other remaining traces in the built environment.

I've seen newspaper articles from the 1960s reference road projects and their relation to the Greater Buffalo Motorways plan.

 

[Dan]

From the Buffalo Evening News, January 5 1928

"A year or so ago, representatives of the Van Sweringen interests of Cleveland sought to take an option on a tract of several hundred acres between Buffalo and Tonawanda, where an intensive suburban development project was planned. This tract was close to the high speed line and the impression was given at that time that a development, similar to the Shaker Heights development, was to be carried out. This realty deal was not consummated, however."

tl;dr: tto and Mantis Van Sweringen were planning on building Shaker Heights 2.0 in Tonawanda, along the High Speed Line, an interurban route in private right-of-way that connected Buffalo and Niagara Falls until abandonment by the International Railway Company abandoned it in 1937. My holy grail of unbuilt Buffalo -- plans for the Van Brothers' Shaker Heights sequel in Tonawanda.

 

[Dan]

There was a project called 33 Gates Circle that is in the shelves for now. It's a proposed 23-story tower south that I haven't heard about in 6 or 7 years.

33 Gates Circle -- the original proposal. NIMBY put a halt to it, and high end townhouses are taking its place.

 

[Dan]

From 1963: the Niagara Falls Monorail.


There's nothin' on Earth like a genuine bona-fide electrified six-car monorail!

 

[Doohickie]

Seems a bit naive to me. Everyone who rode it would need to process through customs & immigration.

 

[Dan]

Seems a bit naive to me. Everyone who rode it would need to process through customs & immigration.

It was a lot easier before 9-11.

Citizenship?
United States.
Where are you headed today?
Mints.
Have a good day.

 

[Doohickie]

But still you had to have that convo with everyone on the train.

 

[Dan]

A few more. This one's from from 1954. Early plans for limited access highways in the US included a direct route between Buffalo and Charlotte. Kind of ironic, considering all the Buffalonians that fled to Charlotte between 1990 and 2010.


Sketch of an earlier proposal for a shorter, stumpier City Hall building.

Original plans for the Shoreline Apartments complex on the Buffalo waterfront, from New York State Urban Development Corporation, by Paul Rudolph. 1969.

 

[Dan]

* The Save Your Unborn Baby Watefront Arch

The Arch of Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and International Shrine of the Holy Innocents. That name is only a little bit longer than some od the Buffalo Diocese parish names, The Web site is still active! A description of the project:

In January 2001, the first month of the new millennium, The Association for The Arch of Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and International Shrine of the Holy Innocents, a not-for-profit New York corporation, was formed in Buffalo, New York. As described in detail in our Prospectus, the Association’s purpose is to build a truly world-class, globally significant shrine, to be located on the shore of Lake Erie adjacent to downtown Buffalo. The shrine will feature primarily a monumental, ascendable, golden triumphal arch, The Arch of Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to be the world’s tallest monument measuring 700 feet to the tip of the golden Cross that will surmount its peak (seven being the mystical number of perfection, as Mary represents the perfection of humanity).

The first proposal:

The most recent version:

 

[Dan]

Another early unbuilt proposal for City Hall in the 1920s.

 

[Dan]

Well, this never happened.

The Walden Galleria was originally supposed to be a high-end upscale mall, not just a nice larger-than-average super-regional mall. Here's the never-opened 150,000 square foot B. Altman department store, planned to be one of the mall's many anchor stores. (There's still a Lord & Taylor in the Galleria, and Bonwit Teller also had a Galleria location.)

 

[Dan]

Unbuilt proposal for City Hall by architect J.J.W. Bradney, from February 1928.

Unbuilt Buffalo Skyway proposal, January 1934.

Buffalo River tunnel, January 1942

Early proposal for a pedestrian mall and bus subway on Main Street, September 1954.

Kensington Expressway extension, January 1959.

 

[Doohickie]

Here's the never-opened 150,000 square foot B. Altman department store

Why did it never open? They had the sign up but it never opened?

 

[Dan]

Why did it never open? They had the sign up but it never opened?

The company went bankrupt right before the store was supposed to open. B. Altman was very "stuffy" and "patrician" compared to other luxury department store chains, but it was the closest the Buffalo area got to a store in the same class as Nordstrom or Neiman-Marcus.

Back to unbuilt Buffalo. People don't believe me when I say there was supposed to be a second Marine Midland Center tower. From 1969 ...

12. Marine Midland Center second office tower. Told you so.

Lots of other unbuilts on this list, too, including:

10. Marine Midland Center hotel, Marine Midland Center was originally supposed to have a shopping mall, too.
15. Waterfront convention center.
16. Huge parking ramp for a downtown domed stadium.
17. Downtown domed stadium.

Not numbered: the hyperblock south of the 190, and massive surface parking lots on the waterfront and along the Buffalo River.

I'm glad none of the stuff south of the 190 never materialized. Planners of the era weren't just proposing urban renewal, but wiping the slate clean and starting over again. This plan would have had the city turn its back on the waterfront, the reason why it exists to begin with.

EDIT: More proof of the planned second tower. From an RFP for a planned development in Boston, 1970.

Edit 2: more Marine Midland Center Towers 2 & 3. From the cover of Buffalo Magazine, April 1969.

 

[RandomPlanner]

From the Buffalo Evening News, January 5 1928

View attachment 6026

Otto and Mantis Van Sweringen were planning on building Shaker Heights 2.0 in Tonawanda, along the High Speed Line, an interurban route in private right-of-way that connected Buffalo and Niagara Falls until abandonment in 1937. My holy grail of unbuilt Buffalo -- plans for the Van Brothers' Shaker Heights sequel outside of Buffalo.

Tangentially on topic, my sixth grade teacher was named Mr. Swearingen (first name Van*) and I'd only ever heard that name because of him. Now that I've done a cursory google search, I'm interested in the connection there. I'm guessing his family was originally part of the Van Sweringens.

*And a google search of him taught me that 'Van' was actually his middle name but confirmed his last name, as originally thought, was just Swearingen.

 

[Dan]

Here's the original proposal by Gordon Bunschaft / SOM for a mile-long megastructure for the SUNY University of Buffalo Amherst Campus. The building would have housed all academic departments, classrooms, libraries, laboratories and research facilities, offices, and recreational facilities for a university with a projected enrollment of 40,000 students. It would have been bigger than the Pentagon, and construction costs were estimated at $600-$650 million, about $4.7-$5.1 billion in 2020 dollars.

From The Spectrum, 11-17-1967:

The Spectrum, November 10, 1967:

 

[Dan]

Three more unbuilt malls.

The Amherst Mall (spring 1966) was a proposed 150 store mall on a 160 acre site at the southeast corner of Niagara Falls Boulevard and Ridge Lea Road. Frank Zappala, F.J. Mascone, and Maret Corporation of Pittsburgh were the developers, and the architect was [drumroll please] Victor Gruen Associates! I don't know why the project died, and I can't find any plans.

In March 1969, International Business & Realty Corporation presented plans for an 800,000 square foot, four anchor mall with 6,500 parking spaces (!) to the Village of Depew Board. The mall site was a 56 acre tract on Walden Avenue, east of Dick Road. I can't find any plans or other specifics.

The original architect of Main Place Mall was supposed to be ... again, Victor Gruen Associates! However, they quit the project in May 1965, because they were "unable to come to agreement on certain design problems and approaches which we as architects and planners feel are of great importance to the successful execution of the project,"

 

[Dan]

Here's a proposal for the Peace Bridge "signature span".


From the YouTube page: Today began a series of open houses both in Buffalo and Fort Erie, Ontario regarding the peace bridge expansion project slated to be completed... wait for it... 2018.

201 Ellicott. Yeah, that didn't happen.

 

[Doohickie]

The mall site was a 56 acre tract on Walden Avenue, east of Dick Road.

They would have killed Thruway Mall, which wasn't covered over until 1974.

 

[Doohickie]

From the YouTube page: Today began a series of open houses both in Buffalo and Fort Erie, Ontario regarding the peace bridge expansion project slated to be completed... wait for it... 2018.

So is the Peace Bridge still the same old Peace Bridge, no new capacity? I thought it was busting at the seams and the second span was sorely needed. I remember hearing about it when it was announced but not hearing anything since.

 

[Dan]

They would have killed Thruway Mall, which wasn't covered over until 1974.

About as much as Como Mall did, in my opinion, which isn't that much. Thruway Mall would still have been the closest mall to parts of Cheektowaga west of the 90, and still-dense neighborhoods on Buffalo's East Side.

(We had split mall loyalties in 14215. Some folks considered Boulevard Mall to be their "local mall", and others preferred Thruway Mall.)

I'm wondering what anchors would go into a "Depew Mall". Thruway Mall had AM&A's, JC Penny, Sears, and L.L. Berger. Como Mall wasn't built until the 1970s. Construction started on Eastern Hills Mall in 1969, and the mall was heavy with anchors - AM&A's, Hengerer's, Jenss, Sears, and JC Penny. Demographics around the Depew Mall were solidly blue collar, so I doubt The Sample would open there, much less another Jenss or Hengerer's. Maybe Sattler's (a Polonia favorite), Kobacker's, and Hens & Kelly? Montgomery Ward was an everywhere-but-Buffalo chain, but still, maybe? None of those chains survived past the early 1980s, so the Depew Mall probably would shut its doors way before the Walden Galleria came along.

What about the Amherst Mall? Boulevard Mall had JCP and a huge Sattler's. Northtown Plaza had Kobacker's, Hens & Kelly, and LL Berger. I'm guessing AM&A's (nearest stores at University Plaza and Sheridan-Delaware Plaza), Sears (nearest store on Main Street in Buffalo), Hengerer's (closest: freestanding store at Main Street and Eggert Road in Amherst), and maybe Montgomery Ward? Bier's from Niagara Falls? One of the Rochester or Cleveland chains? The long-rumored American side Eaton's? I think Amherst Mall would still be around, because of its location. However, the retail apocalypse would have taken out Boulevard Mall years earlier.

I'm geeking out here.

So is the Peace Bridge still the same old Peace Bridge, no new capacity? I thought it was busting at the seams and the second span was sorely needed. I remember hearing about it when it was announced but not hearing anything since.

No new capacity. The project was put on hold because there was a fear of bird/bridge collisions, increased air pollution in the neighborhood near The Front, and disagreement over the location of each country's customs checkpoints.

 

[Doohickie]

About as much as Como Mall did, in my opinion, which isn't that much. Thruway Mall would still have been the closest mall to parts of Cheektowaga west of the 90, and still-dense neighborhoods on Buffalo's East Side.

Totally different scenario. Como Mall was a small mall first of all, and didn't open until several years after Thruway Mall was roofed over. The Depew Mall would have been just another mile or two down the road and would have predated the roofing over of Thruway Mall in 1974.

 

[Dan]

Totally different scenario. Como Mall was a small mall first of all, and didn't open until several years after Thruway Mall was roofed over. The Depew Mall would have been just another mile or two down the road and would have predated the roofing over of Thruway Mall in 1974.

I have to disagree. Boulevard Mall didn't kill Northtown Plaza, which was just a half mile away. Eastern Hills Mall didn't kill Transittown Plaza, also a half mile away. Same thing with Seneca Mall and Southgate Plaza, about a mile away.

In my opinion, Thruway Mall's competition at the time was the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood on the East Side, which along with the Broadway Market, still had a couple of department stores, a bunch of large furniture and appliance stores, and a lot of smaller shops. Also IMHO, the glory days of Broadway-Fillmore lasted as long as they did, despite it being a working class neighborhood, only because the population density in the surrounding area was so high.

Here's what I think will be a future unbuilt. Sure, it's a proposal, but the Summit Park Mall site in Wheatfield has long been a land of broken dreams. Developers in the 1960s proposed a large planned community in the area -- never built. Chrysler had plans for an auto assembly plant just to the south. Never built. Land of Oz? Never built. I think the Niagara International Sports and Entertainment Center will be another one for the Unbuilt Buffalo books.

From the February 7, 2020 Buffalo News:

Crack!

The sound of a baseball bat connecting with a ball rips across the vast room, as players from Niagara County Community College's team practiced their swings Thursday morning amid a sea of netting.

But this isn't your ordinary setting for batting cages.

This is the inside of the former Sears store at Summit Park Mall – part of the new Niagara International Sports & Entertainment Center.
And it's just the beginning of what owner Zoran Cocov envisions as a $2.2 billion reuse project to bring new life to an aged but empty retail complex, while drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors to Western New York.

That is, if he can pull it off, without a strong track record of accomplishment, on a site that has confounded previous attempts at redevelopment. The mall has been mostly vacant for years, a prior attempt to buy and release it fell through, and the adjacent property that Cocov owns was previously targeted for a $600 million theme park that was abandoned when financing collapsed.
Now, the Canadian developer – who purchased the vacant and derelict Wheatfield mall in 2014 – is kicking off the first phase of a multiyear effort to convert the 48-year-old mall and 560 acres of land into an entertainment and sports destination rivaling some of those found in other parts of the world.

Cocov's goal is to create a facility capable of hosting practices, games and tournaments – attracting school-age teams and their fans from hundreds of miles around. At the same time, the complex would provide other entertainment and dining options to satisfy visitors and locals, including a microbrewery and sports bar, a fitness club, a family fun center, an adventure park and sports spa.
And there's plenty of parking in the mall's existing lot: 4,700 spaces.

[snip]

But long-term plans include a 600-room hotel, a 10,000-seat hockey arena anchored by a new Ontario Hockey League team, an indoor water park, a domed theme park and a senior residence with independent living, assisted living and memory-care units.

[snip]

Besides batting cages, the gym and the basketball-volleyball court, Cocov carved out a space for bumper cars, and is bringing in a bicycle shop and an sports-specific training and fitness facility.


Those will move once he builds two identical 96,000-square-foot metal fieldhouses on part of the back parking area, with three turf fields and a set of three smaller rubber-floor courts in each. They will be connected to each other and to the center of the mall through a 1,500-square-foot covered walkway and common area.

[snip]

The fieldhouses will host volleyball, indoor hockey, basketball, baseball, soccer, softball and lacrosse, and can also host trade shows, conferences and concerts. They will include sport-specific training space, batting cages and bullpens, warmup areas, hospitality, offices and classrooms. Outdoor baseball diamonds will be built.

That will be followed by converting former Toys R Us and Save A Lot space into the 29,000-square-foot Big Thunder Brewing Co. microbrewery, tap room, dinner theater and sports bar restaurant. There's an outdoor bar and gathering space. A fitness club and personal training studio will occupy another 40,000 to 50,000 square feet.

There's a 50,000-square-foot indoor trampoline and adventure park to be completed this year, a 50,000-square-foot family fun center for 2021, a 50,000-square-foot complementary medicine and sports spa and a food court.

A sporting goods store and uniform shop are planned. The fun center would feature miniature golf, bowling, laser tag, an arcade, electric go-carts and party rooms. There will be a 5K obstacle course inside.

Cocov would construct the Lantern of Niagara senior community, with 60 to 120 units.

For the $195 million second phase, Cocov would construct a dual-rink hockey arena and event venue centered around the 20-team OHL's fourth U.S. franchise, with an attached hotel of 600 suites. About 200 suites would double as private boxes for 12-14 guests. The arena and hotel building would feature an 80,000-square-foot water park.

In Phase 3, Cocov wants to take one of the three lakes on the adjacent land and transform it into a domed saltwater beach pool resort, along with an outdoor amusement park and live performance theater. The 2-million-square-foot phase would cost $2 billion.

$2 billion. American Dream in New Jersey cost $5 billion.

 

[Dan]

Another unbuilt mall, this one in downtown Buffalo on Main Street, between Chippewa Street and the Shea's Buffalo theater. From the February 7, 1967 Courier-Express: Main Place Mall was under construction at the time.

 

[Dan]

Here's "The Carlo", a 14-story mixed-use building proposed by Carl Paladino in 2014, for a 5½-acre site at Erie Basin Marina. The proposal includes a 143-room hotel, 36 apartments, 120'2 of office space, spa, pool, two restaurants, 15,000'2 of retail space, and a parking ramp.

2012 proposal for the $1.4 billion "Greater Buffalo Sports and Entertainment Complex " waterfront stadium. The architect was Dallas-based HKS Sports & Entertainment.

 

[Dan]

At this point, I think it's safe to add the Willoughby Exchange apartment building to the list of unbuilts.

From the Buffalo News, 6-28-2017:

Ever wonder what happened to Willoughby Exchange?
It hasn't gone away. But it did go back to the drawing board.

Craig Willoughby's proposal for a 10-story apartment building at Main and East Ferry streets created some furor in the surrounding neighborhood when the auto insurance purveyor first promoted it over a year ago. So he and his partners have been tweaking it through a series of community meetings to overcome resistance.

"This is a real development that has not been abandoned," said Colby A. Smith, president and CEO of Colby Development LLC, an adviser on the project. "It's basically still in development analysis."

Under the $26 million proposal unveiled in April 2016, Willoughby would knock down the one-story, red-and-white building at the corner that houses his insurance agency's longtime home, and replace it with a residential and commercial building that he dubbed Willoughby Exchange.

The development group is also still working to line up financing.

"We have investors watching and analyzing the project approvals and timing before committing resources," Smith said.
Proposed updated rendering of Willoughby Exchange at Main and East Ferry Streets.

The project, aimed at downtown, university and Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus workers, would feature more than 100 apartments and a 7,380-square-foot urban market, as well as Willoughby's agency office. Willoughby plans to live in the two-story penthouse owner's apartment.

According to the original plans by Silvestri Architects, the 125,000-square-foot red-brick and glass building would include eight stories of apartments above one floor of commercial and retail space on the ground level. The market-rate apartments would include 64 one-bedroom units, of about 990 square feet each, and 37 two-bedroom units, with about 1,140 square feet in each. The apartments would rent for $1,200 and $1,500 per month, respectively, plus $75 per month for covered parking.

The project also featured 19,000 square feet of commercial space, a three-story fitness studio with a pool and one level of underground parking.
But the proposal faced resistance from neighbors on Otis and Woodlawn, who complained that the building would be out of scale with the area, and would cast shadows on their homes. They called for Willoughby and his partners to reduce the building's size and impact.

The development team has continued meeting with neighbors, most recently in a large community forum in April. That's "generated some design considerations" that are being considered, alongside "additional financial modeling" and a further market study, Smith said. There's been no change to the overall density of the project or the height, but the size of the apartments and the number of one- and two-bedroom units has changed, he added.
There's no indication when it might come back before city agencies for consideration.

 

[Dan]

Master plan for Audubon New Community in Amherst, from the New York State Urban Development Corporation and LLewelyn-Davies Associates, 1970. Notice the footprints of buildings at the University at Buffalo North Campus that were never built.

Future land use map from 1972.

From the text:

Audubon is being developed by the New York State Urban Development Corporation as a means of helping the town of absorb the impact of the new Buffalo campus of the State University of New York, which will have an estimated 26.000 students by 1977 The site, which incorporates the new campus at its southern edge, is pierced with existing subdivision developments that have been incorporated into the plan The plan calls for the development of 9.000 residential units for an estimated 27.500 persons The neighborhoods will be interspersed with commercial, office, and community facilities, as well as schools, playgrounds, and man-made lakes Some 625 acres will be devoted to open space and recreational areas A variety of housing types for a wide mix of income groups, including students and the elderly, will be dispersed throughout the site. Nearly 2.000 units will be subsidized Total acres: 2,000

The site today.

 

[Maister]

"Suburban agriculture?"

 

[Dan]

*35-45 story tower proposed for an empty lot next to Pilot Field - late 80's

This might be it. The proposed but never-built Citicom office building on the Bernstone's Cigars site at 273 Main Street, at the southeast corner of Swan Street. I don't have a date for the drawing, but it has a 1990s look.

 

[Dan]

"Suburban agriculture?"

Farms and frontage lots. (My mom grew up in what would have been the far northwestern edge of Audubon,)

 

[Dan]

How about some old time unbuilt? Here's The Gardens, a proposed but unbuilt apartment building at the corner of Linwood Avenue and Barker Street. (Buffalo Times, January 28, 1920)

Planned but never built municipal office building, at the corner of Franklin Street and Church Street. It's now the site of the former Buffalo Police Headquarters, where a developer is proposing a residential adaptive reuse project. (Buffalo Times, November 23, 1918)

 

[Doohickie]

 

[Dan]

Yeah.

 

[Dan]

Another old-timey never-built building: a mixed use development that includes a 22 story hotel with 1000 rooms, and a 9 story office building and printing plant for the Buffalo Commercial, one of the city's many now-defunct daily newspapers. The building would have taken up an entire block, bounded by Main Street, Eagle Street, Pearl Street, and Niagara Street; now the site of Main Place Tower and part of the mostly-dead Main Place Mall.


(Buffalo Commercial, April 24, 1919)

The hotel would be 232' tall. The tallest buildings in the city at the time were the New York Telephone and Marine Bank building, both topping out at about 235'.

The reaction to this proposal? A proposed law from the Buffalo's nascent City Planning Committee, to limit the maximum height of any building downtown to 150', with a special permit needed for anything higher, as long as there was a stepback of 1' from the property line for every 3' of additional height. Buffalo's first zoning code was still about eight years away, but the "threat" of skyscrapers was the talk of the town. According to city councilman Arthur Kreinheder, "I don't believe in these high buildings. Some people are afraid to go into them:" City Council voted to table the height limits. The skyscraper boom so many expected didn't happen.

 

[Dan]

A not-so-serious proposal to extend the Aurora Expressway (NY 400) from its current terminus in the Town of Holland to Olean.

From the Wellsville Daily Reporter, August 26 2019:

County nixes push to revive Route 400 extension

By Chris Potter / Wellsville Daily Reporter

Proposal defeated in committee, 5-1

BELMONT — A push that reached its peak a decade ago will not be revived by Allegany County, as a proposal in committee was voted down for the first time in 2019 this week.

Legislator Bill Dibble (R-Little Genesee) proposed the county push for the extension of state Route 400 across Allegany County to the Village of Wellsville. Dibble suggested the measure be added to the county’s Comprehensive Plan and requested a study be performed by DOT and the Appalachian Regional Commission, using a resolution passed in 2009.

A decade ago, the county requested the state conduct a corridor study of extending Route 400 from South Wales in Erie County southeasterly to a point of intersection with state Route 417 in the Village of Wellsville.
“It would be great for this region. It’s a longterm thing, way down the road,” Dibble said in reintroducing the proposal. “If we don’t kick things along, they’ll never happen. This is an attempt to have DOT look at it and get New York state to fund the corridor. It’s looking down the road, longterm.”

In 2009, county officials said the four-lane highway would better connect Allegany County with Buffalo and Canada, providing better access to the county’s manufacturers while easing travel for tourists. The extension would intersect I-86 at Exit 30 near Belvedere, providing a more direct trucking route from Canada, Buffalo and the Niagara frontier to major East Coast seaports in New York City, New Jersey and Philadelphia.

Dibble’s updated request in 2019 was shot down this week in the Planning and Economic Development Committee meeting, 5-1.

“Building this highway diagonally right through the center of Allegany County, just makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever,” said Legislator Phil Curran (R-Alfred). “We have the routing for the traffic. To add a diagonal highway when there’s already a rectangle, I think is pretty strong overkill.”

Legislator Judy Hopkins (R-Fillmore) agreed.

“The cost of this would be so prohibitive,” Hopkins added. “There have been estimates that per mile it’s in the neighborhood of $5-6 million. That does not include the cost of bridges. That is well over a billion dollars, including the cost of the study. It makes no sense to me. Our legislature did pass a resolution in 2009 which went nowhere. Quite honestly, I don’t have the confidence that New York state would follow through on this at all. If they have a billion dollars to spend, they can fix the roads and the bridges that they don’t fix now.”

Board Chairman Curt Crandall (R-Belfast) noted the county has taken on many more responsibilities in the last 10 years, and cautioned against spending resources on an effort that may never bear fruit.

Legislator Steve Havey (R-Wellsville) said the highway would ease travel but doubted its feasibility. “When I saw this proposal from Mr. Dibble I thought, we’ll probably never see it, but wouldn’t it be nice?”