Abandoned Central Train Terminal: The Hidden Secrets

Описание: Buffalo Central Terminal is a historic former railroad station in Buffalo, New York. An active station from 1929 to 1979, the 17-story Art Deco style station was designed by architects Fellheimer & Wagner for the New York Central Railroad. After years of abandonment, it is now owned by the non-profit preservation group Central Terminal Restoration Corporation, which is working to restore and re-purpose the complex. The Central Terminal is located in the city of Buffalo's Broadway/Fillmore district.

The main concourse is 225 feet (69 m) long, 66 feet (21 m) wide, and 58.5 feet (17.8 m) tall (63.5 feet [19.4 m] at the domed ends). The concourse included various rental spaces; a restaurant with a dining room, lunch room, and coffee shop; a Western Union telegraph office; and a soda fountain, along with standard station necessities. Off the concourse there is a streetcar lobby and waiting room. Curtiss Street runs directly below the concourse, but has been closed since the late 1980s for safety reasons. The concourse is currently owned by the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation.

The train concourse is 450 feet long and includes 14 low-level platforms. Each platform is accessed by a staircase and a ramp. The train concourse is owned by Amtrak, with the land being owned by CSX. In 1982, the bridge which connected the train concourse and passenger platforms from the terminal and main concourse was demolished to allow passage of high freight cars on the Belt Line. The rest of the concourse remains.

Office tower is 15 stories, excluding the main floor, and mezzanine. The 271-foot, building is owned by the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation.

The Railway Express Agency was the early forerunner of today's Federal Express and UPS. The building is located behind the Mail Building of the complex and is by far the most decayed building. Trains would pull directly into the building to proceed with the load/unloading of goods. This building is currently owned by the City of Buffalo, which has confirmed plans to demolish it.

Central Terminal Restoration Corp. (1997–present)
Scott Field of the Preservation Coalition of Erie County bought the building in August 1997 for the purchase price of $1 and assumption of approximately $70,000 in back taxes. Shortly afterward, the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation (CTRC) was formed and currently owns the Concourse, Tower and Baggage Building.

The CTRC is a non-profit, volunteer organization whose goal is to preserve the Terminal and help promote it as a viable redevelopment opportunity in the City of Buffalo. The CTRC received money to restore and relight the exterior tower clocks located on the 10th floor, relighting them on October 1, 1999. Also in 1999, a state grant for $1 million was obtained to begin the process of sealing and protecting the complex. The top of the building was re-lit starting on May 11, 2001. In 2003, the building was re-opened for public tours.

Currently, the Buffalo Central Terminal is host to approximately forty major fundraising events each year. Work continues to progress and new areas of the building are cleaned up and reopened to the public each year. Since 2003 over 100,000 people have visited the building. This is more than the local Frank Lloyd Wright properties of Western New York have had. The building has been a host to tours, art shows, local political events, train shows, annual Dyngus Day and Oktoberfest, weddings, as well as a temporary art installation by controversial artist Spencer Tunick in 2004.

The clock in the center of the concourse, sold by earlier owners, was located in Chicago in 2003. In late 2004, the clock was purchased for $25,000 through fundraising organized by WBEN and a donation from M&T Bank. The clock was on display in the Terminal during the 2005 event season. In the fall of 2005, it was relocated to the lobby of M&T Center in downtown Buffalo, where it remained until spring of 2009. The clock was then moved back to its original location in the Terminal concourse where it will sit permanently on public display.

In 2016 Toronto based developer Harry Stinson was named by the CTRC as the designated developer for Buffalo's Central Terminal to re-develop the Terminal complex. Stinson's proposal included turning the Terminal into a mixed use facility and also included building townhouses in the surrounding neighborhood to create a village like atmosphere with proceeds being invested into terminal restoration. The proposal also offered the possibility of restoring rail services to the terminal.

On May 5, 2017, after numerous delays the CTRC cut ties with Stinson in favor of working with the Urban Land Institute on a new redevelopment plan.

In 2018, two hundred solar panels were installed at the terminal restoring commercial grade electric to the facility.

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