This is a good example of the type of
Greyhound stations that were built across the
country in the early Twentieth Century. The structure marks the cessation of
the Main Street building movement not furthered
until the late 20th century.
In August,
1940 Central Greyhound Lines purchased the
property at 664-672 Main at a cost of $185,000,
from Erie County Savings Bank, to replace the
terminal they had rented since 1930 at 640 Main
Street, formerly a dance hall, and prior to that
a market. The new structure served as a terminal
for eight other bus companies with loading dock
accommodations for 11 buses. The depot was
officially opened April 29, 1941.
It was
built of concrete and steel with stainless steel
and aluminum alloy trimmings, at a total cost of
$385,000 (2002 equivalent: $4,901,583).
Siegfried Construction Company of Buffalo was
the construction firm.
The
terminal runs the entire block between Main and
Pearl Streets and has a frontage on Main Street
of 100 feet.
Original interior
On the main floor the 232
foot long terminal was designed with a spacious
waiting room, travel bureau, ticket counter,
telegraph offices and facilities for baggage and
parcel-checking. Four gates led from the main
waiting room to the loading platform
which extended the entire length of the building.
A restaurant with facilities for accommodating 150
people was on the Main Street side with the second
floor housing offices.
Original
architects
The Buffalo architect Roswell
E. Pfohl worked
in collaboration with the architect for
Greyhound. Mr. Pfohl was one of the area's
foremost architects and engineers, having
practiced for 47 years. He was Senior Partner of
the firm Pfohl, Roberts and Biggie.
Born in
Buffalo he attended local schools before
transferring to MIT, where he graduated in 1922.
He is noted for his work on the new Federal
Building (111 West Huron), the Buffalo
City Court Building and
the altar design for the rebuilt St. Michael's
Roman Catholic Church, after the 1962 fire.
Post
Greyhound
Movie set: The
building was emptied by Greyhound in 1979 when
new terminal space was erected on Ellicott and
North Division Streets. During the summer 1979
the depot was used by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in
connection with the film Hide
In Plain Sight.
Police substation and community center: On
June 9, 1979 the City of Buffalo announced that
it would purchase the depot from Greyhound
Corporation for $50,000 (2002 equivalent:
$636,569). The City would renovate the building
as a police station and community center.
Alleyway Theater: In
July, 1983 the Buffalo Theater Collective began
leasing bus terminal space from the City with
plans to renovate the waiting room into a 250
seat theater. The official opening of the
theatre, named Alleyway Theatre, was December
5-7, 1985.
The theatre
seats 125-200 people with the entrance in the
alleyway between the Precinct station and Swiss
Chalet. The two and one-half year renovation to
convert the space cost $60,000 (2002 equivalent:
$763,883).
On August
8, 1985 the alley that connects Main and Pearl
Streets between the Theatre District Police
Station and the southerly building was dedicated
"Curtain Up! Alley."
- Text
source: 1979 NY State Division for Historic
Preservation Building-Structure Inventory
