City Hall
Considered by many to be one of the finest Art Deco public buildings in the country, City Hall was dedicated in 1932, the hundredth anniversary of Buffalo’s founding. Its architect, John Wade, said the building expressed "the masculinity, power and purposeful energy of an industrial community." He wanted an "Americanesque" ornamental building that would dominate the skyline and serve as a symbol of the city.²
The 375-foot high 28-story building, with 316,937 square feet of usable space, cost $6.8 million at its completion. Constructed of gray granite, limestone and warm sandstone, it is beautifully decorated. The exterior features Native American-influenced tile details and friezes depicting aspects of city life, and it is crowned by a brightly colored roof that is illuminated at night.
Above the main entrance of eight columns is an eight-foot high-carved frieze by Albert T. Stewart, nearly 100 feet long, with 21 figures representing the city’s values, culture and economic life. Stewart’s sculpted frieze over the rear entrance to the building portrays five scenes from the early development of Buffalo. The interior of the entrance portico features a ceiling with a pattern of diamond-shaped coffers that is reflected in the granite floor. To the side of each of four bronze entrance doors are carved stone sculptures representing the work life of Buffalo’s first settlers.
The main lobby is a dramatic three-story high vaulted space with thousands of acoustic tiles featuring designs from Native American signs and symbols and colorful allegorical murals by famed New York City artist William de Leftwich Dodge.
Another impressive space is the three-story city high council chambers, constructed in the form of a semi-circular amphitheater with tiered seating that accommodates more than 300 people. The main feature of the room is a magnificent sunburst skylight window of red, yellow and blue, with rays and energy extending outward. The acoustic tile ceiling is decorated with Native American signs.
Architect John Wade said, "What we have tried to do is express in stone and steel and glass something of Buffalo, just as the Greeks expressed in stone and timber their life and philosophy." He succeeded magnificently. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. Preservation Buffalo Niagara's Buffalo Tours conducts free daily docent-led weekday tours of City Hall at noon, beginning in the City Hall lobby.
Sources:
¹Buffalo Architectural Guidebook Corporation, Buffalo Architecture: A Guide (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1981), p. 57.
²John H. Conlin, Buffalo City Hall: Americanesque Masterpiece (Buffalo: Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier, 1993, p. 7. Conlin’s 40-page monograph is an excellent resource for a self-guided tour of this magnificent building.
³Conlin, p. 36.
Photos by Chuck LaChiusa
