Buffalo Story Ideas

Erie Canal Harbor:
America’s Gateway to the West

Buffalo’s new $49 million public waterfront development along the historic Erie Canal Harbor is nearing completion. Originally built in 1825 as the “gateway to the west,” the Erie Canal Harbor served as the terminus for the passage of goods and passengers from the east coast across the Great Lakes for much of the 19th century. More importantly for Buffalo, the commercial activity fueled by the harbor helped to transform the city into a thriving metropolis. As the culmination of nearly a decade’s worth of effort, the first phase of the historic canal harbor area redevelopment will open to the public in spring 2008. This includes restoration of the “Commercial Slip,” which served as the historic juncture between the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes; the wooden-plank “Central Wharf,” which stretched from the foot of Main Street to the Commercial Slip; and the award-winning “Whipple Truss” footbridge, which connects the Central Wharf to cobblestone Commercial Street. Interpretive exhibits will showcase the historical significance of the Erie Canal.

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Buffalo by Bus:
A rolling tour of great American Architecture

Pound for pound, Buffalo is one of the most architecturally interesting cities in the United States. One of the most efficient ways to experience Buffalo’s architectural and historic treasures is on an Open-Air Autobus tour. Operated by the Campaign for Greater Buffalo History, Architecture & Culture the tours offer visitors to Buffalo an eye-opening account of Buffalo’s history and architecture. Among the highlights of the Campaign’s extensive 2008 schedule are: The Whirlwind Tour of Buffalo’s grand civic architecture and charming residential neighborhoods; the Styles of Buffalo tour that introduces visitors to everything from Italianate to Queen Anne, Craftsmen and Second Empire styles; the Frank Lloyd Wright’s Buffalo tour that hits the highlights of Wright’s Buffalo work, including the Darwin D. Martin House Complex; and the Art Deco in Buffalo tour that shows off the many charms of City Hall and the Central Terminal. The Campaign’s knowledgeable guides bring these and other tours to life with wit, charm and insight.

Complementing Wright:
Toshiko Mori’s Visitor Pavilion under Construction

The Martin House Restoration Corporation (MHRC), which operates Frank Lloyd Wright’s landmark Darwin D. Martin House Complex, is overseeing the construction of a new, Toshiko Mori-designed visitor center pavilion. A $2.5 million gift from the East Hill Foundation has enabled the MHRC to begin construction on the visitor center with completion anticipated in late 2008. The 6,000-square-foot building will serve as the entryway for visitors and will house exhibits featuring architectural drawings and archival photographs of the Martin House. Once completed, the Greatbatch Pavilion will provide visitors to the Martin House with an interpretive experience that will make it one of the great house museums in the world. The Darwin Martin House Complex, Wright’s largest Prairie Style residence (32,000 square feet), is currently undergoing a $40 million renovation to restore it to the original 1907 condition.

The New Burchfield-Penney Art Center:
New Digs for an American Master

Located across the street from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Burchfield-Penney Art Center’s new 75,000-square-foot home designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates will open to the public in fall 2008. The new, LEED-certified building is an elegant structure of interlocking forms and an innovative combination of materials, surrounded by a series of gardens and walkways. The first art museum built in Buffalo in over 100 years, the BPAC will offer three times more exhibition space to house its comprehensive collection of works by the great watercolorist Charles Burchfield and regional artists such as Cindy Sherman and Robert Longo, as well as an extensive learning lab for Buffalo State College students.

Roycroft Renaissance:
Reviving an American Classic

30 minutes from downtown Buffalo, East Aurora is perhaps best known as the home of the Roycroft Arts & Crafts community. This piece of Buffalo History was conceived of by author, lecturer, and philosopher Elbert Hubbard, the Roycroft Campus was a self-sustaining community of artisans - printers, book designers, furniture-makers - that lasted from 1895 through 1938, when it succumbed to the Great Depression. Today, the National Historic Landmark Roycroft Inn has been restored to its turn-of-the-century glory while the remainder of the Campus is undergoing a similar revival. The current phase of campus restoration includes the $3 million reconstruction of the Power House and the Copper Shop.

Freedom Crossing and The Nash House:
Human Rights in Buffalo

The Niagara River was often the last crossing for people escaping slavery in the United States. From the early 1800s until the end of the Civil War in 1865, thousands of people passed through Western New York as they traveled to freedom in Canada. Visitors to Buffalo can learn about the dramatic and heart rending stories of the people who risked their lives for freedom and human rights at Freedom Crossing, the new Underground Railroad Interpretive Center at Niagara University. In addition, the Nash House Museum in Buffalo’s Michigan Avenue Heritage Corridor, tells the story of Jesse Edward Nash, the son of freed slaves who arrived in Buffalo from Virginia in 1892 and for more than 60 years led the struggle for civil rights in Buffalo. The house where he and his wife lived has been restored and includes a public museum, research and office space.

The Garden Walk:
The Blooming of Buffalo

We invite you to introduce your readers to Garden Walk Buffalo, one of the largest and most spectacular garden tours in North America. Each year, more than 260 private gardens are opened for a free public tour that takes place over two days on the last weekend of July. In 2006, an estimated 45,000 visitors attended the event. Garden Walk Buffalo highlights urban gardening of every variety, including rose, vegetable, herb, sustainable, native and organic gardens; Japanese, English and water gardens; butterfly, pocket, container and rock gardens; as well as community gardens. There are multiple-level decks, pergolas, espaliers, outdoor kitchens, grape arbors, lighting schemes, fountains, wall murals, sculpture, koi ponds, waterfalls, potting sheds, carriage houses, playhouses, treehouses and even a putting green. The 2008 Garden Walk will take place on Saturday and Sunday, July 26 & 27, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Buffalo-Corning Connection:
Art, Architecture and Glass

Discover the unexpected in upstate New York with some of the country’s most captivating art, architecture and glass, surrounded by idyllic rolling hills and great lakes. Wind your way through the scenic landscape between Corning and Buffalo, visiting local wineries and experiencing the many artistic and natural wonders along the way. Highlights of a visit to this beautiful region include the Corning Museum of Glass, New York’s Wine & Culinary Center, the Seneca Lake Wine Trail, Sonnenberg Gardens, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Darwin D. Martin House Complex and Graycliff Estate, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Roycroft Inn, the Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens and Niagara Falls Reservation State Park. Truly a great American road trip.

Artisans in Buffalo:
Handcrafted Elegance

Buffalo abounds with artisans -- furniture makers, potters, glass blowers, among others – who work at an extraordinary level of craftsmanship. From the artists working in a former windshield wiper factory at Buffalo Arts Studio to the new residents of a transformed printing plant now known as Artspace to the Roycroft Renaissance furniture makers found at the Schoolhouse Gallery in nearby East Aurora, there is a wealth of talent at work throughout the Buffalo region. Meet and profile the many craft artists who create custom home furnishings, architectural elements, art objects and accessories for the home and garden.

New at the Zoo:
A Tropical Paradise

Escape to your own tropical paradise and visit the Buffalo Zoo’s M&T Bank Rainforest Falls exhibit, which is scheduled to open in July 2008. The $16 million fully enclosed Rainforest Falls exhibit is designed to be a memorable and educational experience unlike any other in Western New York. Modeled after the tepui (or flat-topped mountain) region of Venezuela, the exhibit will house a variety of species native to South America, including ocelots, giant anteaters, tamandua, capybara, dwarf caiman, vampire bats, anaconda, piranha, squirrel monkeys, brown capuchins, black howler monkeys and white-faced sakis. Visitors can also enjoy spotting dozens of free-flighted birds throughout the exhibit, including the scarlet ibis, roseate spoonbill, boat-billed heron, sun bittern and blue-crowned mot-mot. One of the exhibit’s most impressive features is even referenced in the exhibit’s name--the cascading waterfall that plunges more than 25 feet! Replicating Angel Falls, which is found in Venezuela’s Canaima National Park and considered to be the world’s tallest waterfall, this version can be viewed from a multitude of angles, including a second-story platform that overlooks the entire exhibit.

Elmwood Village:
One of America’s Top Ten Neighborhoods

Recently voted one of the country’s top ten neighborhoods by the American Planning Association, Buffalo’s Elmwood Village shares this heady designation with the likes of Brooklyn’s Park Slope, San Francisco’s North Beach and the Pike Place Market in Seattle. The APA selected the Elmwood Village because of its “broad spectrum of cultural and social assets.” A stone’s throw from downtown hotels, the Elmwood Village is a great place to stroll and shop. You’ll find all manner of bistros, bars and cafes nestled among the clusters of galleries, boutiques, salons and shops. As the Chicago Sun-Times recently noted, “Browsers can find everything from vintage clothing…to an extensive fiction section at Talking Leaves, an independent book store with attitude. The cozy neighborhood features international cuisine choices of Indian, Vietnamese, Japanese, Caribbean and Spanish food.”

Stellar Works and Sophisticated Ambience:
The Albright-Knox Art Gallery

The Albright-Knox Art Gallery has one of the finest collections of modern and contemporary art in the world. Director Louis Grachos, a Toronto native, came to the Albright-Knox five years ago from SITE Santa Fe has has infused the 135-year-old institution with youthful energy and creative programming, re-connecting the gallery with its roots as a center of contemporary art. A jazz concert series, lectures and other performing arts have made the Albright an exciting and invigorating center of Buffalo’s cultural life.

A Crystal Palace Restored:
The Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens

The South Park Conservatory opened to rave reviews in 1900 for the Pan American Exposition. Designed by Lord & Burnham, premier designers of Victorian glass houses, the Gardens serve as the gateway into the Frederick Law Olmsted-designed South Park.  The conservatory was part of Olmsted’s final plan for South Park and was designed to offer a collection of exotic plants from around the world.  Olmsted intended South Park to function as an arboretum for arboreal plants tolerant of Buffalo’s climate.  The conservatory’s unique tri-domed glass, wood and steel design was based upon the famous Crystal Palace and Kew Gardens Palm House in England.  When built (1897-1899) it was the third largest public greenhouse in the United States and ninth largest in the world.  Today, the Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens is one of only two remaining Lord & Burnham conservatories incorporated into a park designed by Olmsted. The indoor gardens include a fully restored palm dome, an impressive fern house that is home to “life-size” dinosaur topiaries and a koi pond stocked with over 20 koi fish.  The humid rainforest houses a 27-foot waterfall, bromeliads and banana trees, just to name a few.  The permanent plant collection includes hundreds of unique cacti and succulents that bloom on a regular basis, exotic varieties of orchids, begonias, tropical plants, herbs, and the largest public ivy collection in the world.

Forgotten Buffalo:
Exploring Nickel City Oddities

Forgotten Buffalo tours provide an offbeat, idiosyncratic urban explorer's perspective to the Buffalo Niagara region. Learn about unique landmarks, classic taverns, old world neighborhoods, historic 20th century sites and Nickel City oddities. Forgotten Buffalo provides visitors with a uniquely Buffalo experience. Visit sites that have been left behind, or perhaps inadvertently left in place, providing clues as to what was there before. In an age where life continually looks at renewing and reinventing itself every few decades, Forgotten Buffalo takes pride in Buffalo’s past.

Forgotten Buffalo tours look beyond predictable tourist sites and seek out treasures in historic neighborhoods with unique names like Polonia, Black Rock, Kaisertown and the First Ward. Tour relics from the region’s industrial past and strongholds of the American ethnic experience. More than just a nostalgic trip through time, Forgotten Buffalo allows you to better understand why Buffalo is a unique urban community.

World-renowned Road Food:
Celebrating the Chicken Wing

Buffalo’s the place where chicken wings first took flight and you can still find our homegrown specialty at the Anchor Bar, the restaurant that made them famous, and at hundreds of bars, taverns and restaurants through the Buffalo Niagara region. Our legacy as home of the now world-renowned chicken wing is celebrated each summer at the National Buffalo Wing Festival held in downtown’s Dunn Tire Park over Labor Day Weekend. It’s a finger lickin’ good time featuring eating contests, a recipe competition, music and dozens of wing varieties to be sampled in a daylong eating extravaganza.