The Main Place Tower is located at 350 Main Street, in
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
. The skyscraper is the fourth-tallest building in the city, and home to many technology and communication firms. The tower, built in 1969, rises . The shopping center within the complex is referred to as the Main Place Mall.
History
The current location of the Main Place Tower was originally Shelton Square, a city block of considerable traffic in the city. Shelton Square was the site of a notorious
publicity stunt
In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utilize ...
in 1955, when disc jockey
Tom Clay climbed to the top of a billboard in the square and disrupted traffic by repeatedly playing "
Rock Around the Clock" by
Bill Haley & His Comets on a loudspeaker; the incident led to Clay's firing and arrest.
Originally the headquarters for the Erie County Savings Bank, it became known as One Empire Tower when the Erie County Savings Bank became Empire of America, the building was then renamed "Main Place Tower" in the 1980s with the demise of Empire of America.
The Main Place Tower was constructed as part of an
urban renewal
Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
project. The land site of the building was previously home to the Richardsonian Romanesque castle-like
Erie County Savings Bank Building (1890-1968). The Erie County Savings Bank was both the anchor tenant and financial backer for the Main Place tower construction and leased the first three floors upon its completion.
Jim Kelly
James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...
owned and operated Sport City Grill
restaurant with the attached Network
nightclub
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
on the ground floor of the complex from 1993 to 1996.
New ownership tried to relaunch the restaurant as Banana Joe's Sports Bar & Grill in late 1996, but it went out of business in 1997.
As of 2020, the concourse at the base of the complex has several tenants, two restaurants and a food court. That year, the city announced plans to collaborate with Main Place's owner to make room for office and parking space.
Gallery
Image:Main Place Tower2.JPG, View from Niagara Square
File:Main Place Tower.JPG
See also
*
List of tallest buildings in Buffalo
This list of the tallest buildings in Buffalo ranks skyscrapers in Buffalo, New York by height. The tallest building in Buffalo is currently the Seneca One Tower, which stands 529 feet (161 m) tall. As of 2017, Buffalo has 17 structures taller t ...
External links
Official websiteSkyscraperpage building pageEmporis building page
References
Office buildings completed in 1969
Skyscraper office buildings in Buffalo, New York
Harrison & Abramovitz buildings
{{BuffaloNY-struct-stub