Cyclorama Building

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Cyclorama Building. Photo by Mike Puma ViewsOfBuffalo and David Torke fixBuffalo

Location

369 Franklin Street Buffalo, NY 14202

Next to: Grosvenor Library
Across from: Lucy Curley Building, 41 Edward Street, 35 Edward Street, St. Louis RC Church, and Buffalo Music Hall

Owner

Ciminelli Real Estate Corporation
NYS Corporation and Business Entity Database

Physical Description

Two-story, sixteen-sided brick structure with large windows. 26,000 sq.ft.

Current Condition

Restored as office space

History

  • Built as an exhibit hall in 1888. Designed by Cyrus K Porter & Son.
  • In 1937 the building was condemned but escaped the wrecking ball when it was taken on as a federal project under the WPA and renovated.
  • Used for many purposes after that, and several times was threatened with demolition. Was the reading room of the Grosvenor Library from 1942 until approximately 1962.
  • Bought for a small sum at City of Buffalo auction sometime in the early 1980s.
  • Purchased by Frank Ciminelli in 1985 for $110,000 and renovated by 1989. Today it houses a law office.

Recent Events and Actions Taken

  • 2012 - Recently renovated again for new tenants

Other Pertinent Facts

  • The cyclorama, as originally patented, is a huge panoramic picture displayed in 360 degrees so that the viewer is completely surrounded by the image. The painting is lit from above and there are no visible borders to the scene at the top, or at the “ground” which blends into faux landscaping. The effect is to confuse the eye as to what is reality by taking away all other points of reference so that you truly feel you are visiting that sight.
  • Buffalo has one of only four existing historical cyclorama buildings in the US, the others being in Boston (now the art center), Atlanta (still exhibiting a panorama), and Gettysburg (currently in a fight over demolition).
  • Architect Cyrus K. Porter and Sons contributed the following buildings to Buffalo: Holy Name Church, First Free Baptist Church, Summit Building, Cyclorama Building, and the Karpeles Manuscript Museum

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Added 2013-01-13 • Last changed 2018-10-19

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