City Hall

65 Niagara Square

Buffalo NY

A Hemispherical Dome of Colored Tiles 

City Hall exhibits ornamention on its facade.  Near the top the building features three-dimensional chevrons of polychrome terra cotta.  Below this is a band of terra cotta with an Amercian Indian motif.  The band is interrupted at the corners by highly stylized stone eagles.  

Where Decorative Eagles Soar

The Buffalo News March 7, 1931

John Whitfield Cowper

John J. Wade, a young architect who had experience in the design of city halls, had written an article in 1925 in The Buffalo Arts Journal called "Choosing a City Hall Architect" which brought him to the attention of the Common Council.  They hired him as a consultant architect for the design of City Hall on January of 1927.  He formed a partnership with Buffalo architect George J. Dietel (1876-1974) to provide these services.  The general contractor was the John W. Cowper Co., Buffalo established in 1915.  This was the principal construction company. The Council hired the firm of Dietel, Wade and Jones to produce the final design.  Wade was born in Hoboken, NJ (1893) and  died on January 2, 1990 in New Jersey at the age of 97. In 1926, Wade formed the partnership with George J. Dietel called Dietel & Wade.  Dietel, a native of Buffalo was a senior partner in the architectural firm.  Dietel also designed many Catholic churches in Buffalo and the surround area.  When Wade was asked to describe Buffalo's City Hall stylistically, he referred to it simply as "Americanesque 1927".  At other times he called it .. Babylonian.  

An Iconic View of an Iconic City Hall

Buffalo City Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places 

January 15, 1999

The people of Buffalo have come to adopt two unofficial symbols.  One is an animal (the bison, of course) and the other is City Hall.  Soaring and colorful it has become part of the city's psyche.  Much of the emotional impact of the building is due to its Art Deco styling. Art Deco was at the height of its popularity in the late 1920s and early 1930s when City Hall was conceived and built.  

During the 1920s there was an undercurrent of interest in Mayan architecture.  One travel writer, in fact, spoke of City Hall as a "slightly excited Mayan pyramid".  Mountain, tower, or pyramid, City Hall was definitely the new landmark of Buffalo.  Floodlighting makes it visible throughout the city at night and from ships far out in Lake Erie.  Powerful searchlights beam from the peak to guide aviators to the city.  City Hall opened in September 1931.

The public enters at the upper level where a circular gallery extends to the left and the right encompassing and overlooking the room.  The interior of the doorway to the Council chamber possesses the best woodcarving in the building.  The doors were sculpted by the Lippich Brothers of Lancaster NY.  Richard, Albert and their father, Emil Lippich were the virtuoso woocarvers of the Buffalo area. 

Council Chambers is located on the 13th floor.

The desks of council members form a final arc around the dais.

Mission Statement is to address in a thorough manner any concerns regarding The City while ensuring tht citizens have easy and equitable access to resources provided by a trusted and transparent government.

Semicircular art glass decoration is literally a skylight, but also a representation of the heavens above.  The glass is structured in seven concentric circles continuing the geometric pattern of the seven-row seating over the Council floor.  

The center of the skylight is a sunburst of red and yellow from which rays of light and energy extend outward from the blue.

If you are in the Buffalo area, a must-see tour is of City Hall with its observation deck on the 28th floor that offers panoramic views of the city.  City Hall is truly a notable landmark in downtown Buffalo on Niagara Square.