Architecture and Visitor Center

For the first time, Buffalo will have a Visitor Center which tourists can easily reach from major highways, right in the heart of the museum district.

Western New York possesses dozens of local architecture and landscape treasures, not the least of which are Frank Lloyd Wright’s Darwin Martin House, Louis Sullivan’s Guaranty Building and Fredrick Law Olmsted’s park and boulevard system. This Center will not only allow tourists to see the awesome Richardson buildings themselves, it will also display how patients lived at the turn of the century.  Information and direction to Western New York’s architectural and cultural assets will be prominently displayed.

The Architecture and Visitor Center will be the first new change at the Richardson Olmsted Complex. A Visualized Concept Study has been completed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates. RAA is a nationally known interpretive museum design firm that designs and produces award-winning museum exhibitions, visitor centers, and educational environments.  The exhibit program focuses on high technology displays to celebrate the region’s architecture, urban design, landscape design and cultural institutions.  An interactive program and interpretive exhibits will engage visitors and encourage the exploration of Buffalo and the region’s treasures.  In addition, outdoor installations and events are proposed to activate the entire site.  ConsultEcon, Inc. prepared the companion market and economic analysis.  The ConsultEcon report provides detailed information on the resident market area, visitor market area, review of comparable projects, attendance potential, and operating costs.  

Current plans focus on the central Administration building as the home of the Architecture and Visitor Center.