Brecker Building

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Photo credit: David Torke, fixBuffalo and Mike Puma, ViewsOfBuffalo

Location

630 High Street, Buffalo NY 14211
Google Bird's Eye View
Fillmore Council District
SBL: 100.75-6-23.11
Erie County Property Info
County Tax Map (loads GIS page)
City of Buffalo Parcel Viewer

Owner

  • City of Buffalo

Physical Description

  • Four-story, steel-reinforced concrete framed building.
  • Daylight factory style.
  • From Broadway-Fillmore historic survey: "Copper urns above the cornice contain the date of the company’s founding and the date of this building. Prominent details, original windows and copper work are still intact. "

Current Condition

  • Demolished February 2012 despite being in very good condition.
  • Now a vacant lot.

History

  • May have had early ties to A.L. Weber Co., dealers in furniture and stoves, per BuffaloAH.com
  • Constructed in 1911 by architect Joseph J. Geigand to house the J. M. Brecker Department Store. In 1926, the building was transformed into a vocational school for girls ages 14-17. The school moved to other quarters around 1937 and the building became briefly used as a large indoor market, Mammouth Market Centers.
  • It was then taken over by the Curtiss Wright Aeroplane Division to house the Curtiss Wright Corporate Training School, a use undoubtedly linked to the war effort and one that may have lasted up to 1945. Chic Maid Hat Mfg. Co. had a good run in the building from 1946 to the early 1960s. From that point forward to the late 1990s, the building housed mostly warehouse functions.
  • The Brecker Building was in sound condition as late as 2005, around which time the City took title for the building after a period of ownership by a notorious slumlord whose case was detailed in the Buffalo News. Around 2006, the City constructed a very nice curb extension in front of the building, a public investment that validates the inherent value of its location.
  • History courtesy of David Torke, from his blog at fixbuffalo.blogspot.com

Other Pertinent Facts

  • The City acquired the property via tax foreclosure in 2006.
  • The City of Buffalo paid Apollo Demolition $320,000. This "emergency" demolition was also a controlled demolition, meaning nothing was salvaged.
  • The emergency appears to have been that several bricks came off the east side of the building and fell onto the roof of the adjacent church. As far as we can tell, no effort was made to repair the building before declaring an emergency.

Links


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Added 2013-01-07 • Last changed 2016-10-23

Buffalo | Buildings | East Side | Industrial Buildings | Lost Buildings | Vacant Lot