4. Statler Towers
107 Delaware Avenue at Niagara Square
 Ellsworth Statler, flush from having achieved his dream of building a hotel in New York City (Hotel Pennsylvania, opened 1919), received requests for one of his hotels from Boston and Chicago, but he turned his attention again to Buffalo, location of his home and first hotel. He had the staff and trusted architects (George B. Post & Sons, New York), and he had Louis Rorimer to design the interiors of his buildings. Now 56 years old, he wanted to build his most handsome hotel to date in his adopted hometown.
And, ever the shrewd businessman, Statler identified a location that was not yet the center of political and civic activity but which he believed would soon become that new center: Niagara Square. To that end, he purchased the entire block fronting Niagara Square bounded by Genesee, Delaware, Franklin and Mohawk. The old Castle Inn was demolished as were the other buildings on the site, among them the first location of Bryant and Stratton.
The hotel's design was English Renaissance Revival. It was to be 265 feet tall, 18 stories, employing 900 people and capable of serving 5,000 meals daily. Construction began in May, 1921 by Buffalonian Charles Mosier, company vice-president and general manager of all its construction activities who died before the hotel was complete. The approximate cost of the construction was $8 million. Statler planned for the future domination of his hotel by building it with 1,100 rooms, more than all the other Buffalo hotels combined. And he had the builders pour foundations for an addition of 500 rooms to be added when necessary to discourage other hotel investors.
Text courtesy of Susan Eck and WNY Heritage Press. Photo courtesy of Chuck LaChiusa.
Credits
Scripts: Denise Prince and Jane Kwiatkowski
Voice: Christopher Jamele of Jamele Freelance Services
Audio production: John Davis of Eclectic Electric
This project was made possible in part with funding from the New York State Council on the Arts.
Tour content courtesy of Buffalo Tours.
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