1 he Proposed Union Station in Buffalo 
PLAN OF THE STATION, THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS, 
AND THE WATER FRONT 
The railroads contemplate spending some 
$15,000,000 in the purchase of land, change 
of tracks, building of round-houses and Union 
Station, etc., while the city would have to 
spend from $5,000,000 to $10,000,000, depend¬ 
ing on what improvements it undertakes. 
Several millions of dollars would be ex¬ 
pended by the parties locating elsewhere, 
whose property would be purchased by the 
railroads, so that altogether it means an ex¬ 
penditure in the city of about five times 
what our Pan-American cost us. 
This plan places the station in the most 
accessible part of the business centre of the 
city; surrounded by publishing bouses, banks, 
office buildings, retail shops, residences, 
hotels and apartments, for they all centre 
about this locality. 
The City Hall and other Municipal Build¬ 
ings already face the triangular site and the 
effort is being made to group 
all future Municipal Buildings 
about the parks facing the 
Station. 
Instead of having the provin¬ 
cial plan of one always con¬ 
gested main thoroughfare lead 
to the Station, as is the case 
now, this scheme opens up all 
the important thoroughfares 
of the city with their trolley 
lines radiating to the hub, and 
about this triangle bisected by 
Genesee Street, radiate no less 
than twenty-eight principal 
streets. 
One of these—Genesee 
Street—is the centre of pop¬ 
ulation and the old coach road 
to Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, 
Albany and New York ; it 
runs from tbe water front due 
east five miles within city 
limits, dividing the city into 
two equal North and South 
sections. 
L’Enfant laid out the City 
of Buffalo and this triangular 
site west of Niagara Square 
is in the very heart of the city. 
It is to-day dilapidated and 
yearly has decreased in assess¬ 
ed value. 
The 120 acres within the triangle are 
assessed at but $2,000,000, and some of the 
property within a stone’s throw of City Hall 
can be bought at 40 cents a square foot. 
Ninety per cent, of the land on this site is under 
option for about three months longer, and 
for this reason speedy action must be taken. 
This site has the advantage over all others 
as regards the suburbs or Greater Buffalo, 
for with the opening up of the Northwest, 
and the increased trade with Canada, which 
is bound to come, and the increasing popula¬ 
tion of Grand Island and Fort Erie in Can¬ 
ada, Greater Buffalo will see future factory 
sites with Niagara Falls power, on both sides 
of Grand Island. 
A word about the water front which is an 
important factor to this plan: 
Within the city limits are ten miles of 
water front on Lake Erie and the river. 
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