This page was created by the Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier and the Preservation Coalition of Erie County as a public service

Richardson Olmsted Complex - Official Website

DRAFT - Hot Button Issues:   Richardson-Olmsted Complex:  Rescue, Rehabilitation & Reuse

Background:

• H. H. Richardson Complex -- known successively as the Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane, Buffalo State Hospita,l and Buffalo Psychiatric Center -- is located at 400 Forest Avenue. Originally this was the site of 203 acres of largely undeveloped farmland. The northern part of this farmland is now Buffalo State College.
  
  
• It was a state-of-the-art facility when it was built (from 1869 to 1896) incorporating the most modern ideas in psychiatric treatment. One of several treatment centers constructed in New York State after the Civil War, the buildings were arranged in the Kirkbride Plan, whereby the various interconnected wards extended out and set back from either side of the main administration building to segregate patients according to their diagnoses.
  
  
• The architect was Henry Hobson Richardson (of Gambrill and Richardson), later to become the first American architect to achieve international fame. This was the largest commission of Richardson's career. The landscape architects were Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, who designed the grounds of the Complex both for a calming and therapeutic effect on the patients, as well as to harmonize with the Buffalo Park and Parkway System that they were then creating.
  
  
• The state allocated $100 million for the rehabilitation and reuse of the Complex. Some of the funding was used to complete two other institutions; $16.5 million was used to build the new Burchfield Penney Art Center and $7 million was allocated to the Frank Lloyd Wright Darwin Martin House Visitor Center. Of the remaining $76.5 million, $20 million will go towards the Architecture and Visitor Center which will be located in the Richardson Complex.
  
  
• In 1973, the Complex was added to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. In 1986, it was registered as a National Historic Landmark. It is listed on the National Trust's list of twelve nationwide "sites to save" and the Preservation League's statewide list of seven "sites to save."
  
  
• Rehabilitation of the Complex is the mission of the Richardson Center Corporation, a not for profit 501(c)(3) organization.

Issues:

• As preservationists, we support the restoration and reuse of the Richardson Complex. In fact, it was a law suit initiated by the Preservation Coalition, Assembly member Sam Hoyt, and neighbors of the Forest-Elmwood Avenues site who filed suit to demand New York State maintain and stabilize the Complex. The state subsequently allocated $7 million to maintain and stabilize the buildings.
  
  Unfortunately, only the stone buildings received any attention and the brick buildings have yet to be addressed (even though funds remain from the original $10 million allocation). The Dormitory Authority of the State of NY, working without a scope of services or preservation direction, spent $5 million on repairs and security. The work centered on emergency repairs on the roof, masonry, window repairs, and to secure the buildings against vandals with fencing, blocking off ground level points of entry, and upgrading the fire alarm system.
  
  The Richardson Center Corporation obtained the remaining $2 million and in Fall 2007 began additional measures to prevent further deterioration and vandalism, i.e. structural shoring of falling brick, installation of a more extensive security and fire alarm system, and assessment and repair of roof leaks in the tower building.

• In 2006, Gov. Pataki created the Richardson Center Corporation (a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization) comprised of preservationists and local leaders to oversee the rehabilitation process.
  
  
• In 2007, the Urban Land Institute visited the site and after local input, made recommendations for the preservation of the site and all the remaining, original buildings.
  
  
• Also in 2007, the team of Goody Clancy (architects) and Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (engineers), were selected in a competitive process. Goody Clancy is currently preparing an Historic Structures Report along National Park Service guidelines to provide detailed documentary, graphic, and physical information about the property's history and existing condition as a guide for rehabilitation plans for reuse. Work by the engineering firm will follow.

What Can I Do?

• Stay informed! Keep in contact with the Landmark Society and the Preservation Coalition about recent actions, through the websites and as a member, get on the mailing list for all newsletters, tour information, and preservation alerts.
  
  
• Be patient, this is a long process. Meanwhile, go to public meetings. Sign up for the Richardson-Olmsted email list with Project Manager Monica Pellegrino Faix to receive progress reports and future meeting notices.