City Hall - Table of Contents
....................... Buffalo
Waterfront - Table of Contents
2002 photos from City
Hall Observation
Deck
Buffalo, NY
The narrowness of the upper part of the tower prevents the elevators from reaching beyond the 25th floor, from which one must climb stairs to the 28th floor to reach the observation deck. At this floor, there are doors leading to the outside, which open onto a narrow exterior gallery, formed by the setback of the dome above the red and yellow terracotta crown encircling the dome.
The Observation Deck of the City Hall is the only place where the general public is allowed to go outside, into the air, high above the streets, and obtain a 360 degree panoramic view of the entire city and its setting. City Hall is the best place for this view, since it is at the center of Joseph Ellicott's radial street plan.
At the time of City Hall's completion fears were voiced that the observation deck would be a tempting stage for suicide artists. Over the years there have been occasional attempts, some successful.Perhaps the most macabre leap was that of Robert Leroy Wayne Jackson in 1976. Jackson plummeted some 300 feet before impaling himself on the flagpole over the building's entrance.
Statler Hotel Rand Building ... Tishman Building/National Fuel Building ... Liberty Bank Building / Liberty Building Liberty Bank Building / Liberty Building Genesee Building/Hyatt Regency ... Electric Tower St. Louis RC Church Hutchinson Central Technical High School Prospect Avenue Baptist Church Central Terminal Central Library ... Soldiers & Sailors Monument M&T Bank ... Main Place Tower ... Rath County Office Building Upper left: Rath County Office Building ... Guaranty Building ... Telephone Building ... Old County Hall ... Bottom: BAC Upper left: Rath County Office Building ... Guaranty Building ... Telephone Building ... Old County Hall Connecting Terminal Elevator General Mills Buffalo Lighthouse Adam's Mark Hotel Main Place Tower (black) ... Rath County Office Building ... Guaranty Building ... HSBC ... Telephone Building ... Old County Hall Water Intake Building ... Observation Tower Ward Pumping Station |