Polish Co-Operative Savings & Loan Association

By Greg Witul
Am-Pol Eagle, November 2 (online August 2017)

Fillmore Savings and Loan was established on March 29, 1909 under the name, Polish Co-Operative Savings & Loan Association as a bank run by Poles to serve Poles. Spearheaded by real estate developer Stanislaus Nowicki, the bank was funded by the wealthiest of Polonia including brewing magnate Anthony Schreiber and grocer Stanislaus Lipowicz.

The first location of the bank was based out of the office of Mr. Nowicki at 607 Fillmore, but soon the bank would need a home. At the end of 1909, the bank hired famed Polish-American architect Wladyslaw H. Zawadzki to design a building for Mr. Nowicki that could serve both as a home for his family and a home for the bank. In 1910, the dual purpose building at 615 Fillmore was completed.

For the next 15 years, this arrangement met the needs of both Mr. Nowicki and the public who utilized the bank. But by the 1920s the bank had assets of over half a million dollars and running it out of a home was no longer feasible. In 1925, Mr. Zawadzki was hired again, this time to build a standalone bank that could be both next to and still connected to Mr. Nowicki’s house.

The completed bank at 617 Fillmore was designed with a classic Greek flair, including a tympanum with title of the bank emblazoned on it. And why shouldn’t the Polish Co-Operative Savings & Loan Association have a temple built to its financial prowess, it was the height of the roaring ‘20s and nothing could go wrong.

The 1930s were an important decade for the Polish Co-Operative, first they changed their name to the Kasa Savings and Loan Association and then they moved from their home at 617 Fillmore to their new home at 700 Fillmore. Officially, the Depression was not the main instigator of the move, it was because their home at 617 Fillmore was “too far from the business district” on Broadway. Kasa would still own the building as they leased it to the City of Buffalo to be used as a library.

Through the ‘30s and ‘40s the founders were able steer the bank and at times make it very profitable, but soon the old guard had to make room for new blood. Younger men named Frank Wardynski, John Aszkler and Henry Duch were sitting on the board of directors.

The post war years made everything new and vibrant again. Henry Duch was elected president in 1951, the assets of the Kasa Savings and Loan Association reached into the millions, and the idea of changing the name was on the minds of the board. On July 14, 1955, the Kasa Savings and Loan Association ceased to be and the Fillmore Savings & Loan Association was born.

The bank continued to serve the financial needs of the East Side through the 1960s. In the 1970s they actively attracted young Polish professionals like Casimir Lotarski of Lotarski Insurance and Real Estate and attorney Eugene Buczkowski to their board to keep the bank relevant.

The end of the 1970s saw the rise of consolidation of Savings and Loans and Fillmore was not immune. In August of 1979, Fillmore Savings & Loan Association approved a merger with Buffalo Savings Bank. Fillmore’s assets would be added to the over two billion dollars that Buffalo Savings Bank was managing from other consolidations. As a consolation, Casimir Lotarski was added to the board of directors of Buffalo Savings Bank. On March 2, 1980, the
final state approval was granted and Fillmore Savings & Loan Association ceased to be.