Lafayette Square - Table of Contents

Western Savings Bank / Main Court Building
438 Main Street, Buffalo, NY

Postcard ... Another postcard ... Western Savings Bank building demolished for the 1964 building, detailed below:

Built as Western Savings Bank ... Closed in 1991 ... Known in 2016 as Main Court Building: street on left is Court Street, street on right in Main Street ...  13-story rectangular block fronting Main Street offset with flanking 3-story commercial blocks, which serve as the horizontal base of the building. White marble panels accent the upper floors of the second and third floors White marble panels accent the upper floors of the second and third floors. Right foreground: Hilton Garden Inn in Lafayette Square ... Main Court Building: Glass curtain wall with aluminum mullions and muntins and aluminum spandrel panels that is divided into bays by narrow strips of white marble. 13-story rectangular block fronting Main Street offset with flanking 3-story commercial blocks, which serve as the horizontal base of the building. Glass ... Aluminum ... Marble

The Western Savings Bank Building (now Main Court Building) on the west side of the square was also completed in 1964. Designed by local firm Duane Lyman Associates, the Main Court Building’s International-style design complements the mid-century [International-style] aesthetic of the Tishman and Central Library buildings. The Main Court Building consists of a 13-story rectangular block fronting Main Street offset with flanking 3-story commercial blocks, which serve as the horizontal base of the building. Modern storefronts wrap around the Main and Court street elevations. White marble panels accent the upper floors of the second and third floors. Upper floors of the building incorporate a glass curtain wall with aluminum mullions and muntins and aluminum spandrel panels that is divided into bays by narrow strips of white marble. The Main Court and Central Library buildings represent the mid-twentieth century adaptation of modern designs by established local architectural firms previously associated with traditional architectural styles and forms of pre-World War II. -2013 Preservation Ready Survey of Buildings Downtown, Northland and Fougeron/Urban Survey Areas, Section 4, p.29 (online May 2016)

Western New York Savings Bank of Buffalo Source: http://www.banking.state.ny.us/histw.txt 07/09/1851 NYS Chartered Western Savings Bank of Buffalo 06/01/1970 Name Change To Western New York Savings Bank, The 03/31/1971 Acquire By Merger Niagara County Savings & Loan Association 01/15/1982 Merge To State Buffalo Savings Bank 11/01/1982 Name Change To Goldome Bank For Savings 09/26/1983 Convert Federal 09/26/1983 Name Change To Goldome, FSB 08/19/1987 Convert State 08/19/1987 Name Change To Goldome 05/31/1991 Liquidated 05/31/1991 Assets Sold To Key Bank of Western New York, N.A. 05/31/1991 Assets Sold To Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company 05/31/1991 Assets Sold To Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company 05/31/1991 Assets Sold To East New York Savings Bank

Excerpts Buffalo Savings, Western to Merge By Robert A. Bennett New York Times,  August 18, 1981 (online May 2016) Reinforcing the trend toward consolidation of the nation's thrift industry, trustees of the Buffalo Savings Bank and the Western New York Savings Bank yesterday announced an agreement to merge their institutions. The merger, which is expected to be consummated on Jan. 1, would create the nation's fourth-largest savings bank, and the third largest in New York State. ''It's the trend in the industry,'' said Ross B. Kenzie, president and chief executive officer of the Buffalo Savings Bank, which has assets of $2.68 billion. Western, which was founded 130 years ago, has assets of $1.1 billion. Buffalo Savings has 16 branches in the Buffalo area, and Western New York has 13. Mr. Kenzie, who would become chairman and chief executive officer of the merged institution, said the branches of the two banks overlap to an extent and that ''we will probably close some.'' Charles Diebold 3d, chairman and chief executive of Western New York, would become president and chief operating officer of the merged institution, which would be renamed the Buffalo-Western Savings Bank. Mr. Kenzie said that the merger was completely voluntary and that it was not the result of regulatory actions.

Excerpts Big Deal: Rand and Main Court Buildings Sold By WC Perspective Buffalo Rising, December 30, 2014 Paul Kolkmeyer has finalized the purchase of the Rand and Main Court Buildings downtown. Kolkmeyer paid $3.9 million for the Rand  and $4.55 million for Main Court according to County Clerk Records. The Main Court Building has had a number of names over the years. It was built as the headquarters for Western Saving BankGoldome Court.  Delaware North purchased the property for $9 million in 1990 during the collapse of Goldome and moved its headquarters there from the Butler Mansion and renamed it One Delaware North Place. Four years later Delaware North sold the property to Vandor Corp. from Canada. Vandor lost the building to foreclosure after Delaware North relocated to Key Center in 1999. David Sweet acquired the building at a foreclosure auction in July 2001 for $3 million. which was acquired by Goldome in 1988 and renamed