University
at Buffalo - Table of Contents
Hayes
Hall
South Campus, University at Buffalo
Main Street, Buffalo, NY
University at Buffalo - Official Website
ADDITIONAL TEXT BENEATH ILLUSTRATIONS
Hayes Hall
Edmund B. Hayes Hall, now the home of the School of Architecture and Planning, is a South Campus historical landmark. Originally part of the Erie County Almshouse and Poor Farm in the late nineteenth century, Hayes Hall was the early home of the university's central administrative offices. The clock tower above Hayes Hall serves as an inspiring campus icon.
Edmund B. Hayes (1849-1923) was an engineer and businessman who built bridges and manufactured autos. He also served as a member of the University of Buffalo Council from 1920 to 1923, and left a bequest of $389,000 to the university.
Hayes Hall was one of the original poorhouse buildings on the Main Street property when the university acquired it in 1909. When the structure was remodeled for university use, the Hayes bequest was honored in naming the building.
The clocktower and Westminster chimes were the gift of Kate Robinson Butler (1891-1974), and and were installed in 1928. The four bells located in the open belfry bear inscriptions related to learning: "I am the voice of life; I call you: Come and learn" reads one written by Cuthbert W. Pound, chief judge of the New York State Court of Appeals.
- University at Buffalo: Hayes Hall (online April 2016)
2002 Color Photos
Caption: Erie County Almshouse and Insane Asylum, Wm. Wischerath Keeper, Buffalo Plains, N.Y.
Established in response to the growing problem of poverty in Buffalo, New York, the Erie County Poorhouse was relocated in 1851 from its original location in Black Rock to Main Street, occupying what is now the South Campus of the State University of Buffalo.
By the year 1907, the University of Buffalo was rapidly growing, but there was still no unified campus. When the University Council members learned by inside information that the County planned to relocate the Almshouse, they decided that the grounds between Main and Bailey streets would be a perfect location for a new University campus.
The building at the left was subsequently demolished by the University and rebuilt as Crosby hall.
The hospital building at the right, originally designed by George Metzger of Buffalo in 1874, was modified by E.B. Green and Son and Albert Hart Hopkins to become Hayes Hall where the University's administration was housed.
Brig. Gen. Edmund B. Hayes (1849-1923).
was an engineer and businessman who built bridges and manufactured autos. Hayes bequeathed $389,000 to UB.
2002 photo taken from Main Street
Georgian Revival design, except for the Baroque Revival style steeple
... 3 stories ... Constructed of Onondaga limestone which was most likely quarried on the campus and of (Indiana?) limestone
Mrs. Edward H. Butler
Photo source: August 5, 1974 Buffalo Evening News front page
Steeple.
Westminster chime and tower clock a gift of Mrs. Edward H. Butler ... The four bells, which make the complete Westminster chime, located in the open belfry ... Dials of the clock are 7 feet, 4 inches in diameter and are located 105 feet above the sidewalks at the entrance to the building. ... The clock and its equipment, exclusive of the bells, weigh 4,300 pounds.
Note modillions supporting cornice, dentils, volutes
Ionic pilasters ... Keystone in rounded window arch
Main entrance - Georgian Revival style ... Dentilated pediment ... Ionic pilasters ... Rusticated first story
Note modillions supporting cornice, keystone
Shell ornamentation ... Modillions supporting cornice, Ionic pilaster at lower right
Pilaster Corinthian capital
Rusticated stone ... Voussoir ... Keystone in splayed lintel
One of two air vents ... Ball finial ... Tuscan engaged columns
Door surround: Cornice ... Ancones ... Keystone ... Transom ... Side lights ... Sconces
Sconce
2002 Photos
University at Buffalo’s Hayes Hall Added to National Register of Historic Places
The University at Buffalo’s most recognizable building – Hayes Hall – has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The landmark stone structure, which faces Main Street on UB’s South Campus in Buffalo’s University Heights section, was built in the late 1870s as an asylum for the mentally ill.
The university acquired the property in 1909 as a cornerstone of a new campus. It was named Hayes Hall after Edmund B. Hayes, an engineer and businessman who served on the University Council and bequeathed $389,000 to the university upon his death in 1923.
After a redesign in 1926 that included the installation of the building’s signature clock tower and Westminster chimes, Hayes became UB’s main administrative building. It has been home since 1977 to the School of Architecture and Planning, formerly the School of Architecture and Environment Design. The building was closed in 2011 for a $43.5 million exterior restoration and interior overhaul. It reopened this year, and a grand reopening event is scheduled for Sept. 23-24.
“Embodied in the ‘bricks and mortar’ of buildings are stories that lend to their historic significance. Part of Hayes’ significance is that throughout its history, it has been ‘modernized’ to meet the demands of function and use,” said Kerry L. Traynor, clinical assistant professor of urban and regional planning at UB. Traynor prepared the final National Register application with the state’s historic preservation office. The building, Traynor added, “remains the symbolic nucleus of South Campus and the university. Its bells ring out as they did almost 90 years ago.”
Hayes Hall is the first UB building to receive the historic designation. “Hayes Hall has always been a celebrated landmark for the University at Buffalo and our surrounding region. Now, thanks to research and a nomination prepared by our faculty and students, it’s nationally recognized as a building of architectural significance,” said Robert G. Shibley, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning. “It’s a clear indicator of the university’s commitment to historic preservation and adaptive reuse.”
Watercolor by V. Roger Lalli ... Includes history by David Mott Rote
2016 Photos
Georgian Revival design, except for the Baroque Revival style steeple
... 3 stories ... Constructed of Onondaga limestone which was most likely quarried on the onsite county property
Steeple.
Westminster chime and tower clock a gift of Mrs. Edward H. Butler ... The four bells, which make the complete Westminster chime, located in the open belfry ... Dials of the clock are 7 feet, 4 inches in diameter and are located 105 feet above the sidewalks at the entrance to the building. ... The clock and its equipment, exclusive of the bells, weigh 4,300 pounds.
Ball finial
Westminster chime and tower clock a gift of Mrs. Edward H. Butler ... The four bells, which make the complete Westminster chime, located in the open belfry in the steeple ... Dials of the clock are 7 feet, 4 inches in diameter and are located 105 feet above the sidewalks at the entrance to the building. ... The clock and its equipment, exclusive of the bells, weigh 4,300 pounds.
One of two air vents ... Ball finial ... Tuscan engaged columns
Slate roof ... Dentil molding
Dentil molding ... Onondaga limestone which was probably quarried on the County property ... Quoins
Splayed lintel above 6 over 6 lights
Note modillions supporting cornice
Pilasters topped by Corinthian capital
Modillions supporting cornice ... Keystone
Main entrance
Ionic pilaster
Rusticated stone
Door surround: Cornice ... Ancones ... Keystone ... Transom ... Side light ... Sconces
Ancones ... Sconce ... Two details below:
Detail #1 - Ancone
Detail #2 - Sconce
Onondaga limestone which was most likely quarried on the the County property
Brig. Gen. Edmund B. Hayes (1849-1923). was a civil engineer and businessman (Union Bridge Company) who built bridges and manufactured autos. He was a pioneer investor in the development of electrical power from Niagara Falls.
In 1899, General Edmund Hayes and his business partner,John J. Albright, joined four other industrialists to form the Lackawanna Steel Company.
Hayes was an important contributor to the Permanent Endowment Fund of St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral.
A member of the University of Buffalo Council, 1920-1923, Hayes left a bequest of $389,000 to the university.
History of Hayes Hall:
- 1860s - an insane asylum
- 1874-1879 - the Erie County Almshouse; Architect: George Metzger. Contractors: Cyrus K. Porter & Sons. Cost: $526,778
- 1877 - north wing added
- 1879 - the south wing added
- 1890 - renovations and additions completed
- 1894 - became the Erie County Hospital.
- 1909 - 106 acres in North Buffalo purchased by the University of Buffalo, but not developed.
- 1923 - Hayes bequeathes $389,000 to UB
- 1927 - building renovated (original mansard roof and square tower replaced). Renamed Hayes Hall.
- 1928 - Tower clock and Westminster Chime, a gift of Mrs. Edward H. Butler, installed
Architects
In 1933, E.B Green Jr. died of a cerebral hemorrhage. He had been architect-in-charge for the design of Crosby Hall, Norton Hall, and Lockwood Memorial Library at the University of Buffalo. A few years earlier, Green and Sons had won the commission to create a master plan for the entire University, as well as design several key buildings in the plan.
The highly classical plan which the firm produced used Lockwood Library as its focal point (much like the Rotunda in Thomas Jefferson's plan for the University of Virginia) with lesser buildings sited to establish a hierarchy of functions through geometrical relationships. The intent was to create major open space surrounded by academic buildings and auxiliary areas to accommodate student housing, athletic facilities, and service buildings. The strength of their plan lay in its ability to enclose the entire campus and to create a true sense of place and identity..
For approximately ten years, the firm worked on plans for Crosby Hall, Lockwood Library, Norton Union, Hayes Hall, Clark Gymnasium, and the Service Building. Once again, the firm chose the English Renaissance Period as inspiration for the design of the buildings.
From 1933-36, Green Sr. worked on the project until R. Maxwell James joined the firm, which was thenceforth named Green and James until 1945.