Neoclassical and Art Deco office towers of the 1920s rise around Lafayette Square, with light rail on Main Street.
What Downtown Buffalo looks like
is a park in the center of downtown Buffalo, lined by many of the city's tallest buildings. Its center holds the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, an 85-foot granite shaft with bronze figures at its base. Trees line the lawns around it.
The stands on Main Street across the light rail from the square, and dates from 1925. Its 23 stories rise from a stone base, with gold lettering over the entrance. Two replicas of the Statue of Liberty stand on the roof.
The is a 29-story Art Deco tower of 1929, stepped back at its upper floors. Its facade has finials and rosettes, and a mast stands on the roof.
10 is a concrete and glass tower of 1958 to 1959, standing among the 1920s towers. A period frame has to keep it out.
North on Main Street, light rail tracks run down the center of the street between brick office towers. Overhead wires follow the route, and the tracks sit at street level rather than on an elevated line.
The is a ten-story block of pearl gray brick and terra cotta, dating from 1896. Its interior court is floored in marble mosaic under a steel-framed glass roof.
Court Street runs toward , and its stepped tower stands at the far end of the view from the square. The 32-story tower dates from 1929 to 1931 and is faced in pale stone over a granite base.
Shot in Downtown Buffalo
Buffalo City Hall appears in three productions, and the Ellicott Square Building's court in one more. The 2017 film Marshall used the building as a Bridgeport, Connecticut courthouse. The 2021 film Nightmare Alley used the exterior as the office of psychologist Dr. Lilith Ritter, and its Art Deco lobby and hallways as a 1940s setting. The office interior itself was a built studio set. The HBO series Avenue 5 used the building as the new White House. The 1984 film The Natural used that court as a Chicago hotel lobby, lit with added smoke.
Marshall, 2017
Buffalo City Hall
Played a Bridgeport, Connecticut courthouse, Bridgeport, Connecticut
The production had two days at City Hall around June 3, 2016. Its interiors were shot on a Saturday, when the building was closed. Light posts, crosswalk signs and road markings were removed or hidden from Niagara Square for filming. Street View
What Downtown Buffalo can double for
Griswold Street in Detroit, Michigan
On Griswold Street, the Penobscot Building (1927 to 1928) is an Art Deco office tower of Indiana limestone. The Guardian Building (1928 to 1929) is an Art Deco office tower of colored brick with limestone and terra cotta. Together the two sit close in period to the Liberty and the Rand, though both are taller. A wide frame needs the upper floors cropped out, since both rise above 490 feet against the Liberty's 333. Try searching Art Deco office towers now.
Downtown Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio
Carew Tower, built from 1929 to 1931, is a 49-story Art Deco office tower. Its base is black granite and limestone. It sits close in period to the Liberty Building, but its yellow brick shaft and far greater height make it a looser match. The yellow brick is warmer than the Liberty's tan brick, so a tight crop on the base keeps the granite in frame. Try searching yellow brick Art Deco tower now.
