This historic photo shows the 180-ft. tall Administrative Building of the Buffalo State Asylum, from which extended five male wards to the east, and five female wards to the west. The oak tree (right) predated construction of the asylum in 1872. The South Lawn (pictured) and other landscaping was the design of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux.
Photo: Buffalo Psychiatric Center

Groundbreaking for the new buildings at the Richardson Olmsted Complex took place Oct. 10, 2014, but the landscaping is already in place. In 2013, building upon Olmsted's original pastoral intent, the South Lawn was re-greened, and 112 parking spaces relocated. Designed by the landscape architects of Andropogon Associates, the new landscape includes a granite and flagstone plaza in front of the Towers Building, the planting of 125 trees, creating rain gardens to address stormwater, and a 1,300-foot pedestrian loop and improved roadway.
Photo: Joe Cascio

The groundbreaking for the long-awaited $69 million effort to convert the Richardson-Olmsted Complex at 400 Forest Avenue in Buffalo, N.Y., the former Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane, into an 88-room hotel and 300-seat conference and event center kicked off Oct. 10, 2014. Flynn Battaglia Architects is the architect of record. The buildings to be converted are the four-story, turreted Towers Building (a former admin building), plus two three-story former patient buildings that flank it. From 2008 to 2012, $10 million was also spent to stabilize the site's historic buildings. The core project is expected to take up to two years. The project will create 500 construction jobs and 75 permanent jobs.

The start of the building redevelopment of the former asylum comes eight years after then-Gov. George Pataki allocated more than $76 million for the project and created the nonprofit Richardson Center Corp. to oversee it. The contractor for the project is LPCiminelli.

The 42-acre complex has long been a focus of attention from preservationists. Opened in 1880 as a then state-of-the-art facility for the insane, the buildings were designed by H.H. Richardson, and the landscape by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. The site received National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmark status in 1973 and 1986 respectively.

The complex began in 1872 as a 203-acre site. The facility changed its name to Buffalo State Hospital in 1890 to reflect the changes in mental health treatments. The vast property was cut in half in 1927 to develop Buffalo State College, leaving a 91-acre city block. The name changed again in 1972 to the Buffalo Psychiatric Center. By 1974, all the patients in the old wards were moved to new facilities. Today, the site is occupied by the state-operated Buffalo Psychiatric Center, a modern inpatient residential facility, and the Burchfield Penney Art Center.

The site of the original greenhouse is being redeveloped to resemble an orchard. A new hotel driveway flanked by trees on both sides will lead to a paved plaza and a new two-story glass entrance that highlights the Medina brownstone facade.