Nature and vandals have taken their toll on the American Railway Express Company (later the Railway Express Agency, Inc) depot on Curtiss Street adjacent to the Central Terminal. The two-story, 100,000 sq.ft. structure was built in 1917, 12 years before the terminal. It was served by 5,000 feet of covered platforms and was the largest facility of its kind in the world.
The Railway Express Agency (REA) was a national monopoly set up by the United States federal government in 1917. Rail express services provided small package and parcel transportation using the extant railroad infrastructure much as UPS functions today using the road system. The United States government was concerned about the rapid, safe movement of parcels, money, and goods during World War I and REA was its solution to this problem. REA ceased operations in 1975, when its business model ceased to be viable due to the construction of the interstate highway system making the UPS business model cost less to the customers.
In November 1975, REA Express terminated operations and filed for bankruptcy.
Rendering: Buffalo News, February 23, 1990
The complex has been vacant since. In 1990, Adrian Development Inc. had plans to convert the complex into warehouse, light industrial and office space hoping to lure warehousing business created from the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement. The plan, like the anticipated economic boost from the trade agreement, fizzled. The City has owned the building since the mid-1990s.
Left exposed to the elements, Mother Nature and vandals have ravaged the building. Stalactites and stalagmites are forming. Water percolating through the concrete is creating calcium carbonate forming stalactites. If the building remains abandoned another century or so, perhaps they’ll join with the stalagmites forming on the floor.