A bookend ‘memorial’ to one of the dumbest things ever done in Buffalo, and there are many, is under construction along Seneca Street. Seneca Larkin Holdings LLC is constructing a showcase at the site of the demolished Larkin Administration Building at 680 Seneca Street, now a parking lot.
The Frank Lloyd Wright-design Larkin Administration Building was built in 1906 for the Larkin Company. The five-story red brick building was demolished in 1950 by The Western Trading Corporation. Its demise is considered by many to be one of the largest architectural tragedies in the history of the United States.
All that remains of the building is a single brick pier along Swan Street with an educational marker (below).
In October 2010, Seneca Larkin Holdings, LLC, a group led by local developers Peter Krog, Gordon Reger and James Cornell, acquired the mammoth 1.3 million sq.ft. Seneca Industrial Center, a former Larkin Company complex across from the Administration Building site. The complex has been renovated and rechristened Larkin Center of Commerce. It has a healthy mix of office, service, and light industrial tenants.