The Metro Rail Maintenance Yard or "South Park Terminal" houses Buffalo Metro Rail's cars in a train shed at the former Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad terminal in the Cobblestone District of Buffalo, New York. The property is located at the southernmost fringe of the Central Business District. The station was built in 1917, and was designed to handle both steam trains and steamships. The storage and maintenance facility was converted to its present condition in 1982, following the demolition of the former main terminal concourse building "headhouse" of the DL&W Terminal in 1979. The lower level of the sheds are used to store the rail cars when they are not in use. The upper level is mostly empty space, consisting of the concrete troughs where tracks once stood and their platforms. However, some of it is used for offices, a train operators' lounge and storage. Numerous proposals for adaptive reuse of the unused portion of the upper level of the terminal sheds have been floated publicly by various parties, including: a casino, a farmers market and loft apartments, as well as an additional Metro Rail station with shops and commuter parking. In 1982, an addition was built on the east end of the terminal building, which has a modern rail maintenance shop for servicing the rail fleet. This addition also contains some administrative offices.
History
The terminal was built by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1917. The station was built for both boat and rail travel. Passengers arriving by boat entered the stationfrom the south side entrance which faced the Buffalo River. The building was three stories high and built of brownstone. There were waiting rooms on the ground floor and on the second floor which were connected by a grand double staircase. The ground floor had one ticket office and checking counter with benches along the sides. The second waiting room was fitted with accommodations for about 200 persons. Off the waiting room was a women's parlor, furnished in soft brown with wicker furniture. There were rugs on the floor and a writing desk. On the other side of the stairs was a smoking room. The middle of the east side of the waiting room had the entrance to the train concourse. Also next to the waiting room was a newsstand, telegraph and parcel booths, and restaurant. On a mezzanine floor were the rooms for railroad employees, a waiting room for immigrants, and a room for railroad business mail. On the third floor were various offices, including those for the superintendent and the train dispatcher. The Construction of the Buffalo Skyway led to the destruction of the line north of the terminal where the skyway was placed. In 1963, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad merged with the Erie Railroad. The new resulting railroad known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad or the EL abandoned the terminal soon after when in 1968 it ended the overnight Owl service from Hoboken to Buffalo and New York Mail heading back. After years of abandonment the head house of the terminal was demolished in 1979 in preparation for the installation of the Buffalo Metro Rail.
Future
With the redevelopment around the terminal of Canalside, LECOM Harborcenter, and KeyBank Center, plans have been floated to redevelop the building into a multi-model site with turning the upper level of the building into commercial space with a pedestrian bridge to KeyBank Center and its parking garage as well as a new metro rail station inside the building and public access to riverwalk. The plan, estimated to cost $42 Million and later approved by NFTA also includes docks on the Buffalo River.
