Before it was Record Theatre

Matthew Shoen
Associate Architectural Historian 

After Record Theatre closed in 2017 people started to speculate what would happen to the old building which had served as a gathering place for music lovers in Buffalo for close to fifty years. The building, sheathed in dull yellow metal siding, seemed like a questionable candidate for historic tax however a deep dive into the permit card vault in City Hall revealed an interesting truth beneath all that metal cladding.

This is the original facade of Record Theatre, a facade that had been buried under the metal cladding which was installed in the 1970s. Prior to that renovation, the building was known as the Monroe Building and was used by a variety of businessmen to sell automobiles.

The Monroe Building was built in 1920 for local automobile dealer Charles F. Monroe, a licensed agent for the Marmon and Velie Motor Companies. Monroe had been involved in Buffalo's auto trade since 1904 and was one of the city's many prosperous dealers. Due to Buffalo's high percentage of millionaires, the city had a thriving auto trade by the 1910s with many wealthy residents purchasing vehicles to flaunt their social status. Buffalo was also located close to major metropolises in northern Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and Ontario and car manufacturers licensed dealerships to sell their vehicles to consumers who traveled to Buffalo in order to purchase cars.

By the time Charles Monroe commissioned architect G. Morton Wolfe to design the Monroe Building, Main Street had developed a reputation as 'Automobile Row' due to the number of dealerships, garages, and specialty stores that catered to automobile owners. Every major automobile manufacturer had a presence on Automobile Row and consumers could travel up and down Main Street and peruse the newest vehicles from Pierce-Arrow, Packard, Ford, Marmon, and others.  To further promote automobile sales along, Buffalo's dealers organized yearly expositions in the city's various armories. These expos drew tens of thousands of people and were major showcases for America's car companies.

Expo in the Connecticut Street Armory

The prosperity of the 1910s and 1920s could not last forever and the Great Depression hit many of Buffalo's automobile dealers with a fatal blow. Because many companies had based their business model around selling luxury vehicles, they were unable to survive the economic downturn that ate into the finances of their clientele.

In 1931 Charles F. Monroe filed for bankruptcy and the Monroe Building was put up for auction where the Ford Motors Company ultimately purchased it. Ford immediately renovated the Monroe Building to reflect a new model of dealership the company wanted to create. Ford wanted to create a full service center with factory trained mechanics and parts for every model of Ford vehicle on the market. Ford's plan emphasized service and offering expert repairs, an important consideration for cash strapped Americans who needed their vehicles to last longer in the Depression years.

Interior of the Monroe Building in 1932

Ford's ownership of the Monroe Building lasted for roughly five years and after the company sold the Monroe Building to a local dealership called Birk & Bailey Incorporated, the property passed through the hands of several other automobile dealers before Leonard Silver purchased it and transformed the building into Record Theatre.

So there you have it, a building that outwardly looks like an unimpressive box store actually possesses a long and fascinating history that highlights Buffalo's early automobile history. Hopefully in the coming years something can be done to restore this beautiful piece of Buffalo's architectural and automotive legacy to its original form. Or at least maybe someone could peel off that metal siding!