We Have Rooms To Rent
Buffalo's prominent example of Art Moderne architecture has been refurbished and refitted as the home of Alleyway Theatre. The new facility features a variety of spaces that are now available for occasional rental. Alleyway Theatre complies with federal regulations regarding accessibility to the handicapped. For information or rental quotes, 716-852-2600 x201.

The Theatre
The 99 seat, black box style theatre is fully equipped with dressing rooms, control booth, 48 dimmer lighting system, complete theatre sound system, and air-conditioning. Available for single event or weekly performance schedule.

Main Street Cabaret
The new Main Street Cabaret is located on the first floor at the front of the building and features a small stage, dressing room, actors' entrance and private lavatory facilities, a twelve dimmer stage lighting system operated from a window protected control booth and seating for up to 70. Available for single event or by the week.

The Lobby
The impressive new lobby with its high ceiling features a concessions area with  sinks and refrigeration, dimmable and decorative lighting a grand staircase, terrazzo floor, and natural daylight. Available for parties, receptions, and other events in 4 hour blocks of time.

The Leonard G. London Conference Room
The Conference room comfortably accommodates meetings of up to two dozen at its 24 ft. long conference table. The room is equipped with a computer workstation, telephone, digital projector for PowerPoint style presentations, white board, bulletin and flip page boards, and a kitchenette area with sink, refrigerator and microwave. Available for meetings/events in four hour blocks of time.

The Alleyway Gallery
The Alleyway Gallery has been developed in four small rooms on the mezzanine.  One room looks over the open rail to the lobby, and the other three rooms of the gallery feature original skylights. The newly carpeted spaces are fully equipped with a ceiling channel wire hanging system for photography, print, or paintings, and the area is lighted with a dimmable and fully adjustable track lighting system. Available for single events or weekly rental.

Rehearsal Halls
Air-conditioned rehearsal hall spaces on the second floor for theatre rehearsals or limited classes are available at the Pearl Street end of the building. A Unisex rest room is adjacent. Available for rehearsals or workshops in four hour blocks of time; rental includes one staff member for safety and access.

A Little History
Alleyway Theatre is located in Buffalo, New York's Theater Historic District. Constructed in 1941 by Central Greyhound Lines, the building served for decades as the city's primary bus depot. It is one of the many terminals designed by nationally prominent architect William S. Arrasmith of Louisville who created over one hundred stations for Greyhound in the late thirties and early forties.

The Alleyway Building is one of Buffalo's most prominent examples of the Art Moderne style. The streamlined two story structure boasts the important features which defined the work of W. S. Arrasmith including round windows, curved wall surfaces, stainless steel and aluminum alloy trimmings, terrazzo floors, limestone façade, and exterior surfaces of glazed tile. This building is one of only a handful of Mr. Arrasmith's creations which is still standing.

Greyhound moved to new facilities in the late seventies. During the summer of 1979 the depot was used by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in connection with the film "Hide In Plain Sight". On June 9, 1979 the City of Buffalo announced that it would purchase the depot from Greyhound Corporation for $50,000, and renovate a portion of the building as a police station. In July, 1983 the Buffalo Theatre Collective began leasing other space within the building from the City with plans to develop a theatre which opened as Alleyway Theatre on December 5, l985. On August 8, 1985 the alley that connects Main and Pearl Streets along the building's South side was dedicated as "Curtain Up! Alley."

The construction of a new police precinct house resulted in the departure of police from the building in 2000. Alleyway Theatre Incorporated took full occupancy of the 33,000 sq. ft. building in April, 2001 and immediately began repairs. The project to renovate the building and restore its façade and important interior Art Moderne features began in January, 2003. The $1.5 million adaptive re-use project resulted in a theatre facility that includes a ninety-nine seat black box style theatre, a seventy seat cabaret theatre, a spacious lobby with grand stair case, administrative offices, rehearsal halls, scenery and costume shops, dressing rooms, an exhibit gallery and a conference room. Architects for the renovation project were Dominic Palmisano and Sandy Edelman of Palmisano Architecture And Design.

The facility celebrated its grand opening on September 14, 2005.

Our Building's Lineage
Greyhound bus terminals represented the democratic potential of American mobility. In towns, large and small, the galloping canine promised a ticket for anyone overcome by wanderlust. The depots also offered a meal, a haircut, a shoeshine, a magazine, and long benches for travelers waiting for the next boarding. Pretty much everyone in the 1940's and 1950's spent some time in a bus terminal.

The renowned Greyhound architect W. S. Arrasmith drew from Moderne motifs such as sweeping curves, porthole windows, and towering signage designed for the roving eye of the automobilist. Inexpensive motion and fluidity were the promise of Greyhound's streamlined design.  You can still find a few Greyhound depots left standing, and fewer still that have been restored, but to recall their heyday, you must turn to the images of photographs, pamphlets, and postcards.

Bus design by  Raymond Loewy

Cincinnati, Ohio (demolished)

Evansville, Indiana (Still in use and on National Register of Historic Places.)

Syracuse, New York
(demolished)

Jackson, Tennessee
(Still in use and on National Register of Historic Places.)

Washington, D.C.
(restored and adapted to use as office building)

Portsmouth, Ohio  (demolished)