If These Columns Could Talk

You probably recognize this landmark, but do you know its history? The columns of Baird Point were once part of the façade of the Federal Reserve Bank in downtown Buffalo. When the bank was slated for demolition in 1959, UB music department founder Cameron Baird and civic-minded Air Force Major A. Burt Hamilton proposed acquiring the columns for UB. According to University Archives, the idea was to incorporate them into an open-air Greek amphitheater on the South Campus. Instead, they sat unused until 1978, when they were spruced up and transported to their current home, standing sentry over Lake LaSalle.