Former Buffalo Mental Asylum Has Now Reopened As Luxury Hotel
There is a new luxury hotel in Buffalo. The Richardson Olmsted Campus in Buffalo, formerly known as the Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane, has reopened as a new luxury hotel. Not too long ago, the campus was home to Hotel Henry, but unfortunately, it closed in 2021, a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hotel Henry Urban Resort Conference Center, located at 444 Forest Ave in Buffalo shut its doors due to a slowdown in business, according to WKBW. Unfortunately, like many other businesses in Western New York and nationwide, it experienced a decrease in business. The hotel, along with its restaurant 100 Acres: The Kitchens at Hotel Henry, closed on February 27, 2021.
Hotel Henry Executive Diana Principe told WKBW,
"Given the ongoing operational restrictions and challenges of the evolving pandemic environment, Sublessor, Richardson Center Development Corporation and Sublesse, Hotel Henry, have agreed to terminate the initial 10-year lease term in advance of the expiration of the agreement."
The Richardson Hotel Is Now Open In Buffalo
Just over two years after Hotel Henry closed, the campus has new life again. The Richardson Hotel is now open and accepting reservations. The luxury hotel offers a range of rooms and suites. There are plans in the work to open additional rooms, an event space, and possibly residential quarters. The restaurant, bar, and café will open in phases:
Café Calvert - April 1
Bar Vaux - April 15
Cucina Restaurant - May 15
Credit: WGRZ-TV via Youtube
A new dawn has arrived in Buffalo. Its light eases minds, uplifts community, and opens a space for thoughtful gathering. This National Historic Landmark — in the heart of Buffalo and near SUNY — boldly whispers an unexpected design, meshing time to its liking. Set on more than 40 park acres, this urban destination stands for those who embrace the human spirit and its stories. It invites reflection, originality, heritage, and organic social connections. Resilience and passion are within — and all around.
THE RICHARDSON HOTEL
444 FOREST AVE
BUFFALO, NY 14213
PHONE: 716.493.2610
You can visit The Richardson Hotel's website here.
Before It Was Luxury Hotels And Conference Space, The Campus Was A Mental Asylum
Credit: The Speakeasy via Youtube
Construction on the Richardson Olmsted Campus started in 1872 and it opened eight years later. The project was led by American architect Henry Hobson Richardson, American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Architect and landscape engineer Calvert Vaux, and Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride, one of the founders of the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane. The Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane opened on November 15, 1880.
The Richardson Olmsted Campus in Buffalo, New York, United States, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986. The site was designed by the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson in concert with the famed landscape team of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in the late 1800s, incorporating a system of enlightened treatment for people with mental illness developed by Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride.