The Life of a Building
Hayes Hall Through the Years
Learn more about key events over the course of Hayes Hall's nearly 150-year history, from the addition of its iconic clock tower in 1928 to student protests during the 1960s.
| Center core of what is now Hayes Hall built as the Insane Department of the Erie County Almshouse. | 1874 | ||||
| South Wing constructed. | 1877 | ||||
| North Wing constructed. | 1879 | ||||
| Building converted to 400-bed Erie County Hospital. | 1893 | ||||
| Almshouse site acquired by the University of Buffalo. | 1909 | ||||
| General Edmund Hayes bequests $389,000 to the university. | 1916 | ||||
| Renovations convert building to academic use. | 1927 | 1927-1977 Hayes Hall housed Administrative Offices of the University, The School of Business Administration and The College of Arts and Sciences. | |||
| Hayes Hall is dedicated. | 1928 | FEB 22nd | |||
| Clock Tower and Westminster Chimes are installed. The tower houses four bells, ranging in weight from 400 to 1,800 pounds. | 1928 | JULY | |||
| Hayes Hall is the focus of student protests in the late 1960s. Militants occupied the building for two days in 1969. A group of faculty members, arrested for trespassing when they refused to leave the building, were dubbed the Hayes Hall 45. | 1960s | ||||
| Hayes Hall Complex, including Wende, Beck and Townsend Halls, is designated a local landmark by the Buffalo Preservation Board. | 1988 | FALL | 1977- present Hayes Hall houses “School of Architecture and Environmental Design,” now Buffalo School of Architecture + Planning. | ||
| Hayes Hall is dedicated as a historic landmark by the Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier. | 1988 | DEC 12 | |||
| Clock Tower undergoes a significant restoration. | 2003 | ||||
| Hayes Hall restoration begins. | 2011 | ||||
| Hayes Hall restoration to be completed, with Buffalo School slated to move in during 2016. | 2013 |
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- Erie County Almshouse before being remodeled into Hayes Hall
- Erie County Hospital, 1896
- UB President Samuel Capen at his desk in Hayes Hall
- Hayes Hall takeover, 1965
- Restoring the Historic Clock Tower at Hayes Hall
- Renovation begins with the demolition of the old gallery/classroom in the third floor of the building’s core
- Hayes Hall at night