Dreamland

The Sleeping Woman. 1901 (Copyright: Arnold)

 Yesterday I was driving to Kleinhans Music Hall for a performance of Mozart's "Jupiter" and Holst's "The Planets". As I was driving, I just happened to turn to my right, sort of looking to see if I should turn right down the street or keep straight, when all of a sudden I see out of the corner of my eye this huge, massive face! It was a woman's face and it rests against the entrance to a red-brick building. It was HUGE! Immediately, I recognized that sculpture as the entrance to "Dreamland" in the 1901 Pan-American Expo.

Back during the Expo, the massive face acted as an entrance into one of the amusement rides called "Dreamland". The ride consisted of a mirror maze, which it is said that "No illusion on the Midway is more confusing or amusing" (Heverin).

Today, the Sleeping Woman is located on 459 Forest Ave. at the Buffalo Historical Society's Resource Center for the Pan-American Exposition ("Planning a Visit"). Although she is a replica, she is still just as impressive as she must have been in 1901. I think it's wonderful that such an unexpected Sleeping Woman. Incidentally, my great aunt worked here back in the 1930s. The Richardson Complex is a treasure of Buffalo--- the architect also designed the Trinity Church in Boston, MA and the landscaping around the complex was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. (P.S. - If you can't tell, I'm pretty big into Architecture Preservation). A good news too about the Richardson Complex: New York State just signed over the land and the building to the Restoration Corporation for the complex, giving them the opportunity for renovating and preserving the buildings.
glimpse of history is still out there on the streets for people to think and wonder about. Buffalo's got a huge fight going for preservation-- I also included some pictures I took yesterday of the H.H. Richardson Complex, a former insane asylum that is directly across from the

H.H. Richardson Complex.

I think this is why I get so frustrated when I start researching the buildings of the Pan-American Expo. They were only temporary, and yet they were some of the most gorgeous buildings I've ever seen! To think that if they made them out of cement and marble and stone instead of plaster and mesh, the buildings could have been still seen today. With such a influx of preservation, the buildings would definitely have been seen as an architectural treasure. Speaking of which, this fall the National Trust for Historic Preservation is having their annual conference in Buffalo! Let's hope for more funding to fix up our broken buildings!