Looking from the roof of the Hotel Alcazar at the intersection of Amherst and Elmwood across the street from the West Amherst Entrance to the Exposition
grounds. Elmwood Avenue runs
left to right, foreground. (Shaded area is to highlight Amherst Street.)
The West Amherst Gate to the Exposition was a major point of entry for visitors to the Exposition, much to the
planners' disappointment. (They wanted everyone to enter at the Lincoln Parkway Gate to fully appreciate the majesty
of the Exposition design.) But in addition to being a stop for frequent trolleys, the West Amherst Gate was immediately
adjacent to the Midway (left above), a destination with high priority for visitors...
The same view from ground level (in front of Voelker's Bowling Center) in 2006. Voelker's is located on the site of the Hotel Alcazar.
Amherst Street was the only significant city street on the Exposition grounds; it was absorbed into the Exposition
design and
closed to traffic until
April 1902 when the city insisted on regaining use of it. Designers utilized the street, but
dramatically altered it, renaming it "the Mall." The
Buffalo Evening News described the changes under way on March 28, 1901:
"Other men are transforming the mall into the garden spot of the
Exposition. They have covered the asphalt pavement and curb
of Amherst Street with earth, which in turn will be
strewn with gravel and packed into a hard road by the steam road roller.
The sloping sides are to be filled with
flower beds. These, together with scores of sculptured Hercules and Bacchantes
between the trees will form a
very pleasing environment for hundreds of benches on each side of the Mall. It is designed
to be one of the favorite
haunts for sentimental people, a veritable lovers' lane on summer nights, when it is illuminated
by the electric lights
on the Machinery, Liberal Arts, Agriculture, and Electricity Buildings." Look here for a detailed
daytime view of that transformation.