Fifteen years after state lawmakers designated the area around four historic Black cultural institutions as part of the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor, a new headquarters and visitor center for the district formally opened on Wednesday, giving local residents and visitors a central place to learn more about the history and impact of the Black community on Buffalo and Western New York.
The Heritage Corridor Commission is based at 136 Broadway, in the three-story former Elsinghorst Bros. Building between Elm Street and Michigan Avenue.
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That’s across the street from the Colored Musicians Club and the WUFO Black History Collective – two of the corridor’s anchor institutions – and around the corner from the Michigan Street Baptist Church and J. Edward Nash House Museum.
The headquarters will take up part of a 20,433-square-foot building that contains two storefronts, three upstairs apartments and a parking lot next door. It will include offices and workspace for Commission staff, as well as a visitors center, public bathrooms and a small pop-up gift shop. And it will feature a new mural highlighting Black history, which is being commissioned for the east side wall facing Michigan Avenue.
“There’s more to come,” said Lillie Wiley-Upshaw, chair of the Heritage Corridor Commission board. “We ask the community to watch the growth as we continue to develop a heritage experience for…
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