The west side of Main Street, between Tupper and Edward, was until 1982 an intact part of the Theater Historic District. In 1981, when this photograph was taken, this block was at risk but savable. Nearly every commercial space was vacant, and only Schmidt’s Auto Service, the Little Club restaurant, and the Teck Theatre were still in operation. The Ansonia Center, 716 Main Street, was refurbished in 1985 for commercial space and 59 apartments. The Schmidt Building, 736 Main Street, was razed in 2004 after City Court Judge Henry Nowak granted owner Alex Schmidt’s demolition request. The Vernor Building, 752 Main Street—originally home to a George N. Pierce automobile showroom and later the James Vernor Co., makers of Vernor’s Ginger Ale—was razed in 2007. Jack Shifrin and his son, current property owner David Shifrin, are to blame for decades of neglect of the Vernor Building and Teck Theatre.

The Teck, 760 Main Street, was perhaps the greatest of the losses. In 1981, the Teck was running B movies—slasher film My Bloody Valentine (1981) and vampire film The Return of Count Yorga (1971) are advertised on the marquee, which also welcomes home American hostages held captive in Iran. Built in 1887 and reconstructed in the “Pompeian Moderne” style in 1946, the 1,400-seat Teck was best known after 1955 for having Buffalo’s only three-projector Cinerama. The movie house closed in 1981 and the auditorium razed for construction of the Pearl Street Connector shortly thereafter, leaving behind only the lobby. The lobby was demolished in 1992. Today, the nearly two acres of “shovel ready” land at Main and Edward streets remain vacant, with no active plans for redevelopment.