“Winos stand silent vigil in darkened doorways passing the cup and tuberculosis from lip to lip. On the street, prostitutes prowl and settle for as little as $10. In the bars, the go-go girls begin Chippewa Street’s tribal dance at 4 pm daily. The jukeboxes pulsate to the distorted sound of acid rock. In the bookshops, men browse at the altars of smut. At the Mission down the block, a derelict sleeps and curses fitfully while others sing, ‘What a friend we have in Jesus.’” —Buffalo Evening News, April 29, 1972

Chippewa Street was once known as the Street of Broken Dreams, described in a 1972 Buffalo Evening News article as a “neon jungle where life flows in cheap wine and sordid sex.” Here, in a 1980 photograph by the Buffalo Department of Community Development, is the south side of Chippewa Street between Main and Pearl streets, prior to demolition. From left to right, signs are visible for Buffalo Outlet Custom Jewelry, New Alibi Lounge, La Russa Custom Tailor Shop, The Style Shack, Richard’s Shoes, and Prima Pizza (now operating at the southwest corner of Chippewa and Pearl). By 1982, these buildings—full of potential not seen at the time by policymakers—were vacated in preparation for slum clearance. The loading docks and secondary entrances of Key Center North Tower, completed in 1990 as part of the Fountain Plaza redevelopment project, occupy this block today.