Rand Building

The Rand Building is a skyscraper and the third tallest building in Buffalo, New York. At the time it was built in 1929, it was the tallest in the city at a height of. The building was built on the site of the 1903 Olympic Theatre and it has been suggested that the Rand Building was the inspiration for the Empire State Building.HistoryThe building is named for George F. Rand Sr. (1864-1919), former president and chairman of the board of directors of Marine Midland Bank, who was killed in a plane crash near Caterham in Surrey, England.The Buffalo Broadcasting Company moved its stations WGR and WKBW to the building in 1922; today, the stations in the Townsquare Media cluster (WMSX, WBLK, WBUF, and WYRK) broadcast from studios in the Rand Building and have their transmitting antennas located atop its beacon. The "GR" in WGR stands for George Rand. The station was founded by the Federal Telephone and Telegraph company in 1922, in which Rand was a major investor.Adjacent to the Rand Building is 10 Lafayette Square in Lafayette Square.George F. Rand Jr. had a private dining room on the top floor of the building that he used for business lunches. When the building opened, it featured an elaborate lighting system that highlighted its art deco stepped back style.