The Historical Association of Lewiston will be taking “A Trip Back in Time to the Larkin Administration Building” with Jerry Puma at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Lutheran Church of the Messiah Fellowship Hall, 915 Oneida St., Lewiston.
Puma’s program will look back to architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s Larkin Administration Building in Buffalo that opened in 1906 and became a parking lot in 1950. He will begin with a brief history of the Larkin Co., and then through examination of photos that belonged to the Larkin family and various artifacts from the building and company that are unique to Jerry’s collection, we will learn the significance and unique characteristics of a building that has been described as one of the top ten losses of architecture of all time.
Puma is a local historian who is a retired behavioral health care professional specializing in addictions treatment. He also was a college professor for 30 years. However, his passion for almost 50 years has been local architectural history and preservation. In 1977, while in college, he wrote a paper about the circumstances of the demolition of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Larkin Administration Building in Buffalo, which was published in the Frank Lloyd Wright Quarterly. This began his obsession with Larkin. He currently has over 2000 Larkin Co. items in his collection, and operates the Larkin Gallery, in the former Larkin factory on Seneca St. In addition, he is the Vice Director of the Cadillac and LaSalle Club and has two vintage Cadillacs in his collection.
This community event is free and open to all but donations are greatly appreciated to help support our museum, refreshments will be served.