[2] The terminal is located about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) east of downtown Buffalo, and consists of several structures, some of which are connected, while others were formerly interconnected.

The first building built as part of the project was a cogeneration power station that provided heat and electricity to the complex, even during construction.

Furthermore, Buffalo was a quickly-growing city at the time, and it was believed that before long Central Terminal's area would become closer to the center of a sprawling metropolis of 1.5 million people.

When the NYC operated the 20th Century Limited, Central Terminal was located approximately 44 miles (71 km) east of the half-way point from New York City to Chicago, and the trains would pass each other near there.

The NYC's 1930 calendar featured these trains meeting at the then-new Terminal with artist Walter L. Greene's Eastward, Westward night time scene.

Although it started with 200 trains daily, the Great Depression began less than a year after its construction, and the rise in automobile use also hurt passenger levels.

In 1966, the continuing decrease in passenger revenues caused NYC to demolish parts of the Terminal complex, including the Pullman service building, coach shop and ice house.

Rather than spend the massive sums necessary to rehabilitate Central Terminal, Amtrak replaced it in 1979 with the much-smaller Buffalo–Depew station, 10 miles (16 km) east of downtown.

[citation needed] In November 1983, in a sign of things to come, the building was in danger of being sold out from under Anthony Fedele by the IRS for back taxes.

When the terminal was entered on the NHRP register it was a "...virually intact representative example of the Art Deco style in Buffalo..."[1] However, in 1986 Anthony Fedele defaulted on his taxes and US Bankruptcy Court Judge John W. Creahan ordered a foreclosure sale.

Telesco talked about turning it into a banquet hall and using it as a station on a proposed high-speed rail line linking New York and Toronto.

[6] A 1990 proposal by Adrian Development Inc. to convert the complex to a shipping, warehouse, and light manufacturing hub never advanced beyond the drawing board stage.

[10] Scott Field of the Preservation Coalition of Erie County[12] bought the building in August, 1997 for the purchase price of $1 and assumption of approximately $70,000 in back taxes.

Since 2020 the Buffalo Central Terminal has shifted to host events outdoors on the Great Lawn, including a public art extravaganza entitled PLAY/ground, Eid al-Fitr—an outdoor prayer event celebrating the end of Ramadan, a filming by a local theater digital production, a pop up COVID-19 vaccination clinic, the Beau Fleuve Music & Arts Celebration, and annual Trunk or Treat, Seat at the Table, among others.

[17] On May 5, 2017, after numerous delays, the CTRC cut ties with Stinson in favor of working with the Urban Land Institute on a new redevelopment plan.

Replacement of the former restaurant roof is completed and the Central Terminal, Broadway Market, and Broadway- Fillmore neighborhood are awarded a $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) grant.

The CTRC is awarded $61 million through the Regional Revitalization Partnership, a major public and philanthropic initiative to spur economic growth on Buffalo's East Side and across Western New York.

Suggestions for use included having the concourse reopen to the public with a restored restaurant as a year-round venue, as well as beautifying the green space and creating a park.

[30] Early phases focus on creating a year-round event venue that would bring people back to the main concourse and the grounds.

[31] On June 1, 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the Buffalo Central Terminal would receive $60 million to kick-start the reuse and implement the 2021 Master Plan.

[32] In February 2024 a new development team, composed of two real estate brokerage companies and an investment firm, was formed to plan a reuse for the terminal.

This (the Central Terminal) location would allow the restoration of service to Chicago within the city limits, and it certainly merits a meaningful engineering review.

On October 5, 2016, Congressman Higgins along with Buffalo Common Council Member David Franczyk toured the terminal with Mark A. Lewandowski, president of the CTRC.

On April 17, 2017 a 17-member panel including Buffalo mayor Byron Brown approved, by a margin of 10–4, a downtown replacement close to the existing Exchange Street station over the Terminal, in a decision seen as controversial.

Passengers (including soldiers bound for World War II) rubbing their hands on the bison caused it to become worn, so it was removed to the Buffalo Museum of Science and replaced with a plaster cast, bronze painted statue.

Some people within the CTRC had thought to move the statue to the Griffis Sculpture Park in East Otto, New York but that was an impossibility due to its horrible condition.

Since it was in incredible disrepair—tilting, falling apart, of no historical significance and an eyesore—Bob Rushok, a leader of the building's restoration, had a City of Buffalo payloader demolish it during a community cleanup event in the early 2000s and haul it away.

[39] A photo of the abandoned train platforms was used for the cover art of Canadian artist Robbie Robertson's 1987 debut solo album.

The low-budget film details what happens when a group of dysfunctional ghost-hunters decide to spend a night in the long rumored to be haunted structure.

[42] In 2018, the Terminal was used as the filming location for the music video promoting hip-hop producer DJ Premier's track "Headlines", which features Buffalo-based rap group Griselda Records, consisting of rappers Westside Gunn, Conway the Machine, and Benny the Butcher.