File:976-982 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York - 20200626.jpg

English: As seen in June 2020: the buildings at 976-982 Elmwood Avenue, on the west side of the block between Bidwell Parkway and Potomac Avenue, are a good example of a development phenomenon that's common in Buffalo's Elmwood Village: erstwhile detached single-family residences, later modified with expansive front storefronts, with the living space behind coverted to apartments. At the upper left of this photograph, you can still see the extant portion of the Queen Anne-style house at 976 Elmwood, built c. 1900 as home of Edward Acheson (1856-1931), the president of the Carborundum Company whose headquarters were found at Niagara Falls; the house next door was built the same year and was initially the home of retired dry goods merchant Samuel D. Purdy (1828-1910). The brick storefront portion that stands in front of and connects both houses dates to 1907 and was designed in an eclectic Neoclassical style by noted local architect John H. Coxhead; salient features include a flat roofline lined by a low parapet and sporting a pair of shallow-pitched gables with oculus windows (now bricked over) under which extends an ornamental row of dentils, and, on the 982 Elmwood façade, casement windows at attic level with Greek Revival-influenced muntins. The one-story addition to the south side of the block, seen here at the left-hand margin, was built c. 1930. These buildings, along with much of the rest of the block, were purchased in 2016 by a local development company and proposed for demolition to make way for a large mixed-use building dubbed "Arbor + Reverie", a plan that was shelved the next year due to overwhelming opposition from neighborhood residents and local historic preservation advocates.