File:Horan-O'Donnell Science Building, Canisius College, Buffalo, New York - 20230201.jpg

English: Facing Hughes Avenue in the Hamlin Park neighborhood of Buffalo, New York, the Horan-O'Donnell Science Building is the second-oldest (after "Old Main") extant purpose-built structure on the campus of Canisius College, completed in 1940 to a design by local architect Joseph E. Fronczak, then senior partner in the firm of Fronczak & Whitman. Standing three stories in height and faced in beige brick, the building was named in honor of two of Canisius' major benefactors of the era: local schoolteacher and heiress Marian Horan (1874-1936) and neurologist Dr. William J. O'Donnell (1874-1938), whose estates, between them, bequeathed the college nearly all of the $200,000 that was ultimately needed to finance its construction. Its aesthetic is a transitional one, bridging the gap between the Art Moderne that was becoming passé and the International-style Modernism which would come to the forefront over the next few decades. Specifically, the rectilinear forms and horizontal rows of evenly spaced windows point the way forward (the ample size being a way to "afford sufficient lighting for scientific research", according to the architects), while traditionalism is represented by stylized Classical detailing both subtle (the pilaster strips intercalated between the windows; the stepped parapets at the roofline) and less subtle (the carved reliefs in the tympanum of the three-story central arch above the entrance; the heraldic imagery placed in stone panels centrally situated on each side wing). The building's nearly two-year construction process began in the summer of 1938, and in an odd twist, Buffalo Bishop James Quigley in his remarks at its dedication ceremony warned his 1,500-strong audience that "science is but a part of human knowledge and cannot satisfy all needs of man" and that its value must not be "overestimat[ed]... as a cure-all for the ills of humanity". At the outset, the building housed the classrooms and offices of the school's Physics and Chemistry departments, which at the time counted about 400 students in all, and today also contains the offices of the college's Study Abroad program, the Information Technology Services Helpdesk, and the Griff Center for Student Success. As seen in February 2023.