BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN).....For more than two decades, a Main Street building that once housed the original Parkside Candy store and, later, was used for one of the central scenes in "The Natural" has been sold, with the new owner planning a restoration of the Buffalo landmark.
Medusa Development owner Tina Nunez paid $500,000 for the building located at 2302 Main Street.
Located almost across the street from St. Mary's School for the Deaf, the14,420-square-foot building was constructed in 1918 and first used as a grocery store before Parkside Candy took it over in the early 1930s and converted into a soda shop and retail store.
Parkside eventually moved to its present site at 3208 Main Street.
Nunez said it was a combination of factors including the building's architecture and gateway location that caught her eye.
"The first time I walked into the building, I fell in love with it," Nunez said.
And, yes being part of "The Natural's" local legacy was another draw.
The building was used during a scene where the characters played by Robert Redford and Glenn Close have a reunion.
Nunez has tackled historic restoration projects in Buffalo's Five Points and West Side neighborhoods, but this is her first on Main Street.
Sitting at the corner of Main Street and W. Oakwood Avenue, the has a distinctive early 20th Century feel and that was a big lure, Nunez said.
"You have to look at it as a great connector between Main Street and the Parkside neighborhood," Nunez said. "There's a lot of history left in that building."
Plans call for the commercial or retail space - mostly smaller spaces in the 700-square-foot range - to anchor the first floor while apartments will remain on the second floor.
Nunez said the entire project, including acquisition costs, could end up in the $1 million range. Work will start this summer.
""I hoping to bring it back to the way it used to be," Nunez said.
Main Street building to be anchored by store fronts
Main Street building to be anchored by store fronts
