Zoo News: Buffalo’s first Black architect and his ties to the Zoo
By Adam Gorski
Buffalo’s first Black architect played an integral role in building the Buffalo Zoo perimeter into what it is today, and a mural dedicated to his legacy reminds us of the contributions he made both to the Zoo and the city as a whole.
John E. Brent (1889-1962) was born in Washington, D.C. and came to Buffalo in the early 1910s after graduating from Drexel Arts, Sciences and Industry for Architecture. He began his work in architecture soon thereafter and had one of his most significant designs and first large commissions, the Michigan Avenue branch of the YMCA, completed in 1928. The building was later demolished in 1977.
Brent started working for the City of Buffalo Parks Department in 1935, where he remained until his retirement in 1959. During these years, he made his mark on the campus of the Buffalo Zoo with countless structure designs and drawings.
His design of gates three and four at the Zoo, which are located just off of present-day Crandall Road, were completed in 1935. The gates are made of cast iron and anchored in concrete piers with Onondaga limestone veneers.
Not long after in 1938, his design of the Buffalo Zoo Entrance Court was completed, and many more landscape and architectural projects under Brent’s supervision followed.
Brent was recognized posthumously in 2013 for his work on gates three and four as well as the Entrance Court, as both structures were listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In August 2020, a mural was installed right next to the renowned Buffalo Zoo gates that he designed, celebrating Brent’s legacy and memory. The work was produced by Buffalo-based artist James Cooper III as part of the then-Albright Knox’s Public Art Initiative, and features a colorful depiction of Brent and some of his many contributions to the region.
The mural is a fitting, creative tribute to a brilliant, creative, Black man, whose impact on the Zoo and many other locations around Western New York still stand strong nearly 100 years later.
You can read more about Brent and his legacy on the Burchfield Penney website.
