Shea's celebrates its founder's birthday, legacy
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The man behind some of the most iconic theaters in Western New York, including Shea's, was born over 160 years ago. In honor of Michael Shea's 166th birthday, the theaters are celebrating him and how his legacy continues today.
'He had a huge impact here in Buffalo,' said Brian Higgins, Shea's President & CEO. 'He leaves a beautiful legacy, and our responsibility is to make this better than how we found it so that the next generation can build on the work that we do here.'
Shea was born of Irish immigrants in St Catherine's, Ontario, lived on Katherine Street in the Old First Ward in Buffalo, and worked as a dock and iron worker, Higgins said. He also operated a saloon on Elk Street and wanted to build a number of theaters.
'He had a very specific intent and that was to introduce theater to the neighborhood, so the working folks would have access to Vaudeville first, then major motion pictures,' Higgins said. 'The working class folks didn't have those kinds of outlets and major motion pictures gave them a glimpse of what was happening in the world or throughout the country, and he thought it was important to locate these theaters in the neighborhoods so that working folks had access to it.'
Shea ended up creating 14 theaters, including two in Toronto with three of them remaining in Western New York. Higgins believes the meaning of theater nowadays seems to be more internal.
'You see people in this theater transformed, young, old, middle aged, and they come for release, but theater has the power to expand your empathy, your humility, your situational intelligence, and these are skills that people need today,' Higgins said.
Shea's on Buffalo turns a century old next year and along the way, hundreds of volunteers have helped restore the theater to help continue its legacy for future generations.
'We've been very fortunate because the spirit of the city of Buffalo has helped to really contribute to this,' said Doris Collins, the restoration consultant at Shea's. 'It's part of the fiber of this community. We're well known for having phenomenal architects work here and we're doing our best to save these buildings for future generations, so it's part of our history and we can't forget about it.'
To find out more about Shea's, visit its website here.
Hope Winter is a reporter and multimedia journalist who has been part of the News 4 team since 2021. See more of her work here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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