File:Chestnut Ridge Park casino (interior), Orchard Park, New York - 20210703.jpg

English: The interior of the park lodge or casino at Chestnut Ridge Park in Orchard Park, New York, as seen in July 2021. Along with Emery Park, Chestnut Ridge was one of the first two parks established by the newly created Erie County Parks Commission, then one of only three such county-level entities in the state; it was opened to the public in 1925 on a tract of forested land that the county government had purchased from the Grace, Graves, Nell, and Benning families. The "casino" (a locally popular term referring to park lodges, which almost invariably do not offer gambling) seen here was built in 1938 as a project of the Depression-era Works Progress Association to replace an earlier structure that had been destroyed by fire six years earlier. The architectural style of the building would best be described as rustic and eclectic, with fine masonry work evident on the exterior walls, prominent jerkinhead gables on the sprawling roof, and, as seen here, an interior where hammered ceiling beams are set into stucco walls. The wood used in the building's construction was sourced mostly from the park itself - the Asian blight that decimated local chestnut trees in the early 20th century was fortuitously timed - while stone was upcycled from local streets undergoing repaving as well as the Erie Canal, sections of which were being abandoned and backfilled at the time. The casino today stands atop the popular sledding hill and toboggan run, with breathtaking views over downtown Buffalo and Lake Erie. Its principal function is as rentable space used for a variety of events, but it also incorporates a location of Grateful Grind Café (partly visible in this photo at far right), serving house-ground artisanal coffee and a variety of breakfast and lunch specials.