The Library's virtual, immersive tour of the SUNY Erie Old Post Office building is LIVE!

City Library is unveiling a new resource: a virtual tour of the Old Post Office Building at 121 Ellicott Street, the main building of the City Campus. Using 360° panoramic digital photography, the tour highlights the Gothic Revival-styled building’s exterior, including a special view from inside the belltower, the interior’s expansive atrium space, and a focus on the campus library.  

The tour, hosted on the Empire State Immersive Experience (ESIE) site- ESIE.space, is populated with informational and directional “hotspots” allowing one to click their way around and through the building. It’s mobile, desktop, and virtual reality (VR) enabled, and offers a uniquely immersive experience of one of the city’s true architectural gems. SUNY Erie faculty, students, staff, and alumni are welcome to stop by the City Library’s VR station, returning in Fall 2021, to experience the tour in VR.  

Additionally, with the proposed project now complete, the equipment has been cataloged and is now loanable for faculty interested in receiving technical assistance to extend the tour to their classroom, lab, department, etc., or create their own project. 

A database of 360° panoramic photographs of historic and significant places in New York State, ESIE is a service of the Western New York Library Resources Council (WNYLRC), the regional library advocacy organization that awarded SUNY Erie librarian, Barrett Gordon an Immersive Experiences Action Grant in March of 2020 to purchase the 360° panoramic digital photography equipment and execute the project.