Demo Planned for Bethlehem Office Building

A complete waste and an absolute shame. This really upsets me. Such a beautiful building in a prime location... how did this happen?

This building, as well as the rest of the S. Buffalo/Lackawanna waterfront would have much more value if the elevated portion of rt 5 was turned into a grade level street. Greg is right that the water side view is not the best but the place would have more potential if it wasnt sandwiched between that and a buzzing expressway. Thanks to shortsigted, wasteful thinking by the DOT and Brian Higgins we have a new expressway and a scoarched earth outer harborfront for many more years.

what a beautiiful building, i have driven by it a number of times when i decided to get a bit adventurous and go off the main drag...how about this: call me a dreamer, or any other name (especally you, pitbull, hehe), remember the proposal for st. gerard's church on e. delavan and bailey, to reconstruct it in georgia? well, it appears to me that the technology is readily available to move old historic buildings from one location to another. since this seems to be an important building to the historic registry, why not explore the possibility of moving this building to an area inside the city of buffalo for reuse as a hotel, or museum, or in some other useful manner...before the name calling starts, let's look at this: fitting in somehow with the museum district would solidify it as a truly classic district, or finding a home for it in the downtown core to create a new heritage tourist oriented hotel, now i know there is room downtown to fit this in, or another reuse of some sort, but either way, the building is 'saved'...now, the downside, it is cost prohibitive, that should never stop us...if your government wants to spend billions of dollars on a high speed rail to albany (when was the last time you wanted to go to albany??) this would be chump change, the money is there, if you people truly believed that this building should be saved, pitch an idea to polanski, or to higgins, or to schumer, there is still time to save it, but if it means that much to you get on the phone today and start looking for grassroots alternatives...ok, now i'm going back to dreaming...aah, new highrises downtown...aah, kids want to stay in the area..aaaah, our local government has just decided to get out of the employment business and shrink its workforce in order to convert those lost public jobs to private sector jobs therefore our taxdollars can be used for more productive uses to the community...aah a money fairy just came by and gave us money to fully restore the richardson and the terminal...aaah...zzzz

Bummer! I've driven by that a thousands times and always thought that building had unlimited potential.

This building looks well suited as a college building.
Move it to buff state.

With improvements to the waterfront and the rest of the Bethlehem site, not mention of the growth of the Lakeside Commerce Park, this property is more desirable than it has been in years. Even if only the facade were saved and something new were built behind it, an important and beautiful piece of the built environment would be saved.

It's a sad irony that the State would allow "Restore" New York funds to be used for such a foolish and counterproductive project.

How many times do we have to hear "beyond repair"? Why the rush to tear this down? Here comes another gravel lot.

Great idea Norm! Maybe you can fit another windmill in there! Oh wait maybe we can put another subsidized Best Western on the site.

I ride by bike by here from time to time and always find myself thinking "only a matter of time before they let this one go." Terrible.

Haven't we learned that nothing is "beyond repair"?

Board it up for future use. This type of building is irreplaceable.

I can't help but wonder what the selling price would be. All of these properties "beyond repair" could and should be sold for $1 to offset the cost of trying to rehab them. Imaging another apartment/condo complex near the Freezer Queen building, turning this corridor into a place to live. How can we constantly botch these things up? A dead waterfront. A dead Niagara Falls. Only in New York State!

Amazing that a building of this caliber is on it's way to be torn down. I believe throughout Europe, they save this style and have even rebuilt duplicates that were lost in the war. And shovel ready site for what? How many miles of Brownfields are already surrounding it? What a fantastic waterfront boutique hotel this would make, and so easy to get to off the new elevated expressway!

I like fortunate's idea, lets move it, suny has deep enough pockets. Let's move it downtown where ub is trying to build their new campus.

We'll see if they're actually allowed to use the state money to demo this building as it will have to go through review at the State Historic Preservation Office since its eligible for listing on the National Register. I am amused when these officials declare the buildings "liabilities." Board up the windows, put up a fence and its no longer a liability. The city of Detroit recently said the same thing about the Michigan Central Station there.

Couldnt this be a Webb building style rehab? Wouldnt there be incentive grants, maybe tax credits to rehab something like this? Redo the complete interior but preserve the exterior? I know its out there in no mans land right now but what about the growing industrial parks in the area as brownfields come back online? Couldnt this place have value once more? I'm sure the interior is likely a mess and thats a shame because I can only imagine what those old school executive offices must have looked like back in the day, probably very rich. Considering efforts at brownfield mitigation in the area and outer harbor development projects im surprised there couldnt be a fit for a creative reuse of this site, it would certainly be unique and build character there. Not sure how this is "in the way" or couldnt fit into revitalization of the area. Compared to the size of the brownfields nearby to mitigate this place is tiny.

Taking this building down would be a waste -- it could be redeveloped. A bit of hyperbole, perhaps, but Lackawanna could consider this its Richardson Complex (not in as nice a setting, but lots of space around it which could be landscaped).

Greg's comment notwithstanding, this building is separated enough from nearby residential uses that it doesn't ruin the view out anyone's window. There isn't a concern about the "kids next door" sneaking into the building and getting hurt, because the nearest residential is a half mile away. It's on a secure site -- there's a guard booth near the entrance to the property. And recent Pictometry (a Rochester company) imagery doesn't show any holes in the roof. So what's the rush--?

I agree with the commenters who've pointed out that a boulevard configuration for Rt. 5 would make it much more likely that a building like this would attract the attention of developers. Regardless, its location on Rt. 5 is an outstanding advantage -- if this were redeveloped into housing or other use it would be just minutes from everywhere in the city and county (and from businesses in Lackawanna and South Buffalo). Other commenters have mentioned RestoreNY funds -- a program which was established especially to help with projects like this in weak-market communities.

Lackawanna Mayor Polanski has shown an interest in adaptive reuse projects in the past: http://archives.buffalorising.com/story/diocese_to_hold_symposium_on_c

but has had to back off due to lack of resources and economic potential. One way to boost economic potential in Lackawanna is to strategically reuse these older buildings for housing or other facilities which improve the quality of life in the community or attract visitors. More people = more economic activity = more reinvestment potential for older buildings in the community. To demolish a great building like this one on the public dime, instead of using available public programs to leverage additional reinvestment, seems like a kind of insanity -- one which, unfortunately, is pervasive throughout government and community leadership.

Appreciate the extra photos. Wish there were a few more of the outside. What the pics above don't depict is the back of the structure, which is a more modern industrial looking addition (itself expensive to tear down).

The front portion of the shell (photos above) would be wonderful to preserve in place if feasible. Do the minimum to mothball for future development. Clean it out. Put on a roof. Board up the windows. That would involve some real money to do. I'd love to see a cost comparison of demolition of the entire structure vs. demo of the rear addition with preservation of the front. It would be nice to see this portion of the building preserved, but I wonder what the actual comparison would show.

The property is poorly located for residential. Conceivably the shell could be converted to offices or a school, but that's pricey. Who wants to be there? There are too many excess old school buildings now. There are more appealing neighborhoods to house one's offices. Down the road, perhaps. 30 years? Mothball it and donate it with a little land (for parking for offices) to the city or to the preservation coalition (which should change its policy and accept some of these projects sometimes). If we're putting public money into the pot, we should get something out of it. How about ownership of a mothballed shell of the original structure with sufficient land for parking, safely secured for the next quarter century? If I were that mayor, that's what I'd want. It is a grand looking structure. It could impress visitors one day.

This building will never be moved. No entity will allocate funds in this economy for such an endeavor. I saw this building up close only last year and the facade, at least, is worthy of saving.

Western New York has plenty of shovel-ready land for any project. This argument has no merit. Western New York's veins are clogged by truly incompetent elected officials who have demonstrated no vision.

Looking again at the mapping of the area, this building is about 200 feet from waterfront access, and is on a bike path/multiuse trail (there's a bridge nearby for the trail) -- on top of being on Rt. 5. So it's got -- literally -- location, location, location.

If you follow the links in this excellent article to the WIVB and BN coverage, you'll see that not only are many Lackawanna folks squarely against the demolition, but there has been ongoing interest in a reuse for this building.

Lackawanna leaders should listen to those folks -- and entertain other creative yet sound interim strategies such as Bini outlines above. Demo should only be as a last resort, and the community is *far* from being out of options for this building.

complete and utter shame...

Put up a golf course on the water around there and make this the hotel/clubhouse. Lackawanna CC?

How about a seelmaking or industial heritage museum? Does Lackawanna have a historical society? If so they could be housed there too.

Supply and demand. There's much, much more supply of interesting old buildings around here than there is real demand to do something productive with them before they crumble apart. It's practical to save some, but whether this one should be in the some is questionable.
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Neither the BN or the Wivb report explains much about why they want to demo it, or if the Lackawana politicians have any at least semi-realistic reason to believe the land would attract new business any time soon. I'd be skeptical of that.
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It won't bother me if they leave it standing forever and allow it to become ruins. It looks isolated so it's not hurting anybody. Maybe the best idea is not to spend the taxpayer money to demo it, just leave it sitting there. But if they do, then some will probably criticize them for "demolition by neglect" and say they should start spending money to keep it from totally falling apart.

I know it would never happen but this building looks like a museum. To put the building in scale, it is bigger than the original ABK structure in terms of a footprint. I would also bet it would have more square footage.

I wish it could be converted to the WNY Museum of Industry. It could house exhibits on the grain elevators, air conditioning, steel manufacturing, Pierce Arrow Cars and other elements of the regions industrial past.

The building could be broken up into multiple rooms that have multimedia displays from Video and Photos to Renderings of Buildings, Production Lines and various other elements.

Maybe if the region can have a place that celebrates the glorious past history of industry it would let go of the idea that it is coming back.

Moving this building doesn't make any financial sense. It is unfortunate that it was allowed to deteriorate but this is spilled milk. No use crying over it now. It should be demo'd. I agree that this site would be an excellent location (assuming much more clean up work is to be done) for a golf course resort on the water. To suggest that this building is "irreplaceable" is an overestimation of it's value. If it remains boarded up it will continue to deteriorate. If it comes down, it opens of expands possibility of site redevelopment.

Sullymon...SUNY may have had deep pockets at one time, but that is not the case anymore.

How many of you insisting that this building can be rehabbed are experienced architects/contractors that have ever set foot inside it? None most likely.

Haunted House. I always thought that this building would be the best haunted house.

That's really too bad it might go. My grandma worked at the plant during the war and told me stories about going in there to pick up paychecks, fill out forms, etc. Then again, there are so many great buildings in Buffalo to save -- who decides which are worthy? What are the big preservationist groups and historical societies saying?

A few years ago, someone posted interior photos of the interior of the building on some Web site; can't remember if it was a local placeblog, an urbex site, or something else. Anyhow, the interior of the building is in brutal condition. It's not just peeling paint and an outdated physical plant; it's collapsed stairs and floors, rotted and buckled floors and walls, black mold galore ... it's really, really bad.

I did urbex in the Richardson Complex and Central Terminal when they were at their worst. The Bethlehem Office Building is, unfortunately, far, far worse.

The Administration Building is interesting but certainly not the most notable part of the complex. Behind the structure are several industrial remnants that are far more important historically and are more characteristically singular in capturing a disappearing American industrial landscape. At the very least, the steel plant's series of stunning smokestacks, which are in nigh perfect shape, should be saved. Yet there are plans to demolish those and everything else in the complex - nothing like this landscape will ever exist again.

Check out David Torke's photo stream on what's left at Bethlehem Steel:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fixbuffalo/sets/72157606842315383/

Chris, thanks for adding that. Clearly there are some significant parallels here to the Station Square project in Pittsburgh, a landmark (pun intended) reuse project of a former industrial complex, done in the 1970's. Arthur Ziegler (here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_P._Ziegler,_Jr. ) of the Pittsburgh Historic Landmarks Foundation, who and which carried out the Station Square (here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Station_Square ) project, gave a planning/preservation colloquium at Cornell about this just a couple of weeks ago.

If you follow the Station Square link above, you can see that they even created a waterfront trail as part of the project, using large pieces of abandoned steelmaking equipment along the way as public art.

I took extensive notes on the colloquium, which I've typed up, and have Ziegler's contact information -- and I'm glad to make any of that available to anyone who may find it helpful.

RaChaCha, great link! I was unaware of this precedent. Certainly, Pittsburgh is doing more than most cities to capture its industrial heritage. Gasworks Park in Seattle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasworks_Park) is another interesting example of what can be done with industrial remnants.

Bethlehem Steel heritage elements are quickly disappearing. This amazing stack, in Torke's gallery, was demolished in October:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fixbuffalo/2893219655/in/set-72157606842315383/

A new Lackawanna City Hall perhaps? Would be much nicer than the current one. The current one I wouldnt mind a demo on.

shame on all involved. maybe the times could do an article on the stupidy of our lost and soon to come down buildings becouse of lack of vision and bad politics. yet another reason to move to buffalo along with a great arts scene and affordable living. how about turning it into an artists loft and gallery space for all those struggling artists moving here.

I say golf course. Windmills aren't going to ruin a course. Like Seattle and Pitt, I think it would be cool to play around an old stack or furnace...very industrial. As far as the building itself, save the facade and blow the rest of it off. Replace the backside with new construction. I've grown up on the lake, and my folks and I always talk about how nice it would be if they turned that into a new 18/parkland.