Rock Harbor Veterans Village

Last summer I had the pleasure of working on an exciting project in Black Rock that, for a number of reasons, has had a tough time getting support. The project in question is Rock Harbor Village - an eco-friendly student village proposed by Atlas Steel's Ed Hogle. Although the project has been waiting in standby mode in hopes that a higher education institution, such as Buffalo State College, would see the upside of the project, Ed has been busy looking for alternative ideas to run with in order to keep the concept of the village moving forward.

When Ed first told me that he was heading in a different direction I was not surprised. I knew that he had been throwing different ideas against the wall to see what would stick. One of those ideas happened to be a vision where Rock Harbor was transformed into housing for military vets returning back to Buffalo after the war. "Many of these young people are looking for a place to live, work and acclimate back into society," Ed pointed out. "I've got something to offer them that will serve as a place to live while seeking employment and/or higher education. Atlas Steel and Steel Crazy (Ed's other business) can even provide trade skills and jobs to the returning vets living at Rock Harbor Barracks."

It took me a while to acclimate myself to the idea that this village, since it was was no longer going to be for students. It was Ed who snapped me out of my daydream to remind me that Rock Harbor would still be built in the same manner that he had always envisioned. But instead of 19-year olds looking to get out of their parents' houses, it would be 26+ year olds who had served in the military, many of whom left Western New York when they were 18-years of age. "We still have the property, we have the drawings, the permits, and many of the blocks have been laid. I've also come up with a concept that will make this vision work on an entirely different level."



This is where Rock Harbor Veterans Village gets interesting. In recent weeks, Ed has been traveling to military bases in order to negotiate partnerships and set up Steel Crazy outlets. The first deal that he landed happened to be at Fort Drum, and the sales that he did on the first two Saturdays far surpassed sales that he is conducting locally. "It's working," he told me. "We have artisans here in Buffalo fabricating steel remembrances that military personnel wants to purchase and hang on their walls, whether that's at the base or to take home with them. There's no reason that, as we add sales outlets at the bases, we shouldn't be training and hiring military veterans to fashion the products that are being delivered to the bases. In two weeks we're going to West Point to negotiate our third shop... our second is in Niagara Falls. There are over 200 military MXs (Military Exchanges) in the country. I'm establishing relationships one at a time."



Rock Harbor Veterans Village is being partially financed through sales of Steel Crazy artwork, currently being designed featuring military insignias, though Ed admits that other sources of capital are being infused to make the concept work. Ed is intent on coming up with a solution that will hopefully transform an industrial eyesore into a cyclical live-work veterans' village where the residents can get their feet back on the ground, learn a trade, create products that reflect military pride, which will then sell to military units and personnel, thus creating a need for more products to be created at Steel Crazy (right next to Rock Harbor Veterans Village).  

Ed wanted to remind BRO readers that work has never stopped with clean up and demolition of the interior of Rock Harbor. That's why the upcoming Artists and Models event is being held inside The Yard. "I was always a firm believer that this project would move forward, and if that meant that I needed to rethink who was going to be living there, then so be it."