Wrecking Buffalo: Garbage, Buffalo Style

I wholeheartedly agree with your statements and I just became aware of this building complex within the past two-weeks.
The photos I have seen, compliments of David Torke, indicate a school building that had probably been abandoned and neglected for years and was demolished after the roof had finally collapsed taking several floors along with it not unlike the Webb Building.

Sadly, both the rectory and convent roofs have been seriously compromised and I can only speculate that the interior of both have been ruined.

The church appears to be in remarkably good condition but without an actual interior inspection who is to say except David Torke who has the uncanny knack of finding entry points or maybe it is because the door are simply open or missing?

I am a firm believer in saving neighborhood anchor buildings and this church would make for a prime candidate but I fear the wrecking ball is already on its way.

This makes me wretch-we need a new Mayor who "gets" the significance of keeping our architectural heritage and/or mothballing for future use.

Obviously, the Church can, and often is, the core of the problem: disinvestment from struggling communities, strict re-use covenants, etc.

these old churches should be transformed into community centers and youth recreation centers for their respective neighborhoods...give the kids an option other than criminal activity

Another problem we have is once someone does want to save an empty building, you have dozens of preservation groups screaming at the new owner at what to do with it! These groups need to raise money and start buying to fix up a few of these eyesores instead of waiting for others to it just so they can pick on them.

Until the neighborhoods have some sense of quality of life and when its clear that your neighbors actually care about their neighborhood, their homes AND their neighbors I dont agree. There are giant swaths of the city that are not very friendly and those with the ability to get out and seek a better quality of life do so and they put their money and their care into their new neighborhoods. The east side is like walking into an episode of Scared Straight. The middle class in the burbs arent flush with money and put it into what they have, dont necessarily have interest or the resources to pump money into neighborhoods that the residents dont even seem to care on balance. Whether its cookie cutter or sprawl or suburban whatever it doesnt take a rocket scientist to see that those neighborhoods are vastly more kept up, with much less drama than the east side of Buffalo or any inner city for that matter. It also doesnt take a rocket scientist to see that over time a bulldozer has been spreading eastward from downtown over many decades now and Cheektowaga is next. Those neighborhoods in the Harlem and Walden area were well kept up and quiet. Recently I see reports that violent news stories you might typically associate with east Buffalo are now starting to pop up more frequently on the Cheektowaga side. Give it 10-20 years and the same argument being made about Elmslie Street will apply to Harlem Road. Why would someone stay to watch their housing values plummet while the neighborhood goes to hell around them? I would imagine the house for sale signs are increasingly prevalent theer already. Most want to go to work, come home and not be bothered by street BS, worry about their kids being pummeled at school by kids "raised" by families who dont seem to care much about education anyway. Its all a game of likelihood here. Am I more likely to succeed in a suburban school where families tend to support education attainment or in the city (aside from a couple schools)? Is my child safer walking home from school in the burbs or on Sycamore Street? Is my home or care more likely to get broken into and trashed in the burbs or in the city? Thats the problem. The trend is to blame the suburbanites, many of which I know have fond memories of the city before large areas became unsafe and were wrecked. These folks atually enjoyed living in those neighborhoods and are sickened by their condition now. Wheres the Buffalo Rising outrage stories directed at the crack house, the violent criminal, the property crime, or the serial arsonist or the litter bug dumping couches in vacant lots? Who is truly pointing the finger at the source of the community nuisance other than speculation that the person responible is most likely some rich suburban kid. Prove it. Prove to me that most nuisance crimes are in fact from suburbanites. I want a list of violent crimes in the city and to know the city/ town of residence. Ive seen a few but those are the big issues that keep people with means and care away. On a large scale I recognize the fact that until Americans get over their stupid affection for illegal drugs, this black market BS on the streets will continue. If you buy illegal drugs then you support the conditions of the market for and proliferation of that BS. Just because its in the city doesnt make being harassed just an aceptable part of life in the city. ITS NOT, its ridiculous craziness and should not be accepted. Its certainly not a positive society and community building act so why should it be accepted? Its no wonder foreign tourists had some negative comments during the Junior Hockey tournamant...probably because they had some bad experiences. If you start to accept everything the next thing you know to quote an 80's song, "the lunatics have taken over the asylum". A town like Amherst has almost half Buffalo's population. Whats the average annual murder rate comparing the two?

In the interest of reversing these negative trends I would imagine the City could use help. Recognizing that the city is the core of the region and creates its regional identity I would see value in a region-wide penny or some sort of regional tax that would support the city proper. This would not be an additional tax though, would have to be absorbed within existing structures because WNY is already very high. I think its in everyones best interst who cares to invest somehow in the city through a tax revenue means meant for the public good. With those dollars ideally the city could do what it needed to truly update its image and infrastructure and invest in the things necessary to stop the bleeding and destruction. I think the whole region benefits in the end.

No way to at least recycle the brick?

I don't know why I read so many negative things about the East Side. It certainly has it's issues but still has tons of potential. Where there is interest there is always HOPE! I just met someone the other week that spent his time and savings buying a fixing up a building on Filmore and saved an historic building from the wrecking ball. All it takes is one person to start the process of turning the neighborhood around. House by house, street by street. It can be done.

It’s all a matter of economics.

It’s all a matter of jobs.

It’s all a matter of civility.

It’s all a matter of civic responsibility.

It’s all a matter of personal accountability.

It’s all a matter of recognizing your own faults and addressing them before assuming the worst in others.

These are all items on a long list that, when seen from a distance, spell doom for our built history, the City of Buffalo, and eventually the surrounding communities of WNY. Addressing any one of these items alone will not ensure a bright future or a just and happy ending – they all need to be addressed in order to build the momentum to bring about any lasting, positive change.

All of us are players in this murder and all have the blood of the city on our hands – like it or not – it is the truth. From the homes of the Elmwood village to the blight of the East Side, from the first ring suburbs to the insulation of a cul de sac in Orchard Park, and all the way from Downtown to the streets of anywhere America where each ex-pat lives, all are criminal. The fingers typing away at this message are bloodied from inaction, or worse, apathy. The weapon I have wielded in the voting booth has been as useful as boxing gloves on the hands of a brain surgeon. My wallet has time and again freed its scarce coin into the coffers of politicos that are more concerned about their career, image, and bank account (or those of their cronies) than about doing what is right.

Why? I tell myself I have no other choice. I tell myself I need to accept that this is “just the way it is”. I assure myself that I have done all I can in my own little corner and that others need to pick up the slack. I reinforce the notion that we are all too small to sway the powerful to see a more holistic point of view. But, really, that’s all a load of BS. It’s just easier to complain, point fingers, mock, and vilify without out any real knowledge of the situation. It’s easier to stay the course and accept these things as normal. It’s easier to sit behind a keyboard and type poison about the evil suburbanites or the destructive hooligans in blighted neighborhoods or the business owners and developers that don’t give a damn about the people they damage when moving in or out of the city.

So much of what is wrong in WNY and Buffalo thrives at the very core of “American culture” and human nature – it is universal and shows itself in infinite ways. How can I change that?

By looking in the mirror.

If I were a Rockefeller or Jobs, a Trump or Musk, I would wave my magic wand and sprinkle the region with the fairy dust of dollar signs. Sadly, I am not, but I could have done more – I should have done more . . .

how come there is is always money for demolition, even when the city has to eat the cost as it so often does, but never money for mothballing, re-roofing, and anything else that buys these buildings another decade or two?

Set sights high and know where theres a will theres a way I guess thats the way to make things happen. Sure...everyone who wants to do positive can always do more and stretch themselves more and more BUT unfortunetaly thats because there are many who take and take and take and make everyone else do more and more and feel guilty about not doing enough. Its an epic battle.

Let's see if any of the Negativity Police on here express exception to the very harsh generalized criticism of Buffalo with which the article opens:

Steel>"In America. and especially Buffalo, historic well-crafted irreplaceable buildings like the two buildings shown here are no longer valued."

Maybe the author will be called a negatron or a Buffalo basher? Or his claim about 'especially Buffalo' might be disagreed with or questioned?

(lol, a first time for anything is always possible, or there might really be lifetime immunity!)

And what do the local preservation organizations say about these two buildings -- and this issue in general--?

Anyone--?

here's a .pdf from MIT on adaptive reuse of churches.

http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/35692/56409883.pdf?sequence=1

Consider this option…

1. A one-time cost for complete demolition or

2. A (possible) one-time cost for abatement and new roof and I admit, in writing, that a “new” roof may only last 20-30 years but I present the example of the Genesee Gateway that stood abated, gutted and, I am assuming, a new roof for how many years? I honestly don’t know but I would say close to 20-years.

Whatever> "anti-demo upscale political factions... won't-be-saved arson risks"

Those slanted and false generalizations don't sound like the language of somebody who wants people to think they are "objective." One person's won't be saved arson risk is another's historic rehab. Not sure what is to be gained by the pretend populist move of painting "political factions" who favor reusing existing building assets as "upscale." There are plenty of up and downscale people who favor both options.

I think you are making a point that the mayor is avidly pro-demo but throws a few bones at the "upscale" set (lol) to keep them happy. As someone who likes to think of themself as objective, I'm sure you've considered that the opposite may be true. It would be interesting to see if the City is anywhere close to the pace of 5k demos in 5 years. If not, it could be interpreted that 5 in 5 was a catchy but empty political slogan to keep the PVLC happy.

I think actions have demonstrated all levels of City government consider both demo and rehab and pick the best option. Most politicians I can think of have embraced both tactics at a given moment.

I've lived across the street from the "Sacred Heart complex" for the past twenty eight years. I purchased my dwelling shortly after the 1983 propane explosion, which killed firemen and civilians, destroyed many homes and blew out most of the stained glass in the Church. In those days the complex was owned by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and while the congregation desperately tried to maintain itself after the explosion, the task was insurmountable.

Once abandoned, the corpse was left rotting and ripe for scavengers of all types. First the pipe organ was ripped apart and the tin pipes sold for scrap, then the pews, artifacts, lights, doors, hardware, and sections of remaining glass. The final straw occurred when a salvage company showed up with a crane and stole the the bell right out of the tower in broad daylight.

The fate of the neighborhood wasn't much different than the church. The Governor came to town and promised millions to help the community rebuild. There was a lot of hand wringing and expressions of sympathy and outrage over how such a thing could have happened. I remember thinking the neighborhood looked like Beirut. Most of the promised funds disappeared in clean-up costs and housing rehab scams.

Twenty six years ago architect David Stieglitz and I surveyed the church buildings. He estimated that the cost of rehabbing the school building alone would exceed one million dollars in roof and structural damage. There certainly weren't any preservationists stepping up to help save my neighbors homes or the church buildings.

So RaChaCha, you ask what I have to say? Well, I think there's a lot of folks showing up way late for the party. I think it's easy to call for "mothballing" the place but that process doesn't fix the enormous slate roofs. And where were the preservationists when the City mistakenly tore down the child's playground last year (since replaced but still unopened). It sits directly across the street.

While preservationists wring their hands about this complex, my neighbors worry about the safety of kids climbing around these structures. When the school building collapsed a few years back, the community didn't get any warning. The building didn't send out a community alert before it's North wall collapsed in a storm. Parts of the school landed within feet of the house next door.

While "whites on bikes" languorously tour our East Side "treasures" peoples homes are in need of repair and their warmth and safety are far more deserving of preservation than abandoned buildings no matter how architecturally significant.