Wrecking WNY: Bethlehem Office Building

There is no better candidate for facadism than the Bethlehem Office Building. Shame, shame, shame on our public officials if they do not fully explore this option.

This is such a beautiful Beaux-Arts building, is on the newly-revitalizing waterfront, can be reused in the future, and is an incredibly integral part of this city's past. SAVE THE FACE!!

www.buffalorising.com/2012/05/wrecking-wny-bethlehem-office-building.html

Call the Mayor of Lackawanna's office and leave a message: 716-827-6464

I just did...

I'm going to make an emergency trip to Buffalo as soon as I know when I'm off next week. I'm going to school in Albany and working here for the summer. I need to do proper photographs of this building before it's gone.

It's a shame that people can't see how this building is an asset to City of Lackawanna and the region itself.

How about next time there is such a grand plan to change the economy as happened in the 70s and 80s, gutting American industry and manufacturing corporate America and those who back such massive shifts actually go out of their way to plan a more reasonable transition rather than just pulling the rug out from underneath entire communities and regions and leaving everyone to swim without a life vest? Just a little consideration and a soul please. I guess thats not taught in business classes though. No such thing as the human element and community loyalty and ethics. Had the economic shift actually been planned to more gradually or soulfully transition we may not be faced with these loses because there may have actually been a new economy to fill these spaces.

Though the smoke and fumes produced by steel plant furnaces cleared years ago, the highly visible property close to the waterfront found no takers. Crews are currently removing asbestos before starting demolition.

These two items are the most interesting.

What do you do with a building that nobody wants in a city that is too far gone? While it's a shame...what other options are there? Do you take money from other areas that are needed to save a building that is wanted?

Second to that...why not try and put the building back on the market, even if for 30 days, after the asbestos has been removed? Worth a shot

Who is paying for this demo? Public, or private. Sorry if I missed that in the article. I'm guessing this is a publicly financed demo?

Funny (or not funny), that a typical financial impediment to rehabbing an older building, is often asbestos removal, but, when these buildings are demos, the asbestos is always removed 1st.

If half (or more) of the cost of demolition, is asbestos removal, wouldn't it make at least a little sense to, instead, allocate that money towards asbestos removal - for any developer who steps up to bring the building back to life?

In this case, the government has spent less money than they would have to demo the structure, and the developer isn't burdened with the high, and project inhibiting asbestos removal costs to rehab the building.

The pubic also wins, because, in the end, less of our tax dollars have been spent on the building demo, and we're left with a great building, back to life, back on the tax rolls, and contributing to the community.

Just a thought....

I'd rather see it shipped off to Norcross, Georgia than destroyed... What a great school building this would make.

Finally we are going to see "progress" on this site. I sure hope the "obstructionists" don't win again and force this irreplaceable piece of our heritage to be saved and renovated. This will be a great shovel ready site soon.

This could be Lackawanna's City Hall with alot of effort and rehab dollars. In all my years travelling through Lackawanna I never once thought of the word "majestic" though. Rough, gritty or ghostly maybe.

The Fix Buffalo blog broke this news yesterday with some beautiful interior photos.

http://fixbuffalo.blogspot.com/2012/05/bethlehem-steel-north-office-demolition.html

The problem, it seems is "controlled demolition". Due to a NYS law, this building will now HAVE to be sent to the landfill, in total, because it's been deemed that a controlled demolition is necessary. Is there really asbestos contamination in a simple glass window? A stone sill? A decorative stone acroterion? WHY must we throw the entire thing away? This law, along with the way in which demolition contracts are awarded, must be changed. Who's with me? Join us on Facebook at the group Preservation-Ready Sites, where we share ideas and opportunities.

I wonder if they even considered trying to save the facade?

stupid...stupid...stupid

Don't tear it down and put it in a landfill..take it down brick by brick and move it to canalside. I drive by this every day and think how great it could look if they just cut the trees down around it and tried to save it..slowly if nothing else.

what is the hurry in tearing this down??? Man..we learn nothing from our past mistakes

It's not going to 'waste'. Ever seen the inside of a demo contractor's house? Like an architectural history palace.

look at what they did in utah for the city creek center. its a nice looking building but i am sick of every investment looking like a bunch of glorified condiments at a gas station.

sorry its a beautiful looking building. we are just so abstract expressionist with our developmental needs. here, there, every where.

I spoke with the new Lackawanna mayor about this building at the end of March at the land bank presser at the Rath Building. He told me that the freight company that owns it & the surrounding property (on the south side of the Union Ship Canal inlet/outlet) had received a State grant to demo the building. He said the building was beyond salvaging and needed to come down -- I know, they always say that -- and he supported its demo. When I asked if he'd be willing to have a conversation with anyone to talk about alternatives, he said he didn't have any control over it -- it's in the owner's hands. But he then added -- just in case I didn't get how he really felt about the situation -- that his view of preservation is that preservationists just want to turn WNY into Colonial Williamsburg!

Frankly, it seems strange that a State grant is being used to demo a heritage structure that is eligible for State/National Historic Register listing. Especially in a case where environmental work is being carried out (asbestos removal), which requires permits that ought to trigger review by SHPO.

Frankly, I think this building could be reused, especially as it's essentially waterfront property, which increases its value, which presumably would help with financing adaptive reuse. This building is just south of the Buffalo/Lackawanna line -- the strip of land between it and the south side of the City Ship Canal inlet/outlet is actually within the City of Buffalo. A project with boating access could be done there that would be very valuable in terms of waterfront living, and would form an obvious southern bookend for the rest of the Outer Harbor revitalization. The freight company that owns the building and the land around it has plenty of land for its needs -- it could certainly spare the land along the south side of the ship canal that it's currently using for nothing but outdoor storage (not highest and best use, by a longshot), and it can certainly get along without the land currently occupied by the building because, obviously, it's not using that land now.

I wish luck to the folks who are contacting the Lackawanna mayor, but wonder how far that will get them. I'd be especially interested in whether the expenditure of State grant funds has included the proper SHPO review.

Demolish the interior and rear of the building but save the existing facade for future use.

I spoke with Buffalo Plastering last year about the building and Gary Bolles at 716-885-9020, tried in vain to get ahold of someone on the building. This would be great for them, as they have done such things as the top of Shea's and many others here and around the world. Give them as much a push as you can, I can think of no better company to own this. What a great manufacturing faucility it could be! they are currently. Working on the Lafayette Hotel and what a job they are doing!

In a normal world, this building is too beautiful to destroy. Something is really wrong when it appears to make more sense to destroy it than to save and/or recycle it. Very sad....

Take this building over the grain elevators any day. Such a grand dame such a shame.

tear it down and you will regret it forever; this grand building must be saved and not be part of coffee table book of "Buffalo remembered" photographs. HUGE mistake!

While I have loved this building for the last 32 years of my life, and did some urban exploration in it over several occasions, unfortunately I agree that the building is a sad shape. Collapsed floors, stairwells, roofs,and no heat for over 30 years of being abandoned along the waterfront have done this building no good.

Could it be saved, sure. It's in a prime location, but was this site really marketed to outsiders ever? I doubt it. Could have been a catalyst for some type of waterfront for Lackawanna, but Lackawanna is a joke of a city which should have dissolved after the shuttering of the steel plants, as it was only setup for them anyways.

I do believe it would have made for an interesting City Hall/Public Safety complex for Lackawanna, but unfortunately we live in the real world of WNY.

This building could be such a nice club house for a huge golf club on all that land. How about Bethlehem National Golf Club.

WHY DONT ANY OF YOU LOAFERS BUY THIS BUILDING AND RE-DO IT LIKE I DID FOR 20 YEARS RE-DOING MY BUILDING ? SCARED OF WORK? THEN SHAD UP!!!!!!

Indeed one of my favorite under appreciated buildings in WNY..right up there with Trico.

Much about the distribution operator that seems to own the building? Unfortunately..limited population..limited resources..we only have so much that can go so far. As stated above "it sat on the waterfront for years...and no takers". No takers..development $$ from one project to something like this (I allow it..its a great building) with no takers and no end goal in mind? Not going to work..inevitable.

I wonder how much long Preservation Buffalo Niagara can continue to be a "reactive" organization instead of "proactive".

A "Bura" like partnership..public/private financing..fundraisers..donations. Stabilization.."facadism"..etc. You all clamor for the City to do something..but you know just as well as I that even if WNY politics had their house in order there are far FAR greater priorities.

In reality..PBN isn't much better than the City in my opinion..we have a treasure like this and all we get is a press release.

Channel 4 has a report with some additional information on the situation, although I can't vouch for the accuracy of it:
http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/buffalo/demolition-for-bethlehem-steel-building

wivb quote: "City of Lackawanna officials are tired of trying to preserve it."

translation - "We put a fence around it and ignored it for 30 years, but now it's a liability so we're tearing it down no matter how much that costs."

What no one is willing to talk about is WHY????? Why is it that companies around the country that specialize in manufacturing and would find the Buffalo/Lackawana area a vital location for their business haven't jumped on this opportunity???? The answer is simple.....unions, local nonsensical regulations, politics and NY State taxation policies. Don't call the local mayor!! That fool is the reason no one is buying. Wake up Buffalo, Western NY, and America...... until we start putting together incentives and reduce restrictions on business Buffalo and surrounding areas will forever be riddled with health care facilities, back office centers and chicken wing establishments. Remove the ridiculous shackles on business today and we will thrive again. Until then....tear it down and make way for more government facilities funded by taxation and federal programs.

Let's ask a simple question-----let's pretend that NY State put out an advertisement that said: Any business willing to establish itself and relocate in this facility in Lackawana,NY would receive a ten year tax free Federal and State incentive, local OCEA and EPA restrictions will be waived and non-union employees will be allowed for hire. Additional tax incentives will be provided for the hire of handicap, former military personnel and employees out of work for the last 18 months.

Let's just say that this article wouldn't be about BSNOB facility getting ready to be torn down, but about a new manufacturing company from Iowa hiring a local building contractor ready to begin construction.

This isn't rocket science......WAKE UP, GET OUT THE PITCH FORKS AND TAKE A STAND AMERICA! STOP THE MADNESS or we"re going the way of GREECE.

sorry, but this whole business drives me insane!!!! Did anyone know that GE (its CEO Jeff Immelt was hired by Obama as our jobs Csar) fired and closed its entire operation in Winchester, VA that made edison bulbs for the past 100 years and relocated all new operations to China???? How can one of the largest manufacturing companies in America hold up its head and move jobs overseas without explaining to the American people the dollars and cents of its decision? UNIONS, REGULATIONS, TAXATION.....these are the death blows to any company making money today. This is why Buffalo is stagnant. This is why Bethlehem steel went belly up. This is why the floors of this building are buckling!!! It's incredibly sad, but not for the reasons anyone in this blog are talking about!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you want to preserve the integrity and architectural beauty of buffalo's former glory, vote to stop the tyranny of unionized labor, tell Andrew Cuomo to stay home and eat Sandra Lee's stale cupcakes, and promote tax incentives for new business willing to re-locate to the Buffalo area. The opportunities that Buffalo provides are endless....let's not be stagnant and give in to the political madness that has become so commonplace in our world today.

Lackawanna is currently working on the first phase of its First Ward Brownfield Opportunity Area. They could have invited Buffalo Crushed Stone to the table as a stakeholder to focus specifically on this property. The BOA program provides a municipality with up to 90 percent of the total eligible project costs for such things as:

community visioning and other public participation processes; existing conditions analysis; strategic site identification; economic and market studies; investigations to assess site contamination and environmental conditions; site-specific redevelopment plans; infrastructure improvement studies, environmental impact assessments and statements; marketing to attract developer interest; local law changes; development standards and design guidelines; and other actions to spur investment in, clean-up of and redevelopment of brownfields and other underutilized sites.

Sounds like that could go a long way in at least getting a structural analysis of the building, marketing it to outside developers, and maybe even releasing a joint RFP.

While it was an interesting building in its day, today it is blight. Even if efforts were put into donating to restore it, and keep the wrecking ball from bringing it down, the building is isolated. I said this before, but the building really is not connected to any urban fabric, its all by itself in a corridor that is better suited to become parkland. It will be good to get the building down so that it can allow Buffalo to move forward. It isn't good having people ride into town looking at vacant buildings such as this one. There is no private money or investment to restore this property, and even if there was it'd be an island onto itself. As grand as the property was, its not got a purpose today. Even if it became condos it'd be an awkward location without connection.