Demolition crews paid a visit to 633 Delaware Avenue this week. A former Bank of America building is being demolished to return the Wilcox Mansion/Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site to its original 1901 boundaries. Bank of America sold the property to the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site Foundation for $1 in early June.
The mid-century glass and concrete bank branch, vacant since April 2011, stood on a 6,500 sq.ft. parcel of land less than 15 feet from the south side of the TR Inaugural Site. It building had dominated the historic setting and compromised the Site's cultural landscape, as well as its visibility and access from Delaware Avenue.
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye!
No!!! MUST SAVE!!!!
Ooops, too late.
Nope, Jesse, lol - it's
MUST RESTORE MR. WILCOX's LOWER-DENSITY SPRAWL!!!
(I agree the after will look better than before of course, and this is a good idea - but what would Jane Jacobs say about removing a to-the-sidewalk building in favor of all that open space? And the next time anyone complains about any new urban building daring to have a patch of grass or some bushes, well…)
Jane Jacobs would say nothing because this property has important historic value to Buffalo, western New York, and the country.
If it were your property then it would be a different matter (unless you have important historic value to which we are unaware).
Jane Jacobs would be rolling in her grave, unless she happens to still be alive, than she's probably rotissering somewhere in the Hamptons with a nearby wine spritzer, probably conversing with Diddy and Martha what a mess the Shinnecock casino will be.